Who Runs Frieze Week

In 2003 two magazine publishers pitched a tent in Regent’s Park and called it an art fair. In 2026 the tent belongs to MARI, a holding company set up by the Hollywood executive Ari Emanuel, whose other assets are tennis tournaments and a majority stake in Barrett-Jackson. That is the first thing to know about who decides what Frieze week looks like.

The second is that the city around the fair has changed its staff. Tate has an interim director and a new one arriving in January. The Hayward’s director started in July, the Royal Academy’s in September 2025, and Camden Art Centre’s has announced his departure. The National Portrait Gallery is run by the woman who used to run Frieze.

The third is subtraction. Stephen Friedman Gallery, three decades old, went into administration in February. Beers closed in August and Sid Motion closes this month, as Artnet News reported.

The fairs themselves, October 14–18, are larger than last year: more than 170 galleries at Frieze London and about 140 at Frieze Masters, by the organizer’s count. What follows is the cast. Tickets are in the guide and the floor is explained on the fairs page. Biennale is free to read.

Frieze has an owner, a chief executive, an executive in charge of all its fairs, a director for each fair, and curators hired by the section. Titles are given as the company writes them in 2026.

Seven artists choose the solo stands in Artist-to-Artist: Firelei Báez, Jeffrey Gibson, Louise Giovanelli, Ayoung Kim, Otobong Nkanga, Gala Porras-Kim and Yinka Shonibare. Focus has three advisers, Cédric Fauq, Joumana Asseily and Freddie Powell of the London gallery Ginny on Frederick, as Frieze’s account of the curated sections records; they also sit on the eight-person committee that selects Frieze London. Every section, with its curator or advisers and the artists recorded under it, is in the section lists. Dyala Nusseibeh directs Frieze Abu Dhabi, which opens on November 19.

A fair is rented by the square meter, and the people who pay the rent set its tone. Eighteen London galleries follow, twelve established and six young, each with one fact about its 2026. All are on the 2026 list for Frieze London, as published by Frieze and read by Artnet. The whole roster, 177 directory entries for Frieze London and 142 for Frieze Masters as of October 6, is on The Exhibitors. Addresses are in What to See.

Closed, Closing, or Not Coming

The absences are part of the cast. Stephen Friedman Gallery, founded in 1995 and latterly on Cork Street, entered administration on February 2, 2026, and has closed, as Artsy reported. Its roster included Yinka Shonibare, who is nonetheless everywhere this week.

Beers London closed at the end of August after 14 years. Sid Motion Gallery closes after ten, with a final show to October 31. Sid Motion told Artnet News that the gallery could not afford to do justice to its artists; Kurt Beers cited economic pressure, a changed market and digital platforms. Gagosian has left its Burlington Arcade space while keeping Grosvenor Hill, The Art Newspaper reported in July.

At the fair, Artnet counted six notable absences from Frieze London: Almine Rech, James Cohan, Sean Kelly, Gathering, kurimanzutto and Tina Kim. Pace, Frith Street and Mazzoleni are absent from Frieze Masters. Single source None has given a public reason in the sources read for this page, and none is offered here. More on the fairs page.

Visitors come for the fair and spend much of the week in museums, so the people who program them shape it as much as any dealer. The table lists the directors whose posts could be confirmed. Their exhibitions are in What to See.

Tate, Between Directors

Tate goes through Frieze week without a permanent head. Maria Balshaw’s departure was announced in December 2025 and she left at the end of that year. Karin Hindsbo, who directs Tate Modern, has been interim director since. Her successor was named on July 22: Jessica Morgan, director of the Dia Art Foundation since 2015 and a Tate curator from 2002 to 2014, who starts on January 1, 2027, according to Tate and Ocula.

The Hayward and Camden

Sally Tallant arrived at the Hayward in July from the Queens Museum in New York. The show on her walls is not hers. Ralph Rugoff stepped down in spring 2026 after two decades, as the Southbank Centre announced, and his final exhibition, Anish Kapoor, closes on October 18, the last day of the fair.

At Camden Art Centre, Martin Clark, director since 2017, announced on August 14 that he will leave to become chief executive and director of Towner Eastbourne from January 2027. Successor not yet announced

The Royal Academy and the Portrait Gallery

Simon Wallis has led the Royal Academy since September 2025, after 17 years as founding director of the Hepworth Wakefield. Victoria Siddall’s is the appointment with the most Frieze in it: she joined the company in 2004, was founding director of Frieze Masters in 2012 and directed all the fairs from 2014, according to Wikipedia. She is the first woman to direct the National Portrait Gallery.

Appointments Not Reconfirmed

Five names rest on older records, with no 2026 statement of their posts found. Unconfirmed for 2026 Alex Farquharson was appointed director of Tate Britain in 2015 and held the post in June 2025. Gabriele Finaldi was appointed director of the National Gallery in 2015. Shanay Jhaveri was appointed head of visual arts at the Barbican in 2022, and Bengi Ünsal director of the ICA the same year. Margot Heller was appointed director of the South London Gallery in 2001, according to Wikipedia.

The artists with the largest audiences this week are not in the tents. Three of the commissions below can be seen without a ticket. The fourth requires a fair ticket and a willingness to climb.

The other Frieze Sculpture artists, from the organizer’s release: Carolina Aguirre, Matyáš Chochola, Özlem Günyol and Mustafa Kunt, Elena Nemkova, Catriona Robertson, Tarini Sethi and Douglas White. Each work’s title, year and gallery is in the sculpture list. For the artists who live and work here the rest of the year, the Turner Prize shortlist among them, see London Art Scene.

In the Museums

The museum season is heavy with single names. Cecilia Vicuña has six decades of work at the Whitechapel. Robert Ryman is at the Barbican, Amar Kanwar at Serpentine North and Monika Sosnowska at the South London Gallery, all on frieze magazine’s list. Yinka Shonibare meets Thomas Gainsborough at the National Gallery from October 15, free, as Londonist lists it.

The Turner Prize Is Elsewhere

The 2026 shortlist is Simeon Barclay, Kira Freije, Marguerite Humeau and Tanoa Sasraku, as ArtReview reported. The plain fact for a visitor is that the exhibition is not in London. It is at MIMA in Middlesbrough, from September 26, 2026, to March 29, 2027, and the winner is announced there on December 10, according to Tate.

Museums shop at Frieze with other people’s money, and the names attached to that money are the week’s most durable patrons. Frieze set out the 2026 line-up on September 11. The private collectors’ spaces and foundations, open and shut, are on London Art Scene.

• Contemporary Art Society Collections Fund. Tenth year, buying for The Whitworth in Manchester.
• The Dasha Shenkman Focus Fund. New in 2026, buying from Focus for Abbot Hall in Kendal.
• WAC x FAMM Fund. New in 2026. Buys a work by a woman not yet in a British public collection.
• Arts Council Collection Frieze Acquisition Fund. Fourth year. Founding member: Tala Cingillioglu.
• Spirit Now London Acquisition Prize. Fifth edition, for the Photography Centre at the V&A.
• Nicoletta Fiorucci Foundation Prize. Second year: £10,000 shared by artist and gallery, and a 2027 exhibition.

What Was Bought in 2025

The purchases on record are last year’s. In 2025 the Frieze Tate Fund, £150,000 from philanthropic donations, bought Lubna Chowdhary’s Assembly from Jhaveri Contemporary, Barbara Walker’s End of the Affair II from Victoria Miro, and Madge Gill’s Untitled (Venus Mid Heaven) from The Gallery of Everything, according to Tate. Also in 2025, the Contemporary Art Society bought Michael Landy and Shaqúelle Whyte for the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool, and the Arts Council Collection bought Alex Margo Arden, by Frieze’s own report.

No 2026 announcement of the Frieze Tate Fund was found; it is absent from Frieze’s September list. Not yet announced

Each line below was read in two published versions before it was put in quotation marks. Remarks found in only one place are paraphrased.

Reported, Not Quoted

Dealers were cheerful on the record a year ago. Thaddaeus Ropac said in the 2025 closing release that the week was a welcome sign for the market, and Leopold Thun of Emalin told Artlyst that attendance held through the whole week. The columnist Melanie Gerlis predicted in The Art Newspaper on December 31, 2025, that London would regain its clout. No on-the-record reading of dealer mood dated October 2026 was available for this page.

The Art Newspaper has the most names on the week, and a Frieze week podcast. Anna Brady reports the market and first-day sales; Kabir Jhala covers ownership, appointments and dealers; Louisa Buck writes on prizes and galleries; Ben Luke on features; Gareth Harris on museums; Georgina Adam on auctions; Melanie Gerlis on the market. All appear on its 2025 Frieze London hub. A 2026 hub had not been found when this page was written. The working version of this section, outlet by outlet with feeds and press rooms, is on Live.

Artnet News has Jo Lawson-Tancred on the exhibitor lists and Margaret Carrigan on closures and fair takeaways. At Ocula, Louise Benson filed last year’s round of the town. ARTnews and Artforum cover the fairs, though their bylines could not be read for this guide.

frieze magazine covers its own fair on a 2026 tag page; it belongs to the company that runs the fair, which is worth keeping in mind. The Financial Times is the fairs’ global media partner, by Frieze’s release. At The Guardian, Adrian Searle stepped down as chief art critic at the end of March 2026 after nearly three decades, Artlyst reported.

For listings: Artlyst’s fair guide, Tabish Khan’s monthly list for Londonist, Ana Novi in Whitewall, and Olivia Cole and Olivia Emily in Country & Town House. Biennale’s directory pages for Frieze London, Frieze Masters and London are on My Biennale.