Frieze Week 2025 has wrapped and what a week it was. From VIP day buzz to record-breaking auctions and packed private dinners, London once again proved why it’s one of the art world’s most magnetic cities.
Across Frieze London and Frieze Masters, the mood was confident but careful less spectacle, more substance. Collectors came ready to buy, but they looked closely, asked questions, and took their time. After a few uncertain seasons globally, this year’s fair felt like a market regaining balance.
The redesigned fair layout gave space back to the work, and it showed. At Gagosian, Lauren Halsey’s carved plaster installation drew constant crowds one of the week’s most photographed booths while Lisson Gallery impressed with a poetic tapestry by Otobong Nkanga. Smaller, curated presentations in the Focus section gave a platform to exciting new names, with younger galleries from Lagos, Seoul, and Mexico City drawing curators in droves.
The Frieze Sculpture Park, curated by Fatoş Üstek, was another standout large-scale works by Yinka Shonibare, Sarah Lucas, and Anish Kapoor offered a welcome moment of calm away from the booths. And offsite, fashion and art once again overlapped as Prada’s “The Audience” by Elmgreen & Dragset at King’s Cross became the unofficial satellite show of the week.
Preview days brought the familiar mix of museum directors, collectors, and celebrity visitors from Tracey Emin chatting at White Cube to Stormzy spotted browsing the Focus section. The social circuit was lively but not extravagant; the talk of the town wasn’t who attended the parties, but what sold.
Blue-chip galleries reported strong opening sales, including pieces by Basquiat, Warhol, and Rauschenberg. Editioned works also continued their upward trajectory, proving that multiples are no longer an “entry level” category but a serious collecting field of their own.
While the fairs delivered energy, the real test came in the auction rooms. Sotheby’s and Phillips confirmed that demand for major names remains solid, with Basquiat’s 1982 canvas surpassing expectations at over £8 million and another work on paper drawing fierce bidding at Phillips.
This year’s Frieze Week marked a turning point: more focused, more confident, and undeniably global. The energy around editions and accessible collecting was impossible to ignore a trend we’re proud to see reflected in our own programme here at Hang-Up Gallery.
If you’re still buzzing from the fairs, come East and keep the conversation going. Explore our latest selection of Banksy, Andy Warhol, David Shrigley and Tracey Emin and more.
