At Frieze, Okiki Akinfe Hopes Her Addison Rae-Inspired Work Will ‘Raise More Artists’
The artist’s 2026 painting Fame is a Gun, the first acquisition by the Dasha Shenkman Focus Fund, is one of eight artworks destined for UK spaces whose acquisitions were announced by three funds at the first day Frieze London.
Fame is a Gun (2026) by Okiki Akinfe, a painting which takes inspiration from the music of American singer, actress and social media star Addison Rae, has become the first work to be acquired under the newly launched Dasha Shenkman Focus Fund at Frieze London.
The £30,000 fund supports the purchase of a work by an artist exhibiting at Frieze Focus, the section of the fair dedicated to emerging artists and young international galleries, on behalf of a UK public institution. Fame is a Gun, which is on show at the fair with Akinfe’s gallery Ginny on Frederick, will join the collection of Abbot Hall, Kendal, in England’s Lake District.
Speaking ahead of the opening of Frieze earlier today, the artist said that, while the work borrows its title from the song of the same name by Rae, it addresses very different themes. “[The work] borrows a lot of its composition from crucifixion paintings, and references the idea of foreshortening,” she explained.
“I really enjoy painting and making these traditionalist paintings and really emphasising the importance of how I capture the Black woman. It’s not the main thing I look at all the time, but I think it’s the main thing that should be discussed within my work.”
Fame is a Gun is a self-portrait, showing Akinfe sitting backwards on a chair, one arm stretched out in front of her, casting a shadow across her face while her hand forms the shape of a gun. The gesture, and the work’s title, evoke fame as a form of power, but also as something potentially violent: a force that can be wielded, performed or turned against oneself.
The Nigerian-British artist, who was born in London, noted that she doesn’t come from an “artist background”, but that visits to the city’s galleries and art clubs proved formative. She said: “To think that there are kids in the Lake District that will have that opportunity… hopefully that will raise more artists out there, and maybe one day they’ll get one of these funds.”
Okiki Akinfe. Courtesy the artist.
The Dasha Shenkman Focus Fund comes as The Contemporary Art Society (CAS) marks its 10th year partnering with Frieze to support the acquisition of significant contemporary works for UK public institutions. Over the past decade, CAS has paired museum curators with private collectors to research and secure major contemporary acquisitions at the fair.
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Introducing this year’s acquisitions, Caroline Douglas, director of CAS, highlighted the organisation’s commitment to acquiring work by living artists “because they appreciate the money more”. “Now more than ever, private philanthropy in support of public art institutions is absolutely vital to our arts ecology,” she added.
This morning also saw the announcement of acquisitions under this year’s CAS Collections Fund at Frieze, all of which will enter the collection of The Whitworth, Manchester. The £100,000 scheme acquired Machine Boys (2024) by Karimah Ashadu, who is represented by Sadie Coles HQ; 1 Drawer C.30.10 with 16 Ceremonial and Votive Cakes, Breads, Biscuits, and Moulds at Pitt Rivers Museum (2026) by Gala Porras-Kim, who is represented by Sprüth Magers, and La ruta nueva, N’äyij ta neky’e (The New Route) (2026) by Claudia Alarcón and the 100-strong female weaving collective Silät, represented by Guatemala City gallery Proyectos Ultravioleta.
The acquisitions mark the first time that all works acquired by CAS during Frieze London were created by women, and are the first UK museum acquisitions for all the artists.
Elsewhere at the fair, The Arts Council Collection Frieze Acquisitions Fund, which supports British and UK-based early to mid-career or overlooked artists, announced the artists whose work will enter the Arts Council Collection—one of the most widely circulated national collections of modern and contemporary British art. The fund was established in 2023, and has this year grown to total £100,000, more than doubling the amount available two years ago.
This year’s acquisitions are: Night (2026) by Hannah Quinlan and Rosie Hastings of Arcadia Missa; The Vigil (2026) by Laurie Smith of Galeria Wschód; The Things Around You (2026) by Oliver Osborne of Union Pacific; and An Iris for Hildegarde (2026) by Armando D Cosmos of Phillida Reid.
