LONDON, UK – Renowned US Qatari artist and writer Sophia Al-Maria has been named the recipient of the prestigious 2025 Frieze Artist Award. The announcement highlights Al-Maria’s growing influence in the contemporary art world and sets the stage for a highly anticipated commission at next year’s Frieze London, one of the globe’s leading international art fairs.
Al-Maria, known for her work spanning various media and exploring themes of identity, history, and futurity, will use the award to debut a new, site-specific piece titled “Wall Based Work (a Trompe LOL)”. This ambitious project is planned as a live stand-up comedy show, marking a distinctive departure in how performance art interacts with the traditional art fair environment.
Understanding the Frieze Artist Award
The Frieze Artist Award is an annual commission designed specifically to support early- to mid-career artists in realizing and presenting new works within the context of the Frieze fair. It serves as a vital platform for emerging talent, providing not only financial support but also significant visibility on an international stage. The 2025 award is presented in partnership with Forma, a contemporary arts organization known for its commitment to innovative and challenging artistic practices.
The partnership with Forma underscores the award’s focus on supporting artists pushing boundaries and exploring new forms of expression. Winning this commission places Al-Maria among a distinguished group of past recipients who have gone on to achieve significant acclaim and recognition for their work debuted at Frieze London.
Frieze London 2025: A Global Gathering
The stage for Al-Maria’s debut commission will be Frieze London 2025, scheduled to take place from October 15-19, 2025. Hosted annually in the picturesque Regent’s Park in the heart of London, the fair is a cornerstone of the international art calendar.
Frieze London brings together a vast and diverse collection of galleries and artists from around the world, offering collectors, curators, and the public a panoramic view of contemporary art. The 2025 edition is expected to feature over 280 galleries representing 45 countries, showcasing works across a wide range of disciplines, including painting, sculpture, photography, video, and performance art.
The fair is celebrated for its dynamic atmosphere and its role in facilitating critical dialogue and commercial activity within the global art market. Al-Maria’s commission will be a prominent highlight within the fair’s programming, drawing attention from attendees eager to experience cutting-edge contemporary art.
“Wall Based Work (a Trompe LOL)”: A Closer Look
Sophia Al-Maria’s planned work, “Wall Based Work (a Trompe LOL)”, promises to be one of the more intriguing presentations at Frieze London 2025. By proposing a live stand-up comedy show within the bustling environment of the fair tent, Al-Maria challenges conventional notions of art presentation and audience engagement.
The title itself, incorporating the internet acronym “LOL” (Laughing Out Loud) and the art historical term “Trompe-l’œil” (meaning “deceive the eye”), hints at a project that likely plays with perception, humor, and the blurring lines between reality and performance, perhaps even commenting on the art world itself. The specific content of the stand-up routine remains under wraps, but it is expected to reflect Al-Maria’s characteristic wit and sharp cultural commentary.
A key aspect of the commission is its accessibility and integration into the fair experience. The performance of “Wall Based Work (a Trompe LOL)” is slated to occur daily inside the fair tent during Frieze London. This schedule ensures that a broad audience attending the fair will have multiple opportunities to encounter the work, embedding the performance directly within the fabric of the event rather than being relegated to a separate space or time slot.
Significance and Anticipation
The selection of Sophia Al-Maria for the 2025 Frieze Artist Award and her proposal for a stand-up comedy performance signal a growing acceptance and interest within the established art world for interdisciplinary practices and non-traditional formats. Al-Maria’s background as both an artist and writer uniquely positions her to explore the intersections of text, performance, and visual culture.
Her work often addresses complex social and political themes, filtered through personal narrative and critical observation. Bringing the raw, immediate energy of stand-up comedy into the curated space of a major art fair opens up exciting possibilities for audience interaction, critical reflection, and perhaps even moments of unexpected levity amidst the intense commercial and cultural activity of the event.
As Frieze London 2025 approaches, anticipation will build for Al-Maria’s debut commission. “Wall Based Work (a Trompe LOL)” is poised to be a focal point, prompting discussions about the evolving nature of contemporary art, the role of performance in exhibition contexts, and the power of humor as a vehicle for artistic expression and critique. The award and the commission affirm Sophia Al-Maria’s status as a significant voice in her generation of artists.
