London Art Fair returns for its 37th edition with new shows from more than 120 international galleries. The renowned event, which takes place at the Business Design Centre, Islington, offers a diverse presentation of modern and contemporary art, alongside curated displays and an inspiring programme of talks, panel discussions and artist insights. For 2025, the Fair partners with celebrated art museum, Sainsbury Centre, Norwich, whose showcase encourages viewers to interact with objects up close. This is an event which ensures that all aspects of today’s art world is made accessible to everyone.
There are more than 120 galleries representing countries from around the world, including the Czech Republic, France, Iran, Italy, Japan, Sweden and Turkey. They showcase some of the most renowned artists of the 20th century, including sculptors Alberto Giacometti and Barbara Hepworth, as well as Bridget Riley and Damien Hirst. Moreover, a never-before-seen suite of paintings by Emily Kam Kngwarreye is presented by Rebecca Hossack Art Gallery, ahead of the anticipated Tate Modern retrospective this summer. These world-renowned figures are part of movements that have shaped the past one hundred years – many of which are celebrated throughout the fair. Cross Lane Projects marks the 100th anniversary of Surrealism, whilst Castlegate House Gallery, Alan Wheatley Art, Middlemarch Fine Art and Quad Fine Art will celebrate the contributions of international women artists to abstraction. Fast forward to today, and London Art Fair is placing photography at the heart of the conversation. Suzanne Moxhay’s magical realist images are on display with Oliver Projects, whilst Dean West is showing portraits with ARTITLED Contemporary.
A particular highlight is Sainsbury Centre’s “Living Art” experience, brought to London from the gallery’s home in Norwich exclusively for the Fair. Visitors are encouraged to engage with the exhibition in a unique way by stepping inside cases and “becoming” an artwork. The intention is to change the blueprint of how audiences view a gallery space, shifting and refocusing perceptions of art towards something everyone can engage with and enjoy. The exhibition ranges in time, from Mayan objects to paintings by Francis Bacon and beyond. The display merges history with present-day technologies, as viewers use an app to reveal the creators’ life stories. Jago Cooper, Director of the gallery, said: “The Sainsbury Centre was founded with the radical idea of removing the barriers that exist between art and people and believes in the ability of museums to activate social change. Our museum has created some innovative ways of bringing that raw power of art to life, and visitors to the fair will be able to try out these new Living Art ideas themselves, as they step inside the exhibition case and see the art looking at them.”
2025 also sees the return of “Encounters”, a unique platform that allows exclusive access to exhibitions before they’re shown in mainstream galleries. The underlying theme of the show, now in its tenth year, is on unexpected encounters across time and space. Elsewhere, Visit Tampa Bay has commissioned a site specific multi-sensory installation by Ya La’ford. It is an evocative exploration of Florida’s beauty that celebrates the state’s connections to London and the wider world.
London Art Fair’s special presentation, known as “Platform”, brings audiences closer to nature. Titled Today for you, tomorrow for me, it occupies the intersection of contemporary art, healing practices and ecology and takes inspiration from the practice of “ayni”, originating from the Q-ero people of Peru. Curator Becca Pelly-Fry unites six galleries whose artists are making work about what it means to maintain a delicate balance: between the land, living beings and society. Soho Revue brings works by Tuesday Riddell and Rene Gonzalez, who portray animal and human characters in dream-like landscapes, reflecting the experience of existing as an outsider navigating an adopted environment. Meanwhile, 99 Projects presents Poppy Lennox, whose work with wood, paint and thread make visible the interconnectivity of life.
This year’s combination of gallery showcases and curated exhibitions, alongside distinctive commissions and educational opportunities, cements London Art Fair’s reputation as a powerful driving force in the art world. The 2025 Fair provides an important opportunity to discover and champion outstanding contemporary art, whilst pushing audiences to consider new ways of engaging with gallery space.
London Art Fair will run from 22 – 26 January 2025 : Londonartfair.co.uk
Preview Evening: 21 January
Image Credits:
Suzanne Moxhay, Island, 2024, archival pigment print, courtesy of the artist and Oliver Projects.
Tom Blachford, Lear 911 – Midnight Modern, 2023.
Dean West, Isaac Silhouette #1, American West, 2024.
The post Interactive Experiences appeared first on Aesthetica Magazine.
