Frieze #254

The October issue of frieze magazine is dedicated to artists and writers living and working in London. Senior editor Terence Trouillot interviews sculptor Hugh Hayden on the occasion of his solo show at Lisson Gallery in London. Plus, Peter Davies, Rose Easton, Maggie Matic, Matthew Noel-Tod and Bolanle Tajudeen contribute to a roundtable on how London’s institutions can support emerging artists in the city. 

Interview: Hugh Hayden  

‘My work is about access, aspiration, alienation – things that cross boundaries.’ The artist talks to Terence Trouillot about crafting works that seduce and unsettle. 

Roundtable: Emerging Currents  

‘I have this imaginative vision for what an art school should be, and it extends beyond the institution itself.’ Five art-world leaders – directors, artists, academics and gallerists – consider what London offers emerging talent today, and why artist-run spaces, galleries and collaboration remain vital. 

Also featuring   

Noemi Smolik profiles large-scale photographer Andreas Gursky ahead of his exhibition at the White Cube in London. In ‘1,500 Words’, Nan Goldin speaks to senior editor Vanessa Peterson about her lifelong bond with artist David Armstrong, whose presence shaped her artistic voice through decades of friendship, photography and shared survival. Plus, Carson Chan pens a thematic essay on how monuments script public memory and futures through the contested values of the past. 

Columns: Friendship 

Ira Silverberg pens a memorial to artist John Giorno, documenting their shared time at 222 Bowery; Evangeline Turner tells Lisette May Monroe about the camaraderie she built with Alastair MacKinven while sharing a studio with the painter; Anri Sala speaks to senior editor Marko Gluhaich about his boundary breaking friend, artist and Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama; Rainer Diana Hamilton reviews Kay Gabriel’s novel Perverts (2025), which teaches us how to dream in unison; Rick Lowe and Otobong Nkanga discuss their two-decade friendship, touching on how community and social engagement shape their artistic practices. 

Finally, Bryn Evans responds to Kerry James Marshall’s 2014 painting Untitled (Blanket Couple). Plus, Anri Sala contributes to our series of artists’ ‘to-do’ lists, and senior editor Terence Trouillot pens a postcard from the Berkshires. 

Frieze is the leading magazine of contemporary art and culture. Frieze includes essays, reviews and columns by today’s most forward-thinking writers, artists and curators.