London, UK (July 7, 2026) – Frieze today named Athens-based artist Theo Triantafyllidis as the recipient of the 2026 Frieze London Artist Award, co-commissioned and co-produced with Forma and, for the first time, in collaboration with Google Arts & Culture. The artwork will be on display at Frieze London, taking place at The Regent's Park from 14–18 October 2026.
Triantafyllidis will introduce Feral Metaverse (Spider), 2026, a participatory sculptural installation and extension of his ongoing multiplayer game, rooted in a thought experiment built on shared digital spaces. The installation seeks to explore what these spaces could look like if they were built around co-operation, vulnerability, awkwardness and care, sitting between artwork, social experiment and interaction.
The climbable sculpture acts as the entry point into a shared digital environment in which players cooperate to move, connect and form temporary group bodies – towers, wheels, group hugs, spiders – emerging through the collaborations and actions between players, expanding from the screen into the physical space and from the virtual into the real.
For Triantafyllidis, the spider is a useful figure: strange, scary, intelligent, crafty and unexpectedly tender. From afar, his sculpture might be perceived as threatening. Upon closer inspection, its soft, climbable form invites physical contact. The artwork's tactility disrupts the traditional balance between viewer and artwork, transforming the booth, situated in the heart of the fair's Focus section, from a place of observation into one of active participation. The work asks visitors to climb, hold, balance, coordinate and help one another in order to play.
“With Feral Metaverse (Spider), Theo has created something that demands physical presence – you have to be there, in the room, climbing it, playing it, figuring it out with strangers. We are proud to present it at Frieze London this October."
Eva Langret, director, Frieze EMEA
The Frieze London Artist Award was established in 2014. Each year, it supports an artist at a pivotal moment in their career to realize an ambitious new work and present it during the fair. It has come to be a significant platform, with many recipients going on to institutional and international recognition. Previous winners include Sophia Al-Maria (2025), Lawrence Lek (2024), Adham Faramawy (2023), Abbas Zahedi (2022), Sung Tieu (2021), Alberta Whittle (2020) and Himali Singh Soin (2019).
This year, the award invited an artist to explore advanced technologies, including AI, as a tool and collaborator in the development of the artwork.
Further Information
Frieze London 14 – 18 October 2026, The Regent’s Park.
View the full announcement here.