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Listen up culture vultures. We’ve rounded up the biggest art exhibitions in London going on for the remainder of 2022. Don’t say we don’t spoil you – happy wandering!
Alex Landon - Editor
For a full-on art attack, London has you covered. Below, we’ve rounded up all the current and upcoming art exhibitions from London’s major galleries and museums, from the Tate Britain and Tate Modern to Somerset House, the V&A, the Saatchi Gallery and the National Gallery.
These amazing art exhibitions in London encompass everything from classic works to cutting-edge modern pieces, but all offer something for the curious. Prices quoted are generally for adults in advance. On-the-day, walk-up tickets will be a few pounds more, while students and other concessionary fares may be slightly less.
There’s even a few free art exhibitions for the penny-pinchers among you – let’s face it this is London. Notably, under-25s can visit all Tate exhibitions for £5 when they join the free ‘Collective’. Oh, one other thing to note: the National Portrait Gallery has closed for three years of refurbishments, so if it’s on your bucket list, you’re facing a bit of a wait.
One of the most popular art exhibitions of the year has to be this incredible immersive installation dedicated to Vincent Van Gogh, where you can literally step into his paintings. Treat yourself to this all-encompassing, 360-degree display of the Dutchman’s work – which takes over all your surroundings with the use of several dozen projectors and hyper-realistic VR headsets. Tickets for this exhibition have been flying out faster than any swish of any paintbrush could manage, so grab yours here before they’re gone. Until September 25. Price £19.90.
An enchanting, 360-degree world of light, colour, and beauty awaits you at Mexican Geniuses: A Frida & Diego Immersive Experience, arriving in London this spring. Immerse yourself in the paintings of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, the powerhouse duo who inspired one another to become the two of most influential figures in Mexican art. Grab your tickets here. Until September 30. Price £24.90.
The mesmerising mirrored rooms of Yayoi Kusama delight whenever and wherever they appear, and that includes Tate Modern, where a pair of delightfully trippy installations have appeared. Until September 30. Price £10. Read all about it here.
Turner Prize-winning artist Lubaina Himid started with a background in theatre before turning her hand to painting, so expect a fair bit of the ol’ razzle dazzle mixed in with important social commentary. Until October 2. Price £16. More info.
An all-immersive, 360º art experience dedicated entirely to the Austrian symbolist Gustav Klimt is now open in London, and it’s the closest you’ll ever get to his incredible life’s work! Digital displays, sound effects, and high-tech VR will bring his masterpieces to life around you, in a one-of-a-kind show that is sure to leave you mesmerised and inspired. Until Sep 31. Price £19.90. Grab your tickets here.
Expect to learn plenty at this show, which explores the relationship that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have with their lands, modern Australia, and the legacy of colonialism. Until May 2023. Free! More info.
A fascinating new display celebrating over 200 years of Royal-inspired packaging and Jubilee souvenirs will open at the Museum of Brands in London’s Notting Hill. In celebration of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, the display will feature products and brands that show how UK consumer culture and Royal history has changed since the Victorian era. Highlights will include a rare 1830s gin flask celebrating Queen Victoria and a craft-making workshop for Jubilee-themed bunting. Until December 2022. From £9. Find out more here.
The Royal Collection holds some of the most significant examples of Japanese art and design in the western world. This year highlights from this outstanding collection are brought together to tell the story of 300 years of diplomatic, artistic and cultural exchange between the British and Japanese royal and imperial families. Items on display include samurai armour, and diplomatic gifts from Royals. Until 26 Feb 2023. From £17. Find out more.
This unique exhibition is the first of its kind to lift the world of ASMR out from your screen and into the physical space. You’ll be able to explore the emerging field of creativity that has grown up around this feeling and the work of designers and content creators who try to trigger it in their viewers. It’s definitely one to visit! Until October 16. From £9.50. Find out more here.
This intriguing art exhibition is designed to explore the relationship between the earth and the air, chartering from fossilised bacteria all the way 3.5 billion years ago to the Industrial Revolution and beyond. Immersive and imaginative film installations will be used throughout the exhibition and they will also touch on pollution, air toxicity, the ugly truth about fast fashion and much more too. Until October 16. Free! Find out more.
Another fantastic art exhibition here and the first of its kind, the aptly-named ‘Feminine Power’ takes a cross-cultural look at the profound influence of female spiritual beings within global faith and religion. You’ll be able to discover the significant role that goddesses, demons, witches, spirits and saints have played – and continue to play – in shaping our understanding of the world. Until September 25. From £15. Find out more here.
The Harry Potter Photographic Exhibition will whisk you faster than a portkey into a world of rare and exclusive from 10 years of filming the mammoth film franchise. It’s the first time the photo collection has ever been shown together in one place, and you’ll even be able to hit the Butterbeer bar straight after! Price £20. More info.
The tenth edition of this popular exhibition has set up shop in the City of London, boasting work from Alice Channer, Almuth Tebbenhoff, Bram Ellens, Elisa Artesero, Eva Rothschild and many more. Who said these art exhibitions had to be indoors? Until Spring 2023. Free! More info.
Original watercolours, drawings, manuscripts and more feature at this family-friendly show, where the likes of Peter Rabbit, Tom Kitten, and Jemima Puddle-Duck all spring off the paper and into our hearts. Until September 25. Price £14. More info.
From Cinderella to Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and Mary Poppins to The Jungle Book – you’d have to have been living under a rock not to have heard of Walt Disney. This critically-acclaimed art exhibition at the prestigious Wallace Collection highlights and juxtaposes the exquisite artwork of both Walt Disney Animation Studios artists and the creative pioneers of the French 18th century.
The ultimate aim being to highlight that even though they were created over two centuries apart, all parties involved had the same aim – to ‘breathe life, character and charm into the inanimate‘. Until October 16. From £16. More info.
In partnership with Gucci, Fashioning Masculinities: The Art of Menswear explores how legendary designers, tailors, and artists, as well as their clients and sitters, have constructed and performed masculinity during a time of creativity and gender reflection in men’s fashion. If that premise doesn’t convince you to go, perhaps the face of the exhibition’s poster will… Until November 21. Price £20. More info.
News and popular culture combined to influence Walter Sickert’s art, and Tate Britain will give this British master a show to remember in 2022. Until September 18. Price £18. More info.
This intriguing exhibition will be the first to explore the enigmatic motif of the ‘woman in the window’. Featuring works by famous artists such as David Hockney, Wolfgang Tillmans, Louise Bourgeois and Cindy Sherman, you’ll be able to view famous artworks from ancient civilisations all the way to the present day. With a range of different art forms on show, the aim of the exhibition is to identify the key geographic locations, cultures and time periods for which the ‘woman in the window’ had a particular meaning – and what the motif reveals about issues of gender and visibility. Until September 4. Price from £16.50. More info.
Cornelia Parker doesn’t really do small when it comes to art installations, so expect Tate Britain to find plenty of space to house her sculptures, often made with everyday objects. Until October 16. Price from £!6. More info.
In celebration of her majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee, the State Rooms at Buckingham Palace are putting on a display looking at The Queen’s Accession to the throne in February 1952. Featuring in the art exhibition will be a series of portraits taken by Dorothy Wilding, which formed the basis of The Queen’s image on stamps and in British embassies, as well as tiaras and wedding presents – fancy! Until October 2. From £30. Find out more here.
The V&A Museum’s Africa Fashion exhibition celebrates the continent’s dynamic fashion scene through mid-20th century to contemporary photographs, textiles, music, and visual art. Until April 2023. Price from £!6. More info.
An inspiration to Rothko, amongst others, Milton Avery’s striking works haven’t been exhibited on this side of the Atlantic before. The show will bring together around 70 works, which is plenty for an intro to his work. Until October 16. Price £17. More info.
This Tate show takes Slovakian artist Maria Bartuszová as its subject, exploring the abstract sculptures she composed out of white plaster. September 21, 2022 until April 16, 2023. Price TBD. More info.
Known for his charcoal drawings, animated films, theatre and opera direction, tapestries, sculptures, and large-scale performance pieces, William Kentridge is one of South Africa’s most celebrated living artists. 40 years worth of his works will be showcased at the Royal Academy, in what will be the UK’s biggest Kentridge exhibition to date. September 24 until December 11. Price £22–24.50. More info.
The V&A is bringing a massive cultural phenomenon to town this September, with the arrival of Hallyu! The Korean Wave, the first UK exhibition dedicated to the music, art, cinema, fashion, and beauty of modern South Korea. Which no doubt means K-pop fans will be queueing out the door to get inside… Opens September 24. Price TBD. More info.
The EY Exhibition is sticking with French legends going into the new year; once Rodin has cleared out, they’ll welcome a huge show dedicated to Paul Cézanne. He astonished Paris with an apple, so imagine what he’ll do to London with a whole bevy of paintings. October 6, 2022, until March 12, 2023. Price TBD. More info.
Making Modernism is dedicated to the pioneering women working in Germany in the early 1900s, showcasing the art of Paula Modersohn-Becker, Käthe Kollwitz, Gabriele Münter, and Marianne Werefkin. It’s the first major UK exhibition of its kind, and will bring together 65 unique works. November 12, 2022 until February 12, 2023. Price £17 (without donation £15). More info.
Part textiles, part sculptures; whatever Magdalena Abakanowicz’s ‘Abakans’ are, they’re certainly impressive. Filling Tate Modern’s Blavatnik Gallery, these imposing pieces will be hung from the ceiling. November 17, 2022, until May 21, 2023. Free! More info.
Portrait pro Lynette Yiadom-Boakye paints imagined characters in the style of classic European portraiture, and has been rewarded with her largest show yet. It was first exhibited in 2020, but since the pandemic ended the run early, Tate have planned another run from 2022. November 24, 2022, until February 26, 2023. Price TBC. More info.
Time for a spot of performance art, as pioneering practitioner Marina Abramović once again tests her physical and mental limits in the first major UK exhibition of her work. Like many art exhibitions, however, this one was delayed by the pandemic. 2023, dates TBD. Price TBD. More info.
Also published on Medium.