The Top Art Exhibitions in London Right Now
We've scoured the capital for the very best art exhibitions, installations and events to visit that are on right now
By Charlie Walker | Updated Feb 7 2025
The art scene these days is growing increasingly more difficult to track, even with innovations in communication technology and marketing. Some gallery openings fly completely under the radar, and while these events are exciting, largely free, and often offering free drinks, the art world's events scene lacks the centralisation that live music has with DICE, Resident Advisor and, the frankly dreaded Ticketmaster (and no, I don't want to hear about Art Rabbit ever again, though I would recommend using Brushwrk)
So, here we bring the doings of the art world - both overground and underground - to cater to both casual and eccentric, day-tripper and deep-digger, bringing you a quality mix of entertaining and thought-provoking exhibitions across the capital.
Stay tuned, we update this weekly
Brasil! Brasil! The Birth of Modernism - at the Royal Academy
Royal Academy of Arts 24 Jan 2025 to 21 Apr 2025
A first-of-its-kind exhibition, featuring many never-before-seen works from private collections, the newest exhibition at the Royal Academy unpacks the history of Brazilian Modernism.
Theaster Gates: 1965: Malcolm in Winter: A Translation Exercise
White Cube Bermondsey 7 Feb 2025 to 6 Apr 2025
White Cube is pleased to present a major exhibition by artist Theaster Gates.
Barbara Hepworth: Strings
Piano Nobile 6 Feb 2025 to 6 May 2025
Piano Nobile presents a unique exhibition about one of the most important artists and sculptors of the 20th century.
Christina Kimeze: Between Wood and Wheel
South London Gallery 31 Jan 2025 to 11 May 2025
Discover the radiant, textured paintings of Christina Kimeze at the South London Gallery, her first solo exhibition in the UK.
GALLI: So, So, So
GOLDSMITHS CCA 7 Feb 2025 to 4 May 2025
So, So, So marks the first UK solo exhibition of artist Galli (b.1944, Germany).
Citra Sasmita: Into Eternal Land
The Curve, Barbican 30 Jan 2025 to 20 Apr 2025
The Indonesian artist transforms The Curve in her first solo UK exhibition.
A Conscious Relation: body/mind/movement
Tiwani Contemporary 6 Feb 2025 to 22 Mar 2025
A group presentation featuring Virginia Chihota, Alicia Henry, Joy Labinjo, Wura-Natasha Ogunji, Dawit L. Petros, Umar Rashid, and Leo Robinson.
‘Under The Same Sky’, by Jake Grewal - at Studio Voltaire
Studio Voltaire 15 Jan 2025 to 13 Apr 2025
Grewal's first institutional exhibition in London sees him soar to the top of the pile as one of London's most exciting young painters.
New Contemporaries
The Institute of Contemporary Arts 15 Jan 2025 to 23 Mar 2025
The New Contemporaries annual exhibition opens at the ICA in London, marking the beginning of the organisation's 75th anniversary year celebrations.
Picasso: printmaker
The British Museum 7 Nov 2024 to 30 Mar 2025
Pablo Picasso (1881–1973) was one of the most inventive and influential talents ever to explore the medium of print.
War Rugs: Afghanistan’s knotted history
The British Museum 4 Oct 2024 to 29 Jun 2025
Discover how weavers in Afghanistan recorded the country's turbulent history in traditional rugs.
Breaking Lines
The Estorick Collection 15 Jan 2025 to 11 May 2025
The Estorick Collection starts 2025 by exploring the revolutionary world of experimental poetry.
Jameel Prize: Moving Images - at the V&A
V&A 30 Nov 2024 to 16 Mar 2025
The V&A and Art Jameel have announced further exhibition details of the shortlisted projects for the 7th edition of the Jameel Prize.
The seventh edition of the Jameel Prize is devoted to moving image and digital media work, inspired by Islamic art, culture, history, society, and ideas. From over 300 submissions, seven finalists were selected by an international jury.
'Life, Love and Death in Sicily', by Letizia Battaglia - at The Photographers’ Gallery
The Photographers’ Gallery 9 Oct 2024 to 23 Feb 2025
Letizia Battaglia (1935-2022) was one of Italy’s most important social documentary photographers. She documented everyday life, alongside the brutal reality of the Mafia and their victims in Sicily.
This showing at the Photographer's Gallery is a powerful overview of Battaglia's extraordinary photographic work, from 1971 to 2021. Renowned for capturing some of the most poignant, poetic and dramatic moments in Sicilian history, Battaglia's work extends beyond her homeland. This exhibition showcases a broader spectrum of her photography by intertwining her career with her personal life to emphasise Battaglia's sensitivity and humanity.
Leighton and Landscape: Impressions from Nature
Leighton House 16 Nov 2024 to 27 Apr 2025
The first exhibition devoted to landscape sketches made by Frederic, Lord Leighton (1830-1896), the show offers an opportunity to see the celebrated Victorian artist in a totally new light – that of a spontaneous, experimental artist who took the road less well trodden by his contemporaries, documenting the people and places he encountered as he travelled.
Japanese Art History à la Takashi Murakami
Grosvenor Hill 10 Dec 2024 to 8 Mar 2025
Gagosian presents an exhibition of new paintings by Murakami at Grosvenor Hill gallery in London.
Coming soon...
Nora Turato: pool7
Institute of Contemporary Arts 9 Apr 2025 to 8 Jun 2025
Turato’s latest debut exhibition, text ‘pool’, a three-part installation of text, video and audio work.
IDENTITA - The Story of Czech Graphic Design
Czech Centre 28 Feb 2025 to 30 Jun 2025
A new exhibition Illustrating the power of graphic design in societal context.
I Am Because We Are: Paintings from a Ghanaian Residency
CasildArt Gallery 28 Feb 2025 to 8 Mar 2025
Artist Pie Herring exhibits a new series of paintings in a solo exhibition with Arms Around the Child.
Hardeep Pandhal: Inner World
Drawing Room 13 Feb 2025 to 13 Apr 2025
Hardeep Pandhal: Inner World will be the artist’s first solo exhibition in a London public gallery.
Watteau and circle
The British Museum 15 May 2025 to 14 Sep 2025
An outstanding collection of drawings by the French 17th-century painter, Antoine Watteau (1684–1721).
Ficre Ghebreyesus
Modern Art 14 Mar 2025 to 10 May 2025
The first UK solo exhibition of work by the late Eritrean-born American artist Ficre Ghebreyesus (1962-2012).
The Griffin Catalyst Exhibition: Goya to Impressionism
The Courtauld Gallery 14 Feb 2025 to 26 May 2025
The first ever exhibition of the Oskar Reinhart Collection ‘Am Römerholz’ to be staged outside of Winterthur, Switzerland.
The Face Magazine: Culture Shift
National Portrait Gallery 20 Feb 2025 to 18 May 2025
Iconic portraits from the pages of trail-blazing magazine, The Face celebrated in a major exhibition at the NPG.
Edvard Munch Portraits
National Portrait Gallery 13 Mar 2025 to 15 Jun 2025
National Portrait Gallery stages its first ever exhibition of portraits by Edvard Munch, featuring works never displayed before in the UK.
Grayson Perry: Delusions of Grandeur
The Wallace Collection 28 Mar 2025 to 26 Oct 2025
In 2025, the Wallace Collection will hold a major exhibition featuring over 40 new works by Sir Grayson Perry.