Frieze London returned to The Regent’s Park earlier this week for its 21st edition, featuring over 160 galleries from 43 countries and unveiling a new redesign by A Studio Between. Expanding the art fair’s footprint, the spatial makeover with more social areas makes way for a somewhat livelier atmosphere. However, the most notable change is the increased visibility given to new voices. The Focus section, spotlighting emerging galleries, and the Artist-to-Artist section, which showcases artist-led projects, have been relocated from the fair’s periphery to prime front-row spots near the entrance—spaces traditionally reserved for powerhouse galleries.
In this new spatial arrangement, the Artist-to-Artist section returns for its second iteration with heightened expectations to meet. Last year, it was inaugurated as a cluster of eight solo presentations, designed to bring a greater focus on artists. The idea is simple yet unusual in the context of a commercial event: prominent artists are invited to each select a younger or lesser-known artist, offering them the opportunity for a solo booth exhibition. While emphasizing the role of artists—both widely celebrated and emerging—this concept also illuminates the often unseen bonds of mentorship, friendship and collaboration within the art world. Additionally, it underscores the responsibility of those who have “made it” to leave the door open for those who follow.
This year, the number of artist pairs in this section dropped from eight to six, featuring presentations by Appau Junior Boakye-Yiadom, Rob Davis, Nengi Omuku, Massinissa Selmani, Magda Stawarska and Peter Uka, nominated by their world-renowned counterparts Glenn Ligon, Rashid Johnson, Yinka Shonibare, Zineb Sedira, Lubaina Himid and Hurvin Anderson, respectively. These are not the kind of booths that will stop you in your tracks, as they’re not necessarily designed to win you over at first glance. In the high-stakes arena of one of the world’s largest art fairs, they stand congenially out of place in contrast to the flashy, high-gloss displays clamoring for attention. Instead, they offer a bubble of serenity and introspection amidst the frenetic energy of the buzzing aisles.
Epitomizing a delightful disconnect from the sales-oriented event is the multimedia work of Appau Junior Boakye-Yiadom, chosen by Glenn Ligon and presented at Frieze London by the gallery Champ Lacombe. In ‘Before, During & After: Here Now, Before, During & After: Here Soon,’ the London-based artist presents a fresh iteration of a work that began in 2020. At its core is the humbling process of learning, which becomes integral to the artwork’s final form, revealed in front of an audience. This dynamic two-part presentation includes an installation with a drum kit that is either occupied by the artist—who practices playing the instrument while concealed inside a foldable panel, its reflective exterior casting the audience’s image back at them—or, in the second part, presented without him. When the artist is absent, the panel opens to serve as a backdrop for the drum kit. Boakye-Yiadom’s focus on percussion seeks to forge connections through the visceral language of rhythm. In the absence of sound, the installation evokes memories of it, or creates a sense of anticipation. The installation further includes a series of double-sided photographic prints displayed on the walls, which are likewise flipped throughout the course of the show to reveal the other side.
Nengi Omuku’s impressionistic works, which have recently begun to create ripples in the art world, are poised to attract significant attention during Frieze London. The Nigerian artist was chosen by Yinka Shonibare, who has been following her work since her college days, and presented by galleries Pippy Houldsworth and Kasmin. Three impressionistic oil paintings on sanyan, a traditional Yoruba fabric, represent pastoral, poetic amalgamations of the artist’s experiences and influences, from personal to art historical. Suspended in the air, they allow the viewer to observe from all sides, revealing the textured, almost sculptural quality of the back of each piece.
Compared to Boakye-Yiadom’s work, which challenges viewers with its many moving parts (both literal and metaphorical), the pieces by Omuku, Davis, Selmani, Stawarska and Uka fit more easily into the fair’s framework, where paintings and drawings are favored over performance and complex multimedia works. As a result, this section may lack the productive friction that could have amplified its impact, given its more artist-driven, less market-focused intent. Though the section is not particularly bold in this regard, the works featured in it possess a distinct strength that will not go unnoticed, particularly evident in Omuku’s, Uka’s and Davis’ figurative paintings, which seduce viewers with their deeply evocative, cinematic atmospheres and technical prowess.
