London Art Fair highlights

This year’s London Art Fair was covered by Katharine Evans, one of our art advisors who has been attending the fair for over 15 years. A stalwart of the city’s art scene, the fair opened its latest edition with a lively, bustling night. Among the myriad of stands on display, here are a handful of her personal highlights.

Osborne Samuel Gallery

Osborne Samuel Gallery continued its tradition of curatorial excellence, with Welsh artist Brendan Stuart Burns' canvases, standing out for me. As a fellow West Walian who keeps a strong eye on the Welsh Art Scene, it has been a pleasure to witness his trajectory over the last twenty years of my career. 

Blue Shop Gallery

Blue Shop Gallery, having evolved from the fair's projects section to a prominent floor space, presented a colourful display. One of the standouts was British Iranian sculptor Roya Bahram, a classically trained stone carver whose sculptural practice transcends traditional expectations. Bahram's masterful manipulation of marble and semiprecious stones creates illusory sculptures transforming seemingly immutable stone into fluid, almost gelatinous forms reminiscent of pop art's whimsical aesthetic.

Elizabeth Xi Bauer

At Elizabeth Xi Bauer's stand, Antonio Pichillá's work resonated deeply. Drawing inspiration from Guatemala's rich textile traditions, Pichillá articulates a nuanced dialogue between contemporary art and vernacular craftsmanship. His pieces reflect the increasingly permeable boundaries between fine art and traditional making practices—a trajectory powerfully highlighted by recent international exhibitions, such as the 2022 Venice Biennale. 

The Tagli

Lottie Stoddart, a London-based multi-disciplinary artist showcased at The Tagli, creates work that exists at the intersection of visual art and literary composition. Her practice approaches each artistic element with the precision of a poet, where meaning emerges through subtle illusion, material consideration, and witty juxtaposition.

K&Y Contemporary

Xevi Solà's presentation at K&Y Contemporary was particularly arresting. His portraits capture intimate, ephemeral moments with extraordinary sensitivity. Rendered in vibrant, expressive strokes, Solà's figures wear colorful attire. Each painting establishes an unspoken connection with the viewer, celebrating the beauty of the individual and contemporary human experience. 

This year’s London Art Fair once again demonstrated its role as a vital platform for both emerging and established artists, offering a dynamic snapshot of the contemporary art landscape.