Frieze London Grows to 176 Galleries as Paris Looms

By Tom Whitfield

Frieze London opens Wednesday in Regent's Park with 176 galleries from 43 countries — up from 160 galleries across 44 countries in 2025. Frieze Masters runs alongside it. Kristell Chadé, the organization's executive director of fairs, has overseen the portfolio for 15 years and now runs eight fairs.

The backdrop is less tidy than the growth figures suggest. Art Basel Paris opens next week, and many in the trade are skipping London for it. The UK, meanwhile, has absorbed Brexit, a pandemic and seven prime ministers in a decade, yet it holds its number two ranking in global art trade by value behind the US, according to the 2026 Art Basel and UBS Global Art Market Report.

Chadé, speaking to ARTnews, rejected the framing of a two-city contest. "The autumn season clearly revolves around two well-established centers of gravity, London and Paris," she said. "But I do think they're different and complementary offers. Galleries and collectors choose to do both."

She was firmer still on what expansion means for a company that began with one fair in 2003. "The growth over a decade has never been about adding points on a map," Chadé said. "Global does not by any means mean uniform, and we don't export a fixed concept."

What changes this year on the floor?

The main geographic trend across both fairs, according to Chadé, is an increased presence from South Asia. Frieze London has its first Sri Lankan participant, Saskia Fernando. A strong contingent from Brazil arrives partly through the Frieze Curator Travel Grant, run with the Instituto Guimarães Rosa and the Embassy of Brazil in London, which brings five Brazil-based curators to the fair. South Korea, the Gulf and North Africa remain strong.

Chadé said Frieze expects more collectors from India, Pakistan, Singapore, Indonesia, Turkey and Canada, plus an increased number of Americans. Expectations, it should be noted, are not receipts; the fair has not yet published attendance figures.

The fair's first curated thread takes on queer visual history under the title "Queering Modernism." Chadé framed it as evidence that Frieze "acts as a platform for what is happening in the world," giving space to themes "sometimes radical and sometimes new to provoke reactions and discourse."

How healthy is the business, really?

Chadé's answer leaned on structure rather than sales figures — which she did not provide. Both fairs are full, she said, with slightly higher gallery and country counts. Beyond that, she pointed to pricing decisions: annual increases kept minimal or flat where possible, and a sliding-scale pricing model introduced in 2024 to help galleries move from the Focus section into the main fair.

She acknowledged the pressure beneath the market's surface. "We know it's a demanding time for galleries who are under a lot of pressure," Chadé said. "Costs have gone up across the board and galleries, especially mid-sized and younger ones, have to make decisions and are thinking very carefully about where they show, why, and what."

Acquisition funds support museum purchases from the fair, from the Tate Fund to the Dasha Shenkman Focus Fund, alongside prizes such as the Frieze Artists Award and the Camden Art Centre Emerging Artist Award.

What about Abu Dhabi?

Frieze Abu Dhabi opens in November, taking over a fair that has existed for 17 years, on Saadiyat Island alongside Louvre Abu Dhabi, the Zayed National Museum, the Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi and the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, which opens in December. The launch comes amid political turmoil in the Middle East.

Chadé said the organization is in "open communication" with galleries and collectors in the region and "close contact" with local partners. Pressed on whether any galleries had dropped out over the political situation, she did not say yes or no, describing "transparent conversations" and "a level of flexibility with the gallery list." Frieze Masters Abu Dhabi will be curated by Marika Sardar, exploring cultural exchanges across the Indian Ocean, with a Global Futures section curated by Tarini Malik.

What does this change for London's autumn season? On Chadé's account, nothing decisive: two fairs, one week apart, both fuller than last year — and no sales numbers yet to settle the argument.