Every October, Frieze Art Fair and “Frieze Week” ushers in numerous additional art fairs (Start, 1-54, PAD London) and countless art exhibitions in the capital, including a raft of immersive shows. From interactive digital installations to immersive environments indoors and outside that engage sight, sound and even touch, here are some of London’s most exciting exhibitions (including two that are free) that allow visitors to step inside the artwork itself.
1.Frieze Sculpture, Regent’s Park, until 27 October. Free
Curated by Fatoş Üstek, Frieze Sculpture has expanded for its 12th edition to include 22 leading international artists hailing from five continents, whose work is sited throughout Regent Park’s historic English Gardens. The free sculpture exhibition, held alongside Frieze Art Fair, includes works by Leonora Carrington, Theaster Gates, Zanele Muholi and Yoshitomo Nara.
2.Haegue Yang: Leap Year, Hayward Gallery, 9 Oct 2024 – 5 Jan 2025. Tickets from £19
For her first major UK show, Haegue Yang’s work at the Hayward Gallery on London’s Southbank, spans a vast range of media – from paper collage to performative sculpture and immense sensorial installations. Equally as wide-ranging, the Korean artist’s inspiration draws on diverse histories and customs, including East Asian traditions and folklore, modernism, contemporary art history and nature. These works bring together a wide spectrum of visual and sensory experiences through the mediums of installation, sculpture, collage, text, video, wallpaper, sound. Yang uses a variety of crafts, techniques and materials in her work, tapping into the cultural connotations they carry. Her works often feature a variety of household and industrial objects, including drying racks, light bulbs, metal-plated bells, nylon pom-poms, hand-knitted yarn and hanji (Korean paper).
3.Yayoi Kusama: Every Day I Pray for Love, Victoria Miro Gallery, until 2 November. Free
The Japanese artist’s latest show is her fourteenth solo exhibition at London’s Victoria Miro gallery and includes Kusama’s latest paintings and sculptures as well as a much-anticipated new infinity mirrored room, an immersive work that envelops visitors inside a pulsating, light-filled, hexagonal space. The ceiling is colored flashing LED lights arranged in a concentric pattern whose reflections produce an infinite honeycomb. A large, mirrored sphere hangs in the centre of the space where you’ll see endless distorted reflections of yourself. Two large-scale stuffed fabric installations also dominate the upper and lower galleries. Death of Nerves, 2022 consists of numerous multicolored sewn, stuffed-fabric elements reminiscent of tendrils, vines or even a nervous system, suspended from the ceiling beams of the upper gallery, coming to rest on the ground floor fifteen metres below. Also upstairs are paintings and a new work The Moment of Regeneration, 2024, a cluster of red-and-black sewn, stuffed fabric forms that look like a mini forest. The free tickets are sold out but check for returns and additional releases.
4.Eclipse by Nonotak, Lumen Studios, until 8 December. Tickets from £22
"Through the experience of Eclipse, we would like visitors to realize the power and impact of light on visual perception when combined with space and sound.” Nonotak
Lumen Studios’ immersive audiovisual experience, Eclipse, by acclaimed creative duo Nonotak is their first solo exhibition in London. Spanning over 1,000 square meters in a vast south London warehouse, Eclipse includes three light and sound installations, including two new site-specific works. Kinetic visuals, projection mapping, choreographed sound and more, engrosses the viewer in dynamic audiovisual landscapes and experimentations. The duo of visual artist Noemi Schipfer and light and sound artist Takami Nakamoto is inspired by minimalist architecture and optical art and their installations invite an exploration of the interplay between light and darkness; sound and silence; and the physical and the intangible. The duo has collaborated with Hermès, Adidas and Roppongi Art Night and their work has also been featured in John Wick 4.
5.Marina Abramovic, Healing Frequency, Moco Museum until 11 March 2025. Tickets from £20.90
“The power of performance art, after all, lies in its ability to transform not just the artist but the audience too. The body of the artist is the medium, but so too is that of the observer.” Marina Abramović
Moco Museum London’s first temporary exhibition is Healing Frequency, a new exhibition by Serbian performance artist Marina Abramović where you can engage with interactive spaces designed for contemplation and transformation. The show brings together 12 works from Abramović’s series Transitory Objects for Human Use, including one piece that has been acquired for Moco’s permanent collection. This important series of works in Abramović’s career, dates back to the 1990s and includes a series of chairs, beds, and benches adorned with Abramovic’s signature crystals. At the centre of the exhibition is the newly acquired Chair for Human Use with Chair for Spirit Use, featuring two chairs in which visitors will have the opportunity to sit across from each other, entering a moment of shared energy, “activating the power of art” as Abramovic explains.
