In the Shadows, We See: Fatoş Üstek’s Frieze Sculpture

Frieze Sculpture returns to Regent’s Park this autumn with a new curatorial focus on what lies unseen. Opening 17 September, the free public exhibition—now in its 13th edition—brings together 14 international artists under the theme “In the Shadows.” Curated for the third year by London-based writer and curator Fatoş Üstek, the show explores how memory, material, and myth can thrive in the darker corners of perception.

Üstek describes the theme as “a perspective that embraces the unknown, the concealed and the forgotten.”

Rather than treating shadows as voids, the exhibition considers them as “zones of potential,” where absence becomes a form of presence. It’s a fitting concept for a moment when many artists are confronting ecological fragility, historical erasure, and transformation.

This year’s participating artists include Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, Reena Saini Kallat, Elmgreen & Dragset, Assemble, Erwin Wurm, and David Altmejd, among others. Each artist engages with shadow as both metaphor and material. Altmejd’s Nymph 1 Nymph 2 Nymph 3 (2025) promises an uncanny exploration of metamorphosis, echoing his fascination with the body in flux—half-human, half-mythic. In contrast, Andy Holden’s Auguries (Lament) transforms birdcalls into bronze relics, while Burçak Bingöl’s Unit Terrenum Rosa uses clay soil from Regent’s Park to root her sculpture in the landscape itself.

The tone of the 2025 edition feels more contemplative than spectacular. Reena Saini Kallat’s monumental sound work Requiem (The Last Call) mourns the loss of species through a language of communication, and Jaune Quick-to-See Smith’s King of the Mountain honors Indigenous resilience. Erwin Wurm’s spectral garments and Henrique Oliveira’s organic wooden structures continue the dialogue between visibility and disappearance, while Grace Schwindt reflects on how memory leaves its traces in form and gesture.

Performance also features prominently this year. Assemble’s Fibredog takes the form of a costumed procession through the park, while Lucía Pizzani, in collaboration with Lucia Pietroiusti, stages live performances inspired by myth and metamorphosis. Üstek will lead curator’s walks, linking the conceptual framework of the exhibition to the landscape of Regent’s Park itself.

Frieze Sculpture once again aligns with London Sculpture Week (20–28 September), a citywide initiative connecting five major programs, including The Line, the Fourth Plinth, East Bank, and Sculpture in the City. Highlights will include a conference at the Warburg Institute on 26 September and artist-led tours across venues. Visitors can also explore the exhibition through Bloomberg Connects, the official digital guide featuring audio commentary by Üstek.

As London prepares for Frieze Week in October, Frieze Sculpture offers its most reflective chapter yet. In the Shadows invites visitors to slow down, to look for what is not immediately visible, and to find meaning in the spaces where light gives way to depth.

‍