Fair Play Art Fair has revealed the 65 artists selected for its inaugural London edition, launching at One Marylebone during Frieze Week this October with a model that removes upfront booth fees for participating artists.
Founded by Ryan Stanier, creator of The Other Art Fair, Fair Play is positioning itself as an artist-first alternative to the traditional fair model. Rather than charging artists to exhibit, participants are selected on merit and given the opportunity to meet collectors and sell their work directly.
The inaugural selection was chosen from an open call by a committee comprising Kate Bryan, Chief Art Director at Soho House; Jo Baring, Director of the Ingram Collection of Modern British & Contemporary Art; curator and The Collective Makers co-founder Lison Sabrina Musset; and multidisciplinary design practice Buchanan Studio.
The resulting lineup stretches across career stages, disciplines and geographies. Seventy per cent of participating artists are women, more than 60% have previously held solo exhibitions and the selection spans more than 15 countries. Works will range across painting, sculpture, photography, digital art and installation, with prices starting at £200.
Among the better-known names is Tim Noble, alongside Robert Montgomery, whose practice moves between poetry, painting and public installation, and Curtis Holder, winner of Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year 2020 and the John Ruskin Prize 2024.
Other artists include Charlotte Mei, Seana Gavin, Geraldine Swayne, James Dearlove, Fujiko Rose, Gina Soden, Poppy Lennox, Shirin Fathi, Marcelina Amelia and Steve McPherson. The selection moves from painting and drawing through embroidery, collage and found materials to computational code, AI and digital archives.
There is an international thread too. South Korean artist Sunju Jin, currently showing as part of The Sun and The Moon at Saatchi Gallery, draws on 19th-century Korean folk painting, or Minhwa; Iranian artist Shirin Fathi uses photography to question inherited narratives around identity and power; while Yasser Claud-Ennin works with family archives and inherited West African textiles connected to his Nigerian-Ghanaian heritage.
The absence of upfront artist fees is central to Fair Play’s proposition. Jo Baring describes the transparency of the model as one of its strengths:
“Artists take on no financial risk. There are no upfront fees, so nobody has to gamble on their own success before they’ve even started.”
Stanier previously founded The Other Art Fair in 2011, growing it across cities including London, New York, Los Angeles, Sydney and Melbourne before departing in 2024. Saatchi Art acquired the fair in 2016. Fair Play is his attempt to rethink the artist-led model again, this time by removing the financial barrier of paying for a booth before a work has been sold.
For collectors, that proposition is paired with a deliberately accessible entry point. Prices begin at £200, while the fair is being designed as more than a conventional sales floor, with music, performances and immersive experiences running alongside the art. Further programming will be announced in September.
Arriving in the middle of Frieze Week, Fair Play adds another model to London’s increasingly varied ecosystem of satellite fairs — one that puts independent artists, direct sales and the economics of exhibiting firmly at its centre.
Fair Play Art Fair, 15th–18th October 2026
One Marylebone
MORE: @fairplayartfair
Full list of participating artists: Alec Cumming, Alexandra Diez de Rivera, Alison McKenna, Amelia Badenoch, Andrea Tyrimos, Anna McNeil, Anton Byrne-Carter, Barbara Kuebel, Calder MacKay, Charlotte Mei, Coco Hewitt, Curtis Holder, Daisy Billowes, Ditte Blohm, Edyta, Eleanor Turnbull, Erin Bird, Fei Alexeli, Fujiko Rose, Gavin Dobson, Georgie McEwan, Geraldine Swayne, Ghalia AbdulJawad, Gina Soden, Ines Fernandez de Cordova, James Dearlove, Jeannine Close, Jennifer Nieuwland, Jo Chate, Jozef Michalski, Kirsty Bell, Kwinnie Lê, Laetitzia Campbell, Lawrence Meju, Lea Rose Kara, Leily Moghtader Mojdehi, Li Ramet, Lindsay Mapes, Lisa King, Marcelina Amelia, Marcus Aitken, Marilyn Clark, Marina Priyomova, Mark Stuart Powell, Nazanin Moradi, Neal Camilleri, Nicolás Villamizar, Orlando Seale, Patrick Morales-Lee, Poppy Lennox, Ralph Lazar, Robert Montgomery, Roxana Hartmann, Sabrina Brouwers, Sachiyo Nishimura, Scarlett Bowman, Seana Gavin, Shelly Pamensky, Shirin Fathi, Soozy Lipsey, Steve McPherson, Sunju Jin, Susan Rocklin, Tim Noble, Yasser Claud-Ennin.
About
Ryan Stanier has spent over fifteen years championing emerging artists and creating accessible ways for artists to sell and collectors to buy work.
In 2011, he founded The Other Art Fair. Under his leadership, it grew into the world’s largest artist-led art event, attracting over one million visitors, collaborating with more than 9,000 artists, and selling upwards of 90,000 artworks. The fair expanded to London, New York, Los Angeles, Sydney, Melbourne, Dallas, and Chicago, and online platform Saatchi Art acquired it in 2016.
Ryan departed The Other Art Fair in 2024 and has since launched two new ventures. Fair Play Art Fair rethinks the traditional artist-led model, giving artists a more accessible way to exhibit and sell work. The Art Office, an independent art agency, connects brands, workplaces, and hospitality businesses with a curated network of artists and clients who want to bring meaning, energy, and individuality to their own spaces.
