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Best Exhibitions in London
London is full of brilliant art, from blockbuster shows in the city’s major galleries to smaller exhibitions showcasing up-and-coming artists for the first time, and you’ll find all of the best exhibitions in London right here. There are so many great museums and galleries in the capital, which means there are some incredible shows to see; you can take your pick from interactive exhibitions, art installations, photography exhibitions and more, all on in the city right now. And if you like to just drop into something last minute, there are a whole host of free exhibitions in London too.
Current exhibitions include an exhibition dedicated to skateboards, a show exploring notions of beauty across different time periods and different cultures, and an exhibition that explores the modernist architecture of tropical countries.
Jet off to outer space without leaving London (or the ground for that matter) with the immersive Moonwalkers experience narrated by Tom Hanks at Lightroom. There’s a major new show from British-Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare at the Serpentine exploring the legacy of imperialism, and you can dive into the world of Wes Anderson with the latest exhibition from the Accidentally Wes Anderson crew.
If you’re a fan of an interactive exhibition, there’s one based on the life and work of Vincent Van Gogh open in London right now, and there’s another that will immerse you in the city of Seoul. So if you’re looking to stay on top of all the art exhibitions in London this month, plus the all major shows coming soon, we’ve got you covered.
Explore 500 Years of Black British Music at the British Library
Until 26th August 2024
96 Euston Rd., London NW1 2DB
The British Library is documenting the musical journey of African and Caribbean people in Britain over the past 500 years with the Beyond the Bassline: 500 Years of Black British Music exhibition. The show features over 200 exhibits, many of which are being publicly displayed for the first time, including handwritten accounts from 1512 featuring materials for the wedding outfit of John Blanke, the earliest recorded musician of African descent in Britain; Jamal Edwards’ video camera used to shoot SB.TV videos; jazz musician Coleridge Goode’s 1958 diary; a custom made jacket for Skunk Anansie vocalist Skin; Stormzy’s signed Glasto 2019 set list; and Dennis Bovell’s 1970s Fender Stratocaster. There are also soundscapes, films and artworks that reflect the history of Black communities in Wales, protest music and resistance in Leeds, Rastafari culture, the DIY spirit of Black British music and the Black radical imagination.
Elton John's Photography Collection Is Being Displayed at the V&A
18th May 2024 – 5th January 2025
Cromwell Road, London SW7 2RL
Sir Elton John is obviously best known for being a musician but he’s also a keen collector of photography and he’s showcasing just some of the works he owns with husband David Furnish. The V&A is hosting the Fragile Beauty: Photographs from the Sir Elton John and David Furnish Collection exhibition, featuring over 300 prints from more than 140 photographers, many of which will be going on public display for the first time. The show covers the 1950s to the present day and feature images from the Civil Rights movement, AIDS activism and September 11th, as well portraits of Marilyn Monroe, Miles Davies and Chet Baker, with works from the likes of Horst. P Horst, Irving Penn, Herb Ritts, Robert Mapplethorpe, Cindy Sherman, William Eggleston, Diane Arbus, Sally Mann, Zanele Muholi, Ai Weiwei, Carrie Mae Weems and more.
The World Press Photo Exhibition Is Back in London
3rd - 24th May 2024
Borough Yards, Stoney Street, London SE1 9AD
After a seven-year break, The World Press Photo Exhibition is back in London with a show in Borough Yards. The photos displayed in the exhibition are all entrants in this year’s World Press Photo Contest, a competition that showcases the best photojournalism and documentary photography from around the world. Over 61,000 entries from photographers from 130 countries were submitted for the 2024 contest and the images on display at the exhibition will give people a chance to think about social, environmental, political and cultural topics outside of the news cycle and explore how visual stories help to tackle important global issues.
Dive Into the Last Decades of Michelangelo at the British Museum
2nd May – 28th July 2024
Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3DG
The British Museum is delving into the last three decades of Michelangelo’s life and career with a major new exhibition. Michelangelo: the last decades will examine how his art and faith evolved as he aged, how he redefined the iconography of religious art, and showcase works produced right up to his death at age 88 in 1564. The two-metre high ‘Epifania’, one of the largest Renaissance works on paper, will be on display for the first time since it underwent conservation work in 2018, and it is joined by his biographer Ascanio Condivi’s painting made from the drawing, bringing the two pieces together for the first time in over four centuries. A collection of drawings, including preparatory ones for the ‘Last Judgment’, not seen for nearly twenty years will also be on show alongside letters and poems written by the artist.
Check Out the Inaugural Exhibition at the Museum of Homelessness
24th May - 30th November 2024
Manor House Lodge, Seven Sisters Road, London
The Museum of Homelessness has officially moved into its new space in Finsbury Park and is launching its inaugural show, How to Survive the Apocalypse: Wisdoms from our Community. The immersive exhibition will be open every Friday and Saturday until the end of November and will draw upon the Museum’s experience of fighting at the front lines against issues such as record levels of homelessness, widening inequality, Brexit, a climate emergency, a pandemic, and a series of ongoing social and political crises. Vistors are told to expect and unconventional museum tour, in a conversational atmosphere, that’ll include performance, poetry, object handling and more.
Pick Up a Piece of British Music History at This Gallery
17th - 25th May 2024
40 Cross Street, London N1 2BA
Islington’s Twentieth Century Posters, which specialises in rare original British posters, prints and ephemera, is showcasing a slice of British music history with the British Beats: Rare Original Music Posters & Photographs. This rare collection features posters of artists like The Clash, PJ Harvey, Oasis, Elvis Costello, and The Sex Pistols, including many that would not have been available to buy at the time, and limited edition photographs by Ian Lillicrapp documenting gigs by Tina Turner, The Beastie Boys, Manic Street Preachers and more. And everything on display is for sale.
Georg Baselitz Is Exhibiting at White Cube for the First Time in Eight Years
10th April – 16th June 2024
144, 152 Bermondsey Street, London SE1 3TR
German artist Georg Baselitz is hosting an exhibition at White Cube Bermondsey, his first at the gallery for eight years, featuring new work produced over the last year. At 86, Baselitz is still going strong and his new pieces, both large-scale paintings and works on paper, reflect on his 60-year-plus career, nodding to his key inspirations over the years and sketches he created in his youth.
Step Inside the Surreal World of Rong Bao
Until 12th May 2024
Saatchi Gallery, King's Rd, London
Step into the surreal and playful world of Chinese artist Rong Bao at the Saatchi Gallery. The RCA graduate’s debut exhibition Rong Bao Is Me is a showcase of her sculptural practice, where she transforms familiar objects into mischievous, sensorial and interactive artworks. Her installations stretch our perception of the physical and foster a sense of fun as a pushback against the norms of society.
An Immersive LEGO Exhibition Is Here
6th March - 12th May 2024
The Boiler House, 152 Brick Lane, London E1 6RU
The Art of The Brick, appropriately opening on Brick Lane, will feature more than 90 LEGO sculptures – that amounts to over a million bricks – that reinterpret some of the most recognisable artworks on the planet, including Michelangelo’s ‘David’, Van Gogh’s ‘Starry Night’, Da Vinci’s ‘Mona Lisa’, Gustav Klimt’s ‘The Kiss’ and Edvard Munch’s ‘The Scream’. The exhibition is the work of artist Nathan Sawaya, who is also displaying some of his original pieces in the show, like a giant version of his ‘Yellow’ sculpture and ‘Perniciem’, which showcases endangered species in their natural environments. The works will be accompanied by 3D video mapping and a musical score, and there’ll also be a play and build area where you’ll be able to make your own LEGO creations.
Check Out the World's Largest Collection of Bansky Works from 1998 - 2008
11th April 2024 - January 2025
100 Charing Cross Road, London WC2H 0JG
The Art of Banksy first landed in London in the spring of 2021 after touring the world, popping up in cities from Melbourne to Miami, and following another international jaunt, it returned to the capital in 2023. After closing at the start of this year, the exhibition is on its way back for a third run, this time opening in a new space in Soho. The show is not authorised by the artist and therefore not curated in collaboration with him (not really Banksy’s style is it?) so all the pieces on show are loans from private collectors. In fact, the exhibition will display the world’s largest collection of official Banksy works from 1997 – 2008. This time around, over 150 pieces will be on show, including the iconic ‘Girl and Balloon’ ‘Flower Thrower’ and ‘Rude Copper’ as well as artworks from Dismaland, ones that reference the war in Ukraine and some going on public display for the first time.
Explore the Legacy of Tropical Modernism at the V&A
2nd March – 22nd September 2024
Victoria and Albert Museum, Cromwell Road, London
The V&A is hosting a major architectural exhibition highlighting the style of Tropical Modernism by architects Jane Drew and Maxwell Fry from their work in the 1940s. The style, which focused on practicality over beauty in a hot and dry climate, developed in West Africa and came to symbolise a postcolonial future in countries like Ghana and India after they gained independence. The exhibition dives into the origins of Tropical Modernism along with its connection to colonisation, and how it spread representing progressiveness in a country.
Charlotte Mei Is Turning NOW Gallery Into an Otherworldly Realm
29th March - 2nd June 2024
NOW Gallery, Soames Walk, London
To kick off NOW Gallery’s 10th-anniversary programme, British-Chinese artist Charlotte Mei is exhibiting at the space with Like A Melody: Myths, Memories and Fantasy. Drawing inspo from fantasy, mythology and anime, Charlotte is turning the gallery into an otherworldly realm filled with paintings, giant figurines and sculptures of ancient artefacts. The exhibition is an exploration of the power of escapism as a means of coping with life and processing our identity, as well as offering a reimagining of the fantasy genre through a non-European, feminine lens.
See How Food Can Express Heritage at SPACE Ilford
9th March – 12th October 2024
10 Oakfield Rd, Ilford IG1 1ZJ
Photographer Kenneth Lam is hosting his first solo exhibition A seat at our table at SPACE Ilford, inviting audiences to explore the dishes and memories of their own cultural identities. Taking inspiration from classical still life and the the stories of Redbridge residents, Lam explores the table as a symbol of home and the way food can express heritage and be used as a common language between cultures.
Polly Braden Is Documenting the Result of Ukrainian Displacement
15th March - 1st September 2024
Foundling Museum, Brunswick Square, London
Around six million Ukrainians are now displaced as a result of the Russian invasion of the country on 24th February 2024. Photographer Polly Braden has been documenting the lives of some of the women and children who have now been scattered across Europe and you can see her work at the Foundling Museum. Leaving Ukraine showcases the journeys that these women have had to undertake, the care they still have to provide for their families, the impact that the war has had on their lives and the way it is shaping their futures through photos, film and aural testimonies.
Explore the History of the Barking Abbey Community at the Women's Museum
9th March - 21st December 2024
Women's Museum, Barking Wharf Square, Barking
Female artists Meera Shakti Osborne, Lesley Asare, and Sarina Mantle are featured in An Idea of a Life exhibit at the Women’s Museum. The exhibit showcases the history of communities led by the Abbess and nuns from c.666AD to the early 16th Century near Barking Abbey and will show their everyday history. It will also include objects excavated from the area that demonstrated how women were connected to significant historic places.
Look Back at the Last 60 Years of Contemporary Sculpture at the Hayward Gallery
7th February - 6th May 2024
Hayward Gallery, Belvedere Road, London
The Hayward Gallery is looking back over the past 60 years of contemporary sculpture with its major exhibition When Form Comes Alive, exploring how artists interpret movement, flow and growth. Featuring works from 21 international artists, the show presents these dynamic and energetic sculptures that physically bloom across the space in contrast to the increasing digitisation of our everyday life, reminding us that the world is always shifting and transforming.
Frank Auberbach's Charcoal Head Portraits Are Being Displayed as a Group for the First Time
9th February - 27th May 2024
Courtauld Gallery, Strand, London
Frank Auerbach: The Charcoal Heads at The Courtauld Gallery marks the first time that the artist’s post-war portrait heads drawn in charcoal have been displayed together as a group. The large-scale drawings are from early in Auerbach’s career, produced in the 1950s and early 1960s, with his process of working and reworking, breaking and patching the pieces reflecting the time period, where people were remaking their lives after the destruction wrought by the war. In the exhibition, the charcoal drawings will be presented alongside the paintings he produced of the same sitters.
The Photographers' Gallery Is Hosting a Bert Hardy Retrospective
23rd February – 2nd June 2024
The Photographers' Gallery, Ramillies Street, London
The Photographers’ Gallery is looking back on the four-decades-long career of Bert Hardy this spring with this Photojournalism in War and Peace exhibition. This retrospective covers his work at Picture Post magazine, including his portrayal of post-war life in Britain and the way he revealed the social conditions and working-class lives of the time. His photographs taken during the Blitz, the liberation of Bergen-Belsen and the war in Southeast Asia will also be on show alongside archival material like press passes, diaries, and correspondence.
A Major Yoko Ono Exhibition Is on Display at Tate Modern
15th February - 1st September 2024
Tate Modern, Bankside, London SE1 9TG
Yoko Ono: Music Of The Mind will be the UK’s largest-ever exhibition dedicated to the artist and activist. Bringing together more than 200 artworks (spanning multiple decades and mediums) the show will explore Ono’s distinctive poetic and humorous style, and the lasting impact it has had on contemporary culture. Expect to see a selection of Ono’s ‘instruction pieces’, which are written instructions for the viewer – ranging from ‘Fly’ or ‘Touch’, to ‘Listen to a heartbeat’ or ‘Step in all the puddles in the city’ – to imagine, experience, make or complete the work. These will appear alongside scores, installations, films, music and photography, with Ono’s radical, activist work at the heart of the exhibition. The gallery’s windows that overlook the River Thames will display ‘Peace is Power’, first shown 2017, translated into multiple languages. Meanwhile, at the entrance to the Tate Modern, the 1996 interactive artwork ‘Wish Tree’ will invite passers-by to contribute their own wishes for peace.
See What It Was Like to Be Part of the Roman Army at the British Museum
1st February - 23rd June 2024
British Museum, Great Russell Street, London
This major exhibition at the British Museum explores what it was like to be part of the Roman army, one of the most elite fighting forces of all time. Legion: Life in the Roman Army features stories of men from across the empire who became Roman soldiers and the impact this had on their daily life and on their families. These are told through more than 200 objects, including letters; military objects like the world’s only intact legionary shield, the oldest, most complete Roman segmental body armour, and preserved trumpets and swords from Pompeii; and other items, like the remains of a soldier from Herculaneum who is reunited with his belt and equipment for the first time outside Italy.
Chinese Clockwork Treasures Are on Show at the Science Museum
1st February – 2nd June 2024
Science Museum, Exhibition Road, London
More than 20 clockwork treasures collected by Chinese emperors in the 1700s are coming to the Science Museum from the Palace Museum in Beijing. The Zimingzhong 凝时聚珍 : Clockwork Treasures from China’s Forbidden City exhibition will explore the luxury goods trade and the early cultural exchanges between London, Guangzhou and Beijing and spotlight the intricate craftsmanship required to make such ornate and technical clocks. This show marks the first time these pieces have been displayed together in the UK, with most of them never having been outside of China before, and with a pay-what-you-can ticket price, you could see them for as little as a quid.
Dive Into Croydon's Musical Heritage at This Exhibition
8th February - 8th September 2024
Museum of Croydon, Katharine Street, Croydon
To celebrate Croydon’s time as the London Borough of Culture, the Museum of Croydon is hosting the Rewind: This is Croydon’s Music exhibition. Croydon has a rich musical heritage, with dubstep icons Skream and Benga hailing from the area, as do The Damned’s Captain Sensible, Desmond Dekker, Kirsty MacColl and Nadia Rose. The show will explore this musical diversity with objects, photographs, stories and more relating to record stores, music shops and venues in the borough and the artists and producers who created and performed music in Croydon.
The Barbican Is Investigating the Power and Politics of Textiles
13th February - 26th May 2024
Barbican Centre, Silk Street, London
Stitching, weaving, braiding, beading; who doesn’t love the magical world of textiles? That’s why we can’t wait to see the Barbican’s next landmark exhibition, Unravel: The Power and Politics of Textiles in Art, that looks at the transformative and subversive potential of textiles. Bringing together over 100 works by 50 international, intergenerational artists, the exhibition explores the various ways in which artists have used textiles to tell stories that challenge power structures, transgress boundaries and reimagine the world around them. Expect to see works from textile art powerhouse Sheila Hicks, a leader of the fibre art movement in the 1960s; Igshaan Adams, who explores themes such as race, religion and sexuality in his intensely crafted work; and Feliciano Centurión, who embroidered poetic reflections onto found fabrics to process his HIV diagnosis in 1993. Yinka Shonibare CBE RA’s figurative sculpture ‘Boy On A Globe’, Cecilia Vicuña’s spatial installation ‘Quipu Austral’ and Harmony Hammond’s large-scale work ‘Bandaged Grid #9’ are on show, alongside eye-catching pieces by Tracey Emin, Tschabalala Self, Jeffrey Gibson, Mounira Al Solh and the late Mrinalini Mukherjee.
Journey to the Moon with Tom Hanks
Until 13th October 2024
12 Lewis Cubitt Walk, London N1C 4DY
Immersive gallery Lightroom is following David Hockney with Tom Hanks. The Moonwalkers: A Journey With Tom Hanks, which tells the story of humankind’s exploration of the moon, is being narrated by the Oscar-winning actor, with an original score by Anne Nikitin. Hanks, who is a big space fan (pretty fitting that he starred in Apollo 13 then) has co-written the script with BAFTA-nominated writer-director Christopher Riley. As well as footage from the previous Apollo missions, the experience will feature interviews with Hanks and astronauts on the Artemis programme, which is preparing for the return of crewed surface missions to the moon. And all of that is gonna be projected using Lightroom’s cutting-edge tech.
Step Inside the World of Accidentally Wes Anderson
Until 12th May 2024
85 Old Brompton Road, South Kensington, London SW7 3LD
Accidentally Wes Anderson is coming back to London IRL with an exhibition featuring over 200 photos of buildings and landscapes from around the world that look as though they could be backdrops in a Wes Anderson flick. The show will be spread out across seven themed rooms, including ‘Classic Facades’ ‘Transport’, ‘Maritime’ and ‘Hotels/Motels’, each filled with photographs that evoke Wes Anderson’s distinct style in different ways, whether through Art Nouveau exteriors, pastel hues, vintage modes of transportation or an abundance of symmetry. The second to last room – ‘The London Room’ – will centre around Accidentally Wes Anderson photos of the city and guests will be able to submit their own photos for the chance to be featured.
The London Transport Museum is Showcasing the History of Poster Art and Design
20th October 2023 - 2025
London Transport Museum, London
The London Transport Museum is opening its Global Poster Gallery, its first permanent gallery dedicated to the history of poster art and design, with the How to Make a Poster exhibition. The inaugural display will explore poster commissioning and creativity in the pre-digital age, with more than 110 pieces on show. The Underground’s first ever pictorial poster, John Hassall’s 1908 work ‘No need to ask a p’liceman’ by John Hassall alongside posters by designers and artists like Edward McKnight Kauffer, Man Ray, Hans Unger, Abram Games, Tom Eckersley, Paul Catherall, and Dora M Batty. The various techniques used in poster production will also be showcased in the exhibition as well as the way the posters were displayed and the reception they received from both London travellers and the art world.
The Design Museum Is Investigating the History of Skateboard Design
20th October 2023 - 2nd June 2024
224-238 Kensington High St, Kensington, London W8 6AG
All you skaters will wanna roll down to the Design Museum to catch Skateboard, the first major UK exhibition to explore the history of skateboard design from the 50s to today. Author, designer and skater Jonathan Olivares is curating the show, which’ll chart the evolution of the skateboard from its homemade beginnings to professional advancements and its acceptance into wider culture. Over 90 rare and unique boards will be on display, including Laura Thornhill’s Logan Earth Ski 1970s pro model, Tony Hawk’s first ever professional model skateboard, and Sky Brown’s first pro model, alongside hardware, safety equipment, VHS tapes, mags and DVDs.
Marvel at the Diversity of the Natural World at the Wildlife Photographer of the Year Exhibition
13th October 2023 - 30th June 2024
Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London
The 59th Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition is being hosted at the Natural History Museum. The display features awarded images selected around 50,000 entries and it showcases the beauty and diversity of the natural world, with everything from snow leopards hunting in China to seals in Greece to snow bisons in the US depicted in the photographs.
Immerse Yourself in Seoul Without Leaving London
Until 26th May 2024
Borough Yards, Stoney St, London SE1 9AD
A slice of Seoul is landing in London with Delight, an exhibition about the city’s heritage and culture. The show has been produced by Seoul-based artist Gyoungtae Hong and director Younsook Im, and curated by Daehyung Lee, as a way for Londoners to experience Seoul in a new way – or for the first time. The exhibition is designed to be fully immersive and is presented as a series of multimedia installations. Expect to see 12 large-scale pieces that represent Korean deities, distinctive landmarks (such as Gwanghwamun, the main gate of Gyeongbok Palace), and contemporary cultural hubs. The works exhibited include major digital displays, including one comprising 631 glowing lights, but there are also excerpts from works of literature that tell stories of the city’s history, life, and identity.
Soak Up Vincent Van Gogh's Masterpieces From All Angles
Until 9th June 2024
Commercial Street, London E1 6LZ
Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience has been a hit in the States and in Europe and now it has come to Spitalfields. The exhibition sees more than 300 of Van Gogh’s works projected across a floor-to-ceiling two-storey space so you’ll be able to soak up the art from all angles. There’s also a drawing studio and a VR experience that takes you through a day in the life of the artist and explores the inspiration behind some of his most iconic paintings.
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