There are only a couple of weeks left before Frieze London 2024, the 21^st edition of the annual art fair, arrives at Regent’s Park from 9^–13 October. Concurrent exhibitions, including those of Frieze Masters, will also be put on elsewhere throughout the capital. Below, we have highlighted some of the most interesting, thought-provoking and enjoyable events and purpose-built spaces to attend. So, as the weather begins to darken, consider brightening up your intellectual world and sparking your creative impulses through these carefully curated displays…

Illy x The Cultivist: Art for Thought ‘Women as Vangaurd’ with Aindrea Emelife at Apricity, Mayfair

Taking inspiration from the ancient Greek concept of kalokagathìa, which combines kalòs (the beautiful) with agathòs (the good), Italian coffee brand Illy has long sought to bring together coffee and art in such a way as to foster meaningful conversations. In advance of Frieze London, this is exactly what it will be doing at the “Art for Thought” coffee-cocktail evening at Michelin Green Star-boasting restaurant, Apricity, in collaboration with The Cultivist. Curator and art historian Aindrea Emelife will host the evening and present her talk, “Women as Vangaurd”. It explores modern and contemporary art as they pertain to colonial and decolonial histories in Africa, as well as to the politics of representation. While enjoying the event, guests can expect to be served Illy’s signature coffee cocktails and mocktails, as well as a selection of canapés from Illy UK chef ambassador Chantelle Nicholson.

30 September, 6:30-8pm; tickets £45 per person from eventbrite.co.uk

2024 Illy Art Collection at the Illy Frieze stand

In 1991, Francesco Illy commissioned designer Matteo Thun to conceive Illy’s iconic espresso cup, which has since served as a canvas on which contemporary artists have printed their ideas. While many brands and chains speak about coffee as a form of art, Illy, official coffee of Frieze since 2021, truly appreciates the role the drink has played in fostering human progress. Key enlightenment thinker Voltaire, for example, was said to have drunk up to 50 cups a day! The 2024 Illy Art Collection, the 128^th thus far, will be unveiled at the Illy Frieze stand this year. The collection, available in sets of two or four both for espresso and cappuccino, consists of works by four highly accoladed and diverse female artists, commentaries on the importance of human rights and other increasingly significant environmental and cultural issues. Among the contributors is Monica Bonvicini, who through a variety of visual media explores the relationship between power structures, gender and space. Binta Diaw’s work, meanwhile, focuses on migration, identity and the Black female body experience. Simone Fattal, who fled Lebanon during the civil war in the 1980s, produces experimental literary and sculptural works that have to do with transformations of the human spirit. Finally, Iranian visual artist Shirin Neshat highlights contrasts between putative dichotomies like femininity and masculinity or antiquity and modernity, considering her art ‘an expression of protest, a cry for humanity’.

9-13 October

Dunhill x Frieze Masters Talks

British luxury menswear house Dunhill will be returning to Frieze for another series of conversations between curators and leading industry figures. For the second instalment of the partnership, a programme of speakers has been curated by creative advisor of Frieze Masters, Sheena Wagstaff, and head of visual arts for the Barbican, Shanay Jhaveri – building upon the inaugural presentation last year. Six separate discussion panels will be held over the five-day period, featuring influential international artists such as Jeremy Deller, Nathalie du Pasquier and Ming Smith, as well as figures like Glenn Lowry, Lou Stoppard and Zoé Whitley. Hosted in the Dunhill lounge auditorium designed in collaboration with Studio Boum, speakers are invited to explore geographies and politics, their talks to be framed around the theme of the creative mind. Dunhill will host a kickoff dinner at its London flagship store on Thursday 3 October, following a conversation between artists Mark Leckey and Jenny Waldman for which author and curator Polly Staple will act as moderator. Each talk will be recorded for a podcast series, released weekly in November.

3-12 October

Wallace Chan’s Fish in Waves and PETALS at Annabel’s

Wallace Chan is the world-renowned artist behind A Heritage in Bloom, the world’s most expensive necklace. At private members’ club Annabel’s during Frieze, he will unveil his latest couple of masterpieces. The first is the jewellery sculpture Fish in Waves, which explores the relationship between fish and their environment, a microcosm of the interconnectedness of all life. Through the use of The Wallace Chan Porcelain and precious stones like paraíba tourmaline, yellow diamond and tsavorite garnet, this arrestingly vibrant piece captures the most mesmerising textures and colours of the sea. Then there is his series of titanium sculptures, PETALS, inspired by Baroque Catholic statues.

These are floral shapes on which distorted faces are faintly discernible. Chan has used the molten state of titanium to effect a haunting, liminal quality, as though these works exist between different states such as liquid and solid, or physical and spiritual. Immersing visitors yet further in the world of his unique imagination, Annabel’s will also display four of Chan’s most popular jewellery artworks – The Grace of Life, Wallace Cut, Entrancing Love and The Self.

6-13 October

Breguet x Jenn Ellis at Frieze London

For another year, luxury watchmaker Breguet will be returning to Frieze. The Breguet lounges are developed in collaboration with curator Jenn Ellis, who will unveil a year-long project and her third exhibition for Breguet, which features works entitled River of Stars by indigenous artist Naminapu Maymuru-White. The exhibition expands on Maymuru-White’s recent presentation at the Venice Biennale, aiming to tie thematic threads between time, humanity and cultural exchange by blending artistic techniques of painting and carving.

9-13 October

Conversations with Nature exhibition in the Ruinart Art Bar

In conjunction with the unveiling of its Carte Blanche 2024, Conversations with Nature, Maison Ruinart has brought together six artists interested in exploring perceptions of environmental issues around the world. For this iteration of Frieze London, works by Marcus Coates and Henrique Oliveira will compose the Conversations with Nature exhibition at the Ruinart Art Bar. Coates has created a calendar documenting natural events as they occur at Ruinart’s historic Taissy vineyard, from plants flowering to insect lifecycles. Hoisting a flag marked with a different phrase each day, the calendar celebrates otherwise invisible news from the vineyard’s ecosystem, with these messages set to be compiled into a limited-edition publication. Oliveira’s project, meanwhile, is a tree-size sculpture made from recycled plywood and papier-mâché with an internal metal structure. Having the appearance of branches intertwined like roots beneath the ground, it echoes the subterranean network of chalk pits where Ruinart ages its champagne. It’s based on the idea of an inverted vine whose roots are exposed not to the soil but to the air, and brings to mind the history of the Champagne landscape, where chalk was sedimented millions of years ago. At the bar, guests can enjoy these works with a glass of R de Ruinart, Ruinart Blanc de Blancs, Ruinart Rosé or Ruinart Blanc Singulier Edition 19, with Dom Ruinart Blanc de Blancs 2010 available by the bottle.

9-13 October

George pop-up at Frieze London

George, the Mayfair private members’ club known for its fusion of culture and exceptional dining, will present its first pop-up at Frieze London 2024. Designed to convey a sense of the Mayfair home from which artworks by the likes of David Hockney will be borrowed, the pop-up will be set inside a sophisticated oasis, where visitors can try some of the club’s Mediterranean-inspired culinary treats and signature cocktails.

9-13 October