Frieze London Hosts Collectors' Dinner, Showcases“Unexpected Views”

(MENAFN- USA Art News) Art world figures gathered at the Frieze London tent on Thursday evening for a Collectors' Dinner that included a performance by UK choreographer Holly Blakey. Guests, among them Aaron Cezar, director of London's Delfina Foundation, and Ed Behrens, editor of Apollo magazine, enjoyed dishes prepared by Sessions Arts Club and wines from Fortnum's.

Unexpected Views at National Gallery Marks Tenth Anniversary

The National Gallery's Unexpected Views series, a consistent highlight of Frieze week, celebrated its tenth anniversary with a lineup of eight leading contemporary artists. Each artist presented a ten-minute talk in front of a favorite painting. Tschabalala Self, whose monumental work Lady in Blue is currently displayed on Trafalgar Square's Fourth Plinth, selected Bronzino's An Allegory with Venus and Cupid (around 1545 ). Meanwhile, Yinka Shonibare spoke before Thomas Gainsborough's Mr and Mrs Andrews (around 1750 ), which shares a gallery with Shonibare's own sculpture featuring the aristocratic couple decapitated and dressed in Dutch wax fabric.

Barbie Explored in Subversive Artworks at Frieze London

Barbie's typically wholesome image is being reinterpreted with a more subversive approach at Frieze London this week. Richard Saltoun Gallery's stand features Helen Chadwick's photopiece Birth of Barbie ( 1993 ), which depicts the doll inverted, colored deep scarlet, and emerging from red meat folds. This image was notably used by Chadwick as her Christmas card that year. At 1-54, on the Whitechapel Editions stand, Joy Gregory's Explosive Barbie ( 2025 ) shows Barbie with disheveled hair, silhouetted against a cyanotype blue background.

Andy Warhol's Cat Lithographs Featured at Frieze Masters

Cats are a prominent theme at Frieze Masters, with Shapero Modern gallery exhibiting Andy Warhol's works. The gallery is showcasing 16 offset lithographs from Warhol's series 25 Cats Name(d) Sam and One Blue Pussy (around 1954 ). The lettering for the series was done by Warhol's mother, Julia Warhola, who is reportedly also responsible for the omission of the“d” in the title's“Name(d).” Artist Grayson Perry was among those who appreciated the works.

John Banting Honored with Solo Exhibition and Biography

John Banting, a prominent, hedonistic figure of the 1920s and 1930s who later died in obscurity, is being recognized this week with a solo exhibition, Livid Cosmoramas, at John Swarbrooke Fine Art. Additionally, a new biography by Hugh St Claire chronicles his life. During the exhibition opening, an experienced art journalist revealed she had a tattoo of Banting's distinctive 1932 woodcut Siamese triplets on her leg, demonstrating deep admiration for his work.

We previously reported:

Artists formerly represented by the now-closed Stephen Friedman Gallery are exhibiting at Frieze London with new dealers, finding immediate sales success.

London's Frieze Week saw London Invitational and Paraiso emerge as standout fairs, showcasing high-quality and Latin American art respectively.

Celebrities and art world figures gathered at Regent's Park for the VIP preview of Frieze London and Frieze Masters on October 14, 2026.

Source: The Art Newspaper

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