APAA’s Top Picks & Onsite Guide to Frieze London 2026
Frieze London and Frieze Masters return to Regent’s Park this week! Featuring more than 280 galleries from 45 countries, spanning 6 continents, the fair brings contemporary practice and art history into direct conversation through presentations grounded in research and expertise. APAA advisors share their standout selections from both Frieze London and Frieze Masters, alongside our curated on-site guide to the must-see exhibitions and favorite dining spots in London.
The fair runs Wednesday, October 14, through Sunday, October 18, with an invitation-only preview on Wednesday. Thursday sees a Members and Invitation-only preview in the morning, with the fair opening to the public that afternoon. Learn more here.
Thank you to our advisors for sharing their top picks from this year’s presentations at Frieze and must-see spots for Frieze Week.
Advisor Top Picks from Frieze London
Louise Bourgeois, The Couple, 2002
“Having recently visited Bourgeois’s studio and foundation in NYC, it’s especially moving to see how much her work has always been influenced by her personal memories, biography and her immediate surroundings. She transforms these deeply personal memories and emotions into psychologically charged, often biomorphic sculptures, consistently exploring notions of motherhood, vulnerability, and the body.”
Aluminium, hanging piece
Edition 3 of 6 and 1 AP
15 x 9 x 5 inches
Presented by White Cube
Uri Aran, Out of Towner, 2026
“In this painting, Uri Aran draws viewers into a range of emotionally layered and intellectually rich responses. The longer one looks, the more references surface – a vintage flowered cotton bedsheet, a bridge, a spaceship, and comic figures – all of which Aran weaves into his own poetic interior monologue. Rather than spelling out the work’s meaning, he encourages the viewer to take part in shaping it.”
Oil, cold wax medium, oil pastel, and graphite on cotton
19 x 23 x 3/4 inches
Presented by Matthew Brown Gallery
Caroline Walker, Snack Time, 2026
“Caroline Walker's paintings are beautifully rendered with tender and sensitive subjects often including children. Her eye for special moments such as the beloved and essential snack time bring to us a moment of peace and reflection amongst the vibrancy of luminous colour and confident painterly detail.”
Oil on linen
159.4 x 166.4 centimeters
Presented by Ingleby Gallery
Paul Robas, Toll of the Bell, 2026
“If you’ve ever wondered how dealers find new artists, they listen to more established artists! The Artist-to-Artist section at Frieze returns and proves to be the one thing many collectors are looking forward to.
This year, one of the most interesting projects is the presentation of Paul Robas, a Vienna-based Romanian painter chosen by art-world star Louise Giovanelli, the Mancunian painter. Shown with the exciting young London gallery Alice Amati, which will make its debut at Frieze London with a selection of 15 small paintings by Robas.
The connection to Giovanelli’s work is rather obvious, as both painters are notably skilled and use light in a singular way. Robas takes his painting into the realms of the eerie, detached from context and distilled into a form of emotion on canvas.”
Acrylic and oil on canvas
11 3/4 x 15 3/4 inches (30 x 40 cm)
Presented by Alice Amati
Alex Da Corte, Matchboxes, 2026
“Following the opening of Roy Lichtenstein: Like New at the Whitney Museum of American Art, an exhibition Alex Da Corte helped curate, Da Corte's series of twelve matchbox sculptures highlights the continued relevance of Pop Art’s core principles. Meticulously crafted and enlarged, each matchbox sculpture features a distinct cultural signifier, bringing together references as varied as Richard Nixon’s political campaign, Steamworks Brewing, a cowboy bar, and a Japanese confectioner. The presentation draws on the long history of matchboxes as miniature vehicles for advertising and cultural memory, as well as their role as souvenirs of places visited and experiences lived. Da Corte transforms these familiar ephemera into sculptural objects, layering personal and collective associations onto a form that exists at the intersection of advertisement, souvenir, and artifact.”
Maple, poplar, birch, ASA plastic, aluminium oxide-coated abrasive, wood filler, body filler, adhesive, hardware, Flashe, velvet
11 x 27 x 3 inches (each)
Presented by Sadie Coles HQ
Aleana Egan, light grain, 2026
“Aleana Egan is an Irish artist whose works express deeply personal, yet not biographical, psychological investigations. The paintings on canvas are evocative abstractions that feel almost identifiable, as if the meaning is just out of reach. Egan's practice is shaped by her deep engagement with works of literature and cinema. Never opting for direct representation, she uses her source material as an entryway, absorbing the moods and tones it evokes.”
Oil and acrylic on canvas
29.1 x 34.3 x 2.8 inches (framed)
Presented by Kerlin Gallery
Elaine de Kooning, Robert Mallary #3, 1964
“I was lucky enough to have a sneak peek of some of the works before they left for London. Berry Campbell’s booth at Frieze Masters will center on women artists who were members of the 8th Street Club, the renowned downtown gathering place for artists in 1950’s New York. I’m excited to see all the women’s works but Elaine de Kooning is a standout for me. Her upcoming survey at their gallery in New York will open on October 29th, I’m looking forward to this too.”
Oil on canvas
63 1/8 x 40 3/8 inches
Presented by Berry Campbell Gallery
On view at Frieze Masters
Claire Falkenstein, Point as a Set, c. 1965
“Building upon Ortuzar's exceptional Falkenstein show this September in New York City, the gallery is further re-introducing the artist in London and Paris. This particular sculpture was created after her departure from Europe for California, and demonstrates the deep influence of her decade in Paris which culminated in the commission for the gates of the Peggy Guggenheim Foundation in Venice in 1961. The copper and glass combine into an object that's at once solid yet full of motion, the work of a self-assured artist who has mastered her materials.”
Copper and glass
21 x 21 x 21 inches
Presented by Ortuzar
On view at Frieze Masters
Onsite Guide for Frieze London
Thank you to advisors Mary Ann Prior and Marc-Jan Van Laake for their suggestions
Installation view, “Marlow Moss: Space, Movement, & Light.” Courtesy of Ward Moretti Gallery.
Exhibitions and Museums to Visit
Ward Moretti Gallery is showing Marlow Moss: Space, Movement & Light until October 30, marking the artist’s first commercial solo presentation in London in over half a century. Featuring a rare presentation of works, the exhibition underlines Moss’s influence as a pioneer of modernism.
The Dulwich Picture Gallery is a short train ride from Victoria Station to West Dulwich. See the outstanding collection and temporary exhibitions, Curtain Up! and Hokusai: Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji from the Iuchi Collection.
Henry Moore: Monumental Nature offers a place to relax if there’s time. The landmark exhibition of Moore’s work is open until January 2027.
Dining Recommendations
For dining, try Ognisko Restaurant for Polish cuisine set in a Victorian home in the heart of South Kensington; Andrew Edmunds Restaurant for fresh, seasonal, and sustainably sourced dishes and an award-winning wine list; and the St. Clement Hotel’s restaurant and bar, Café Clement, for all-day fare by chef Danny Bohan. Bar Finch, a classic aperitivo bar in Mayfair, offers a stylish and sophisticated spot to drink and dine, and be sure to visit Town House in Spitalfields during your free time. Located in an early eighteenth-century building, Town House is a gallery, shop, and coffee shop, offering contemporary art, ceramics, antiques, and Queen cakes made from a decades-old recipe all at once.
Ognisko Restaurant Terrace. Courtesy of Ognisko Restaurant.
