Your London Art Week Guide 2025

The city becomes the global capital of creativity with Frieze London and Frieze Masters taking over Regent’s Park, alongside a constellation of auctions, exhibitions, and late-night events; London is in full cultural takeover mode. From monumental sculpture to record-breaking auctions, here’s what’s shaping the week and what not to miss.

Founded in 2003, Frieze London remains the city’s most dynamic contemporary showcase with more than 160 galleries from across the world, bringing everything from powerhouse names to breakout stars.

This year, in part, the fair feels more considered: smaller, smarter booths; fewer walls; and more room for work to breathe. Keep an eye on younger galleries from Seoul, Mexico City, and Lagos, they’re reshaping the tone of global contemporary art with bold, politically charged narratives.

Another key takeaway for 2025; the editions market is thriving. Collectors are increasingly drawn to limited prints, sculptures, and multiples works that blend accessibility with prestige. It’s a sector that continues to grow, fuelled by transparency, strong artist demand, and a new generation of buyers entering the market.

Across the park, Frieze Masters collapses the distance between past and present. Expect Old Masters rubbing shoulders with 20th-century icons like Basquiat, Andy Warhol, David Hockney and Peter Doig.

This year’s Masters edition shines in post-war abstraction and the European avant-garde, while its Spotlight section gives overdue recognition to artists who shaped modernism from the edges. It’s quieter, more cerebral, and infinitely better lit. The thinking collector’s fair.

Back outdoors, the Frieze Sculpture Park offers a welcome pause. Curated by Fatoş Üstek, this free, open-air exhibition features monumental works by Elmtree & Dragset, David Altmejd and Grace Schwindt. It’s the perfect antidote to fair fatigue.

Two major shows are commanding attention beyond Frieze.
At the Serpentine, Peter Doig’s House of Music is a lyrical standout. Dreamlike paintings layered with sound and memory, reaffirming his status as one of Britain’s most poetic painters.

At Newport Street Gallery, Damien Hirst, Invader, and Shepard Fairey share the spotlight in a rare dialogue between generations of rule breakers. The show celebrates the rise of artists who turned limited editions, multiples, and street iconography into global movements, proving that accessibility and collectibility can coexist with serious cultural weight.

Or head East to Hang-Up Gallery to discuss Banksy works or explore a curated selection featuring Andy Warhol, Tracey Emin, David Shrigley, Julian Opie, and many more a snapshot of how vibrant and varied the editions market has become.

As fairs unfold, all eyes turn to the auction houses, whose results could hint at the market’s direction for 2026.

At Sotheby’s, a 1982 Basquiat, a ferocious, graffiti-charged canvas, is expected to exceed £8 million. Over at Phillips, another Basquiat work on paper, Untitled (Pestus), headlines the October 16 sale with a high estimate of £3 million. Andy Warhol’s diamond-dust Giorgio Armani portrait and Banksy’s Kate Moss follow close behind, each carrying seven-figure estimates.

What makes London Art Week so distinctive is its range from artist-led pop-ups in the East End to museum-scale installations and parkland sculpture.

For those who live and breathe art, this is London at its most alive: unpredictable, overloaded, and essential.