British painter William Monk is presenting a new series of paintings at Pace Gallery's solo booth at Frieze London 2025. The works, which began during a residency at the Neuendorf House in Mallorca, feature obsessive, vivid cactus forms and a solitary sentinel figure, evolving from his 2023 Ferryman series. Monk's studio visit reveals his meticulous process of controlling every detail, eliminating any unintended visual distractions from his large-scale canvases.
The presentation matters because Pace CEO Marc Glimcher explicitly frames Monk's career as a deliberate counter-model to the volatile primary-market art economy. By limiting production, raising prices slowly by ten percent every two years, and placing works with collectors who appreciate rather than flip them, the gallery aims to demonstrate a sustainable alternative to the boom-and-bust cycle that has damaged many artists' careers. Monk's show thus becomes a quiet manifesto for how galleries can responsibly nurture long-term artistic value.