After gallery collapse, its artists sell again at Frieze London
Eight months after their London gallery collapsed, its artists are selling again at Frieze London.
Painters Denzil Forrester and Clare Woods, sculptor Holly Hendry and others left without a dealer when Stephen Friedman gallery in London shut suddenly at the start of 2026 are back on the walls in Regent's Park — this time above different doors. Two Forrester paintings sold within the fair's first hour.
The scale of the closure was large. Before it entered administration in February 2026 — a UK insolvency process in which outside managers take control of a business — the gallery represented 39 artists and estates, The Art Newspaper reported on 15 October 2026. It owed a total of £7.8m to creditors, including more than £800,000 to artists.
Forrester has joined Thaddaeus Ropac, the gallery with spaces in London, Paris, Salzburg and Seoul. Ropac showed two of his nightclub-scene paintings at its Frieze London 2026 stand. Both sold for £175,000 apiece within the first hour of the fair. Forrester is scheduled to open an exhibition with Ropac in June 2027.
Woods has joined Victoria Miro, the gallery in London and Venice. Miro showed two still-life paintings by Woods at its Frieze London 2026 booth. The work sold out in London and had also sold out at the Armory Show, the art fair in New York, in September 2026. Woods will hold her first solo exhibition with Victoria Miro in February 2027.
Other moves came quickly. Josh Lilley, the gallery in London, announced representation of Hendry — an arrangement in which a gallery sells and promotes an artist's work — in the week of 15 October 2026. It showed four sculptures by her at Frieze London 2026.
Sarah Ball began representation with Pilar Corrias, the gallery in London, in September 2026. Pilar Corrias showed new paintings by Ball in its viewing room at Frieze London 2026, a small private display space inside the fair. A year earlier, work from Ball's solo stand at Frieze London 2025 with Stephen Friedman was selected for the Arts Council Frieze Acquisitions Fund, the UK fund that buys work at the fair for regional museums.
Caroline Walker, another former Stephen Friedman artist, showed paintings at Frieze London 2026 with two long-term dealers. She has shown with Grimm Gallery, which has spaces in Amsterdam, London and New York, since 2018 and with Ingleby Gallery in Edinburgh since 2020.
For anyone walking the fair, the change was easy to spot. The names were the same. The stands were different.
