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Fair notes

Frieze London 2026: Fair Notes

By Sean Collins ·

Frieze London 2026 ran 14–18 October at The Regent's Park, with 172 galleries from 42 countries. These notes are drawn from published reporting and the galleries' own fair pages, not from a first-hand walk of the tent, and they are written for collectors deciding where to look next. The mood, by most accounts, was saturated colour, faces and masks, weighty bodies and a strong run of abstraction. Two painters sit at the centre of our attention going into the new year: Kudzanai-Violet Hwami at Victoria Miro and Christina Kimeze at Hauser & Wirth.

The fair at a glance

Reporting on the week points to a market that was active but selective. Márcia Falcão sold out at Fortes D'Aloia & Gabriel, Pace sold out Marina Perez Simão, and Pilar Corrias sold out Rachel Rose, Sholto Blissett and Georg Wilson. Albert Oehlen was a presence at Gagosian and Asami Shoji at Linseed. Institutional buyers were visible, with acquisitions reported by the Arts Council Collection and Tate.

The prizes leaned toward emerging voices: Okiki Akinfe took the Dasha Shenkman Focus Fund (£30,000), Unathi Mkonto of Goodman Gallery the Nicoletta Fiorucci Foundation Prize, Ella Fleck the Camden Art Centre Emerging Artist Award, and Theo Triantafyllidis the Frieze Artist Award.

Kudzanai-Violet Hwami at Victoria Miro (Booth D12)

Painting by Kudzanai-Violet Hwami of a cropped figure in a dark blue boiler suit holding sprigs of leaves against a yellow ground
Kudzanai-Violet HwamiMedicine Man2019

Hwami is a young Zimbabwean painter whose layered figures draw on photographs, archival and digital sources, with race, migration, sexuality and belonging as recurring themes. Victoria Miro's booth focused on recent paintings and a sculpture in an installation she conceived, marking her inclusion in British Art Show 10: A Chorus of Strangers. Works listed by the gallery include Sorbus Hymn II (2025, oil and acrylic on linen, 122 x 290 cm), a female nude built from layered landscapes, alongside Animus, Scapegoat, Witness and Containing Multitudes (all 2025, the last taking its title from Whitman).

Why we are following her. The booth shows a painter whose method, collage translated into paint, has matured into larger and more composed pictures. Her history with Victoria Miro (When You Need Letters for Your Skin, 2021; A Making of Ghosts, 2023; Incantations, 2025) gives the market a clear, consistent record.

What to watch in 2027. British Art Show 10, curated by Ekow Eshun, opened in Coventry on 2 October 2026 and runs there to 10 January 2027, then travels to Swansea (12 February–16 May 2027) and Bristol (19 June–19 September 2027). Hwami is among its 30-plus artists, shown on the gallery's page with Atom Painting #5 (2025, 200 x 200 cm). Published listings do not say which venues will include her work, so check with each venue before travelling.

Christina Kimeze at Hauser & Wirth (Booth D20)

Large framed abstract painting by Christina Kimeze in golds, ochres, red and pale blue, with loose hatched strokes and faint figures, made of several joined panels
Christina KimezeLong loops2025, oil, pastel and oil stick on suede matboard, 204 x 324 cm / 80 3/8 x 127 1/2 in

Kimeze, born in London in 1986, studied biological sciences at Oxford before training at the Royal Drawing School. Hauser & Wirth announced its representation of her on 8 January 2025. Her paintings are made on napped suede or velvet-like matboard, layering chalk, oil pastel and wet paint so that the media merge into a soft, tactile surface. Recurring motifs include abstracted foliage, arches, interiors and solitary or closely linked figures, with recent work turning to movement, flight and freedom, including the revival of roller skating in UK Black communities.

Why we are following her. Her path has been quick and institutional: a first solo at South London Gallery, Between Wood and Wheel (opened 31 January 2025), then her first solo with Hauser & Wirth in West Hollywood the same year. A fair booth with a major gallery is the next logical step.

What to watch in 2027. We found no published announcement of a specific 2027 exhibition for her, so we will not name one. The useful signals are further solos with Hauser & Wirth, new institutional acquisitions, and how her surface, which is hard to reproduce on screen, holds up in person.

Other booths worth the visit

Fair coverage also singled out the following, which we list as names to look up rather than as our own assessments:

  • Chioma Ebinama and Jamila Isa at Maureen Paley (D17)
  • Eilen Itzel do Espírito Santo at Bolanle Contemporary (AA5)
  • Vanessa Raw at Carl Friedman (A28)
  • Asami Shoji at Linseed (F16)
  • Albert Oehlen at Gagosian (D14)

Into the new year

For collectors, the two artists offer different entry points. Hwami's near-term calendar is public and concrete: British Art Show 10 is on tour through 2028, with Swansea and Bristol falling in 2027, so there is a clear window to see the work in a museum context. Kimeze's is quieter in the published record, so the practical step is to stay in touch with Hauser & Wirth about availability and to see her work in person, since its surface rewards looking.

As always, we suggest asking each gallery for condition information, exhibition history and any institutional interest before committing, and treating a fair booth as a first look rather than a conclusion.

Sources

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