It’s one busy month when it comes to art
This city is fit to bursting with great art, with major exhibitions running at all of London’s big museums and galleries and smaller shows featuring the work of emerging talents dotted all over town. Whether you prefer photography or want to be immersed into the art, you’ve got plenty of exhibitions to choose from – even free ones if you’re on a budget or out exploring on a whim.
You can stay up to date with all the latest exhibitions by signing up to our dedicated exhibitions newsletter but we’ve also rounded up the best exhibitions to see this month so you don’t miss out. Autumn is one of the biggest times of the year for art and design, and it all kicks off in September with London Design Festival, Open House and the London Mural Festival. On top of that, you’ve got blockbuster exhibitions at the likes of the Royal Academy and National Gallery, shows for film buffs, and a whole lot more. These are the best exhibitions in September in London, so get those gallery trips sorted.
Michael Craig-Martin
The Royal Academy is hosting the largest exhibition on Michael Craig-Martin ever held in the UK. Craig-Martin is one of the most influential figures in British art, known for his pop and conceptual pieces, and this show features sculpture, installation, painting, drawing, prints and digital works from across his 60-year career. Expect plenty of his large-scale colourful paintings of everyday objects, his landmark conceptual work An Oak Tree, a site-specific installation, new immersive digital work and more.
Opens Sat 21st September 2024
Burlington House, Piccadilly, London W1J 0BD
royalacademy.org.uk
LAIKA: Frame x Frame
The BFI is giving fans of Coraline, The Boxtrolls, Paranorman and other hit stop-motion films a look behind the scenes with their Frame x Frame exhibition, in collaboration with animation studio LAIKA. The free immersive show takes visitors on a deep dive into the meticulous art of stop motion animation and brings some of the genre’s most iconic films to life with new scenic reproductions built at a ‘human scale’. Expect to see Coraline’s Other Garden as you never have before, a sneak peek of LAIKA’s upcoming feature Wildwood and artefacts from the studio’s archives that are rarely shown to the public.
September 2024
BFI Southbank, London SE1 8XT
bfi.org.uk
Batman Unmasked
Batman is celebrating its 85th anniversary this year and DC and Warner Bros aren’t letting a big milestone like that pass by quietly. Batman Unmasked, an exhibition featuring an epic collection of Batman memorabilia, is coming to London. The exhibition will take you on a journey through Batman’s film history, with original props and costumes. You’ll be able to see Batsuits worn by Michael Keaton, Christian Bale and Robert Pattinson and check out the Tumbler and Batpod from The Dark Knight and the Batmobile and Batcycle from The Batman. But it’s not just about the Caped Crusader at Batman Unmasked. Gotham City’s more nefarious residents also get a look in at The Rogues Gallery, with Uma Thurman’s Poison Ivy ensemble, Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn costume, Jim Carrey’s Riddler outfit, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Mr. Freeze suit, Heath Ledger’s Joker’s nurse uniform, and the red suit worn by Joaquin Phoenix in Joker.
Opens Fri 6th September 2024
45 Wellington Street, London WC2E 7BN
batmanexhibition.com
Sotheby’s Popular Culture Auction
You’ll soon be able to get your hands on pieces of pop culture history as Sotheby’s is hosting a mega auction featuring iconic instruments and artefacts from Hollywood movies. The Popular Culture auction, the first of its kind for Sotheby’s, will include a Steinway grand piano from Abbey Road Studios, used in the recording of tracks by Amy Winehouse, Lady Gaga, Pink Floyd and Paul McCartney; a VOX electric guitar played extensively by Prince during his 3RDEYEGIRL era; and a trio of guitars owned and played by Noel Gallagher, an Epiphone Les Paul Standard guitar used on ‘Supersonic’, an 1980 Gibson Flying V (previously owned by Johnny Marr) used on ‘Cigarettes and Alcohol’, and a Epiphone EA-250 played on stage. There’ll also be a collection of items, including a handwritten letter, a handwritten questionnaire and signed material, from John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s ‘Bed-in For Peace’ protest in Amsterdam in March 1969 plus artefacts from movies like The Red Shoes and Gladiator II. And you can see them all as they go on show for the last week of the auction.
Mon 9th – Fri 12th September 2024
34-35 New Bond Street, London W1A 2AA
sothebys.com
Van Gogh: Poets and Lovers
The National Gallery is celebrating its 200th birthday this year and it’s pulling out all the stops with a blockbuster Van Gogh exhibition. Van Gogh: Poets and Lovers brings together some of the Dutch artist’s most iconic paintings, including ‘Starry Night over the Rhône’, ‘The Yellow House’, ‘Sunflowers’, ‘The Bedroom’, ‘A Wheatfield, with Cypresses’ and ‘Van Gogh’s Chair’, exhibited alongside his drawings. The display will show how in two years in the south of France, he revolutionised his style and produced spectacular works bursting with colour and texture.
Opens Sat 14th September 2024
Trafalgar Square, London WC2N 5DN
nationalgallery.org.uk
Hard Graft: Work, Health and Rights
The Wellcome Collection is exploring the experiences of physical work and the impact it has on people’s health in the major free exhibition Hard Graft: Work, Health and Rights. Focusing on three areas of work – the Plantation, the Street and the Domestic Space – the show will draw connections between undervalued labour, the people who undertake it and the places where it happens, and examine the way that stigmatised work practices like sex work, prison labour and street vending continue to reinforce health and other societal inequalities. Over 100 objects from around the world will be on display, including artefacts from the Wellcome’s collection as well as contemporary artworks from the likes of Lubaina Himid, Ibrahim El-Salahi, Charmaine Watkiss, Forensic Architecture, Adelita Husni-Bey and Louise Bourgeois, plus new commissions from Moi Tran and Lindsey Mendick.
Opens Thurs 19th September 2024
183 Euston Road, London NW1 2BE
wellcomecollection.org
Tracey Emin: I Followed You to the End
After taking over White Cube with A Fortnight of Tears back in 2019, Tracey Emin is back at the gallery with the I Followed You to the End exhibition. The show features new expressive paintings and bronze sculptures inspired by her memories and experiences of loss, grief, longing and spiritual love.
Opens Thurs 19th September 2024
144-152 Bermondsey St, London SE1 3TQ
whitecube.com
Frieze Sculpture
Frieze Sculpture is back in Regent’s Park this autumn to coincide with the return of Frieze London. The free display has been curated by Fatoş Üstek for the second consecutive year, and features 22 pieces that expand the notion of sculpture from the likes of Leonora Carrington, Theaster Gates, Zanele Muholi, Yoshitomo Nara, Frances Goodman and Nathan Coley. Frieze Sculpture is also working with Sculpture in the City, The Line and the Mayor of London’s Fourth Plinth Programme to form London Sculpture Week, a city-wide celebration of public art.
Opens Weds 18th September 2024
Regent’s Park, London, NW1
frieze.com