Looking at London Art Fair 2026

I can count the amount of times I 've been to London on my two hands. Before I went to university, it would be a shopping trip to Oxford Street. During university, a group visit to the Tate Modern and the British Museum. I would extend my trip- missing the train- so I could discover Saville Row in the dark and climb the stairs of the Royal Academy.

I hadn't researched London Art Fair. I walked uphill for half an hour towards another unknown place (Islington). I then arrived at a three-storey 'Design Business Centre' full of suits, wanderers, talkers and punters. Under one slanted roof stood over one hundred 'stalls' from individual galleries in London (and beyond) displaying modern and contemporary paintings, sculptures, ceramics, textiles, etchings, prints...

I had no words during my shuffle around. I put my hair up twice to curb another surge in body temperature aroused by overwhelm. Over the three hours, I said nothing to anyone except asking if 'I can(...?)' when I turned another corner and was met by a woman holding a plastic tray that presented slim silver tins.

It is a new month and the heartrate has slowed, the hair is less damp, the eyes are feeling lighter. Away from the city, I can now look back on what caught my attention at London Art Fair which I share below.

Textiles

It was the textile pieces that caught my eye the most during my visit. This might be because in January I had started learning how to weave or thanks to the constant of raw canvas back at home.

1-2: Works by Vanessa Barragão, including (Image 1) Clam (2025), Wool and tercel, metal, latch hook, crochet

3-4: Isabel Fletcher, Grid Drape (2025), Ballet shoe offcuts, thread

5-7: Works by Laetitzia Campbell, including (Image 7) Mornings (2025), cotton thread on cotton fabric

Painting

I've been very curious by forms in soft focus lately. Another thread I can see here is texture supplied by thick paint and fast movements.

1: Brendan Burns, Rapture III (2025), oil and wax on linen

2: Alice Hartley, Momentary (2025), oil on canvas

3: Marina Altukhova, The Kiss (2025), oil and acrylic on canvas

4: Works by Tom Scotcher, including Bend in the Ouse (2025), oil on two canvases

5: Sam Douglas, Black Crags moonrise (2025), oil and varnish on board

6: Kaja Stumpf, I Saw You Before It Was Over (2025), oil on linen

Works on the Body

I will never grow tired of looking at others' studies of the Body. Here it is seen as something solitary, autonomous, experiencing the day.

1: Tracy Emin, Self Portrait, 12.11.01 (2001), print from original Polaroid, from a group of 80 photographs taken on the same day

2: Craig Simpson, Apanthropy , oil on canvas

Little mention: Black & White

Simple and soothing during an explosion of content. Here's two big names.

1-2: David Hockney, Stephen Spender (1981), pen on paper. Text in the corner: 'For Stephen sorry I tore the corner off by mistake love David x'

3: Lucian Freud,Portrait Head (2001), etching on Somerset Textured paper

London Art Fair is an annual art fair displaying Modern and Contemporary art - londonartfair.co.uk

Cover image : Isabel Fletcher, Satin Overlap (2023), Suspended ballet shoe offcuts with hand stitch.