The 10 Best Ways to Enjoy Frieze Week

Now in its 12th year, the Frieze art fair is now bigger than ever and it can seem entirely overwhelming. At least 5 hours are needed if one wants to properly explore the entire Frieze contemporary (162 galleries from 25 countries) and Frieze Masters halls. And then there's a constantly expanding list of art events happening across the capital.

To help you make the best of Frieze 2014, AnOther presents our top ten highlights to experience in and around Regent's Park.

1. The best bits at Frieze?
AnOther's deputy editor Laura Allsop recommends: "Rob Pruitt at Gavin Brown's Enterprise, including a small sculpture of a cat gazing up at one of his therapy paintings; a recent print of Kate Moss by Chuck Close at blue chip Pace; and Marc Walinger's curated exhibition for Hauser and Wirth, painted red and green and inspired by Sigmund Freud's study in Hampstead – less a stand and more a wunderkammer, complete with dozing security guard (courtesy of Christoph Buchel) and a chaise longue bearing a headless female form (Louise Bourgeois). There are beautiful photographs by Ed van der Elsken, including a vivid picture of red-headed twins in matching jumpers, at Annet Gelink; a wonderful performance at Silberkuppe, featuring glide dancing and readings; and a sound work by Hannah Weinberger, the bass of which is the frequency of the artist's unborn baby's heartbeat. Carsten Holler's Gartenkinder installation at Gagosian strikes an appropriately playful note at the entrance of the fair, an early Damien Hirst vitrine containing fishes in formaldehyde inevitably draws the gaze and if you can, enter into the world of Andy Kaufman via Jonathan Berger's fantastic project. Over at Masters, I loved the presentations of the likes of Alighiero Boetti, Joseph Beuys and Mel Bochner, and particularly The Collector at Helly Nahmad's stand, showing art works by Picasso and Magritte in the context of a worldly French collector's apartment in 1968."

2. Who to spot at Frieze: Maureen Paley
With briliiant hair and almost always dressed in black, Paley is one of the chicest gallerists and represents artists such as Wolfgang Tillmans and Rebecca Warren. Check out her stand at Frieze and then head east to her gallery to see Gillian Wearing's new exhibition. Her sixth solo show presents a new single-screen video work We Are Here filmed in her West Midlands home town.

3. Eating at Frieze
"The big-news art-food crossover at this year's Frieze is the 'radioactive soup' being offered by artists and brothers Ei and Tomoo Arakawa," says AnOther's food writer and editor of The Gourmand Ananda Pellerin. "The daikon radish used in the noodle-y broth was grown in Fukushima, the region on the north coast of Japan where an earthquake and tsunami caused the meltdown of a nuclear power plant in 2011. The surrounding area was contaminated with radioactive waste including all arable land. As part of their performance, the brothers will have their mother on hand to serve up the soup, which has been tested as safe."

"The fare at the fair seems to get better each year" — Ananda Pellerin

"Forget the throngs circling the artworks," continues Pellerin. "Take yourself out of the commotion and settle in for some delicious on-site eats. The fare at the fair seems to get better each year, and this time around Soho Italian favourite Bocca di Lupo is setting up not one, but two residencies, one with a full à la carte menu, the other a casual café. Meanwhile Vauxhall's eclectically elegant Brunswick House will be serving up autumnal salads using British-grown veg – surely to be works of art themselves."

4. The Sculpture Park
Yayoi Kusama, who features in the latest issue of AnOther Magazine, is showcasing her giant spotty pumpkins and Matt Johnson has created a scaled-up version of a model woodcraft dinosaur.

5. Cerith Wyn Evans at London Zoo
When does one ever need an excuse to visit the zoo? By creating an exhibition with an audience of both humans and animals, the Welsh conceptual artist twists the relationship between the subject and object involved in the viewing process. Important historical references for this work include Gino de Dominicis’ five-day exhibition Zodiaco (1970) and Braco Dimitrijevic’s 1998 installations with living animals in the Paris Zoo. The Snowdon Aviary was one of the first places that Wyn Evans visited when he moved to London in the 1970s. Go and see the penguins afterwards.

6. Open House at Dover Street Market
"It's our busiest time of year," Dover Street Market's Adrian Joffe told the Business of Fashion earlier this week. For the ever-changing five-floor flagship, Frieze week means the store becomes even more of a hive of activity with a succession of installations and product launches. Highlights include a new window display courtesy of Rei Kawakubo and art magazine Raw Vision, Louis Vuitton's long-awaited Iconoclasts collection (including designs by Cindy Sherman, Rei Kawakubo and Marc Newson) and arguably one of the best bookshelves in London, courtesy of IDEA Books (in the basement). Ann Demeulemeester will be signing copies of her new book, in store this Saturday between 3-5pm.

7. Enjoy the sanctuary of PAD
Set in Berkeley Square, PAD is London’s leading fair (61 galleries, 10 countries) for 20th Century art, design and decorative arts. "PAD is my guilty pleasure," admits AnOther Magazine's contributing editor Francesca Gavin. "It's amazing, so beautifully lit and filled with amazing African sculptures, Roman heads, art jewellery collaborations and incredible furniture. It's simply a pleasure to daydream through this fair." The Michael Hoppen Gallery presents work along the theme of exploring and showcases work by artists include Hunter S Thompson, Danny Lyon, Andreas Feininger and Brett Weston.

8. Fade Out curated by Francesca Gavin
Head over to Club Monaco's flagship store in Sloane Square for Gavin's new show Fade Out. Presenting works that question the idea of the abstract as a process that can be achieved through fading away, the show brings together largely process-led artworks courtesy of Stewart Cliff, Tracey Emin and Rick Myers.

9. Steve McQueen's Ashes
Acclaimed film director and artist Steve McQueen presents two new works at The Thomas Dane Gallery. Ashes (2014), is installed as an immersive projection with sound. It was shot on Super8 film with a haunting verbal soundtrack, recorded in Grenada. Much of the footage dates from 2002 and was taken by the legendary cinematographer Robbie Muller. The deceptively simple film was commissioned by Espace Louis Vuitton, Tokyo and shown there earlier this year.

10. Other exhibitions not to miss
What Marcel Duchamp Taught Me at The Fine Art Society (until 5 November). Marvin Gaye Chetwynd unleashes her film and installation Hermito’s Children 2 at Studio Voltaire (until 14 December). Gerhard Richter at Marian Goodman (until 20 December).

Text by Laura Bradley