This autumn, British Art Fair returns to Saatchi Gallery, London, with a compelling and ambitious programme. Over the past 37 years, the event has become an essential part of the cultural conversation, emerging as a showcase for excellence from the mid-20th century until today. Each edition welcomes more than 80 of the UK’s leading dealers and galleries and 12,000 visitors. The 2025 fair will feature some of the most influential figures of the last century, including Banksy, Barbara Hepworth, Damien Hirst, David Hockney, Frank Auerbach, L. S. Lowrey, Paula Rego and Tracey Emin. The artists bridge generations, movements and aesthetics. Together, they form a vivid portrait of British artistic legacy and evolution.
The fair’s Unsung exhibition is sure to be one of the most memorable aspects of the event. The show highlights artists whose oeuvres have been undervalued by the canon. Colin Gleadell, art market journalist and curator of the section, says: “it could be argued that Modern British art in general is undervalued in comparison to its American or European counterparts, but within today’s market there are countless instances of artists who have been forgotten at some point or overshadowed by more successful near contemporaries. Think of Graham Sutherland compared to Francis Bacon, Josh Nash to Paul Nash, Mary Newcomb to Winifred Nicholson.” In making these comparisons, British Art Fair raises important questions about the politics of visibility, asking how factors like race, gender, age affect recognition.
The section is split into four parts: “academic”, “bigotry”, “marriage” and “politics.” Each represents a reason why individuals were neglected from the mainstream art world. For people like Antony Eyton, William Johnstone and Henry Cliffe, the pursuit of a scholarly career, rather than commercial success through the gallery system, resulted in little widespread acclaim. Yet, many others struggled to gain recognition due to systematic oppression and prejudices, rather than personal choices. In “Bigotry,” Unsung foregrounds artists like Denton Welsh, a remarkable neo-romantic artist who faced discrimination both as someone with a disability, and for being LGBTQIA+ during a period when homosexuality was illegal. Meanwhile, Catherine Yarrow “was a woman and a surrealist painter,” an intersection that denied her the seriousness afforded to her male peers. Gender inequality also comes to the fore in “marriage,” where figures like Jean Taprell Clark, Jean Cooke and Mary Adshead are all returned to the spotlight after being overlooked in favour of their husbands. Unsung also reveals that overly political content in art can sometimes prove a barrier to popular appreciation, such as for Peter de Francia and Arthur Wragg.
In SOLO Contemporary, which returns for its fourth year, audiences are invited to look forward and discover cutting-edge galleries and pioneering artists defining today’s visual culture. It is a continuation of British Art Fair’s founding principle: to champion British creative practice in all its forms. Highlights include G L Brierley, who gives Old Master-style oil paintings a new twist; Ayogu Kingsley, whose work is deeply rooted in the ethos of Black Consciousness, challenging historical stereotypes and narratives; and Dan Coombs, a painter and collagist primarily concerned with the human psyche.
The fair continues its forward-looking approach to curation with Digitalism, making it the first art fair section dedicated entirely to digital art. This year, it’s larger than ever, with 22 stands and work by over 60 creatives. The pieces range from AI, digital painting, sculpture and photography to moving-image, robotic sculpture, Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality installations. Curator Rebekah Tolley explains how the immersive offering “brings together some of the most innovative artists working at the intersection of art and technology today; but more than that, it is an art movement in its own right – a new ‘ism’ in the story of art. At the same time, it recognises and reflects the long and rich history of digital arts, honouring the pioneers who laid the foundations whilst pushing the language forward into the present and future.”
The British Art Fair stands at the intersection of heritage and innovation. It provides a thoughtful lens through which to view the past, going beyond the canon to consider who has been neglected and how we, as a community, can begin to set that right. Visitors can also engage with a dynamic view of today’s world, viewing digital innovation as a tool for innovation rather than something that encroaches upon creative integrity. The 2025 event is a showcase of the very best the nation’s art scene has to offer, reaffirming its role as a vital platform for past, present and future homegrown talent.
British Art Fair 2025 is at Saatchi Gallery, London 25 – 28 September: britishartfair.co.uk
Words: Emma Jacob
Image Credits:
1. Ruby Pluhar, The Dance of the Bees, 2024. Photograph.
2. Ruby Pluhar, New Landing, 2024. Photograph.
3. Ruby Pluhar, New Landing, 2024. Photograph.
4. The WOWOW Gallery, Arulla, 2025. Metamorphosis.
