9 London Exhibitions To See Before The Year Is Up
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7 days ago
From Marilyn Monroe to Picasso's prints
Looking for things to do in as the colder, gloomier evenings draw in? These London exhibitions will cut through the darkness with colour and intrigue.
10 London Exhibitions To Check Out This Winter
Battle Scene Figure XXIV (from The Lobstar Planet)
195x270x5cm, oil on canvas, 2024
The Battle For Lobsteropolis
International pop artist Philip Colbert will return to the Saatchi Gallery this season – the museum where he first introduced his paintings to the art scene. Famed for his hyperpop-style history paintings, Colbert’s iconic series of battle scenes continues, embarking a journey through time and confronting AI in reimagined historical battle scenes and drawing on classical mythological figures such as the Centaur, Minotaur, and Medusa.
Details: Running 29 November until 13 January at Saatchi Gallery (Duke of York’s HQ, King’s Rd London, SW3 4RY). saatchigallery.com
Jason Shulman: Immerse
With a body of work encompassing sculpture, photography, painting, film and even scientific experimentation, Immerse is a beautifully humble exhibition exploring Jason Shulman’s artistic experience of swimming at London Fields Lido. A hobby he took up five years ago, moving through a medium other than air began to have a profound impact on how Shulman experienced his own body, and he started experimenting with an array of materials – from pencil, paint and resin to upholstery pins, map pins, tacks, mosquito netting and wire scourers – to create a visual language for the invisible forces within the water.
Details: Running 20 November until 22 December at Rebecca Hossack Art Gallery (2a Conway Street, Fitzroy Square, London W1T 6BA). rebeccahossack.com
Giulio Paolini, L’altra figura, 1983
Mythology Reinterpreted
Ancient inspiration is filtered through modern art at Mazzoleni London this season. Showcasing the work of Italian artists Giorgio de Chirico, Salvo and Giulio Paolini and Mexican artist Jorge Méndez Blake, Mythology Reinterpreted invites viewers to consider the continual relevance of ancient artefacts in contemporary visual culture.
Details: Until 6 December at Mazzoleni (15 Old Bond Street, London W1S 4AX). mazzoleniart.com
David Hockney: Living In Colour
David Hockney is moving from strength to strength – and Halcyon’s latest presentation encapsulates all six decades of his celebrated career. More than 150 of Hockney’s graphics, never seen before in public, are on display this season, spanning 1961 to 2018, collage to iPad drawings. ‘It has been incredible to work with such a comprehensive collection of Hockney’s work,’ shares Halcyon’s creative director Kate Brown. ‘His unique approach to printmaking and joyful spirit resonates through this exhibition, and I am delighted to be able to share this at our gallery at 148 New Bond Street.’
Details: Until 31 December at Halcyon (148 New Bond Street, London W1S 2TR). halcyongallery.com
Floating Shell
TASAKI has been Japan’s premier luxury jewellery maison since 1954, utilising pearls and diamonds to craft modern, edgy jewellery. In its 70th year, the brand is celebrating its rich heritage with a special pop-up exhibition in Selfridges’ Wonder Room entitled Floating Shell. The titular motif symbolises the path TASAKI has taken – from its roots as a pearl cultivator to its glistening creative future – and statues and frames mirroring a pearl’s nacre appear to float in the air at this minimalist exhibition, which is accompanied by new pieces from TASAKI’s iconic ‘balance’ series as well as pieces created in collaboration with innovative Japanese eye wear, ear phones and sneaker brands.
Details: Until 5 January 2025 at Selfridges’ Wonder Room (400 Oxford St, London W1A 1AB).
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Curios
Delving into the psyche underpinning our desires to lovingly collect everyday objects, Curios is a group exhibition presented by Green & Stone this season, featuring the work of Florence Sweryda, George Greaves, Holly Frean, Joseph Dupré, Pollyanna Johnson, Raphael Greaves and Venetia Higgins. A playful show, expect more than 100 artworks exploring the weird and the wonderful hidden in our day to day lives.
Details: 18–30 November at Green & Stone (251–253 Fulham Road, London SW3 6HY).
Norma Jeane Baker aka. Marilyn Monroe in 1946 at an early photo shoot with photographer Joseph Jasgur (© All copyrights reserved by Ted Stampfer Collection)
Marilyn – The Exhibition
Marilyn – The Exhibition takes you deep into the life – and wardrobe – of iconic starlet Marilyn Monroe. The exhibition draws out 250 historical objects from the world’s largest private collection, tracing her blazing path from Norma Jean to the Blonde Bombshell. Read all about it here.
Details: Until 23 February at Arches London Bridge (8 Bermondsey St, London SE1 2ER). Tickets start from £21.90 per person at can be booked at marilynlondonbridge.co.uk
Pablo Picasso, Still life under the lamp, 1962 (© Succession Picasso, DACS, London 2024)
Picasso: Printmaker
Picasso’s prints are subject of a new British Museum exhibition. Though better known for his paintings, the artist was a frenetic printmaker, producing over 2,400 works throughout his life.
Details: Until 30 March 2025 at the British Museum (Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3DG). Tickets start from £11 and can be booked at britishmuseum.org
Surrounded, 1996, © Tim Burton
The World Of Tim Burton
One of the best London exhibitions for film lovers this season. Take a peek into the mind – and sketchbook – of director Tim Burton, thanks to this new major exhibition chronically the director’s work (beyond his filmography). Explore his personal archives from childhood until today, be it drawings, sculptural instillations or costume designs, and be inspired by his whacky, wonderful worlds.
Details: Until 21 April 2025 at the Design Museum (224-238 Kensington High St, London W8 6AG). Tickets start from £19.69 and can be booked at designmuseum.org
The Virgin and Child with Infant Saint John (the ‘Taddei Tondo’) by Michelangelo (c. 1504-5)
Preview: Michelangelo, Leonardo, Raphael
Words by Ed Vaizey
Christmas celebrations traditionally involve the three wise men (that gender balance may have to be updated) bearing gifts. So what better way to celebrate Christmas than with three great artists, brought to you as a gift from the Royal Academy?
The RA show, which opens this month, brings together three of the greatest masters of the Renaissance, indeed of all time – Leonardo, Michelangelo and Raphael. Like Madonna, Beyoncé and Cher, all are famous enough to have just the one name. As well as making for a stunning exhibition, the hook for this show would make a wonderful play, beautifully carved by the hand of a Tom Stoppard or a James Graham. At one moment in time, in 1504, all three artists found themselves together in Florence. Both Leonardo and Michelangelo had recently returned to the shores of the Arno, and the occasion was a debate among the city’s most prominent artists about where to place Michelangelo’s nearly completed monumental statue of David, still one of the most celebrated and striking works of art.
The RA has not pulled off the feat of borrowing David – he has never left Florence, understandably – although many copies have been exhibited around the world. David was carved from a block of stone that had been in Florence for more than 50 years, and Leonardo had been one of the artists who had competed for the right to carve it, losing out to Michelangelo. This was one of the many reasons for their rivalry and animosity towards each other.
Instead, the exhibition brings together drawings and prints by the three great artists, and explores how each influenced the other. Leonardo was the elder statesman, in his 50s, and almost twice as old as Michelangelo in his late 20s. In turn, Raphael was almost a decade younger than Michelangelo. As well as Michelangelo’s David, which had attracted so much attention, both Leonardo and Michelangelo had been commissioned to paint scenes from different battles on the same wall at the Palazzo Vecchio. This very public competition cemented their antagonism. Then one adds into the mix Raphael, who beat both Leonardo and Michelangelo to a commission from the Pope to paint a fresco in the Vatican library. The chronicler of the great artists, Vasari, comprehensively documents the rivalry of this Renaissance triumvirate.
The only sculpture shown in the exhibition is the Taddei Tondo, by Michelangelo, which is part of the RA’s collection (it was acquired fortuitously by British collector Sir George Beaumont for £1,500 in 1822 and bequeathed to the Academy in 1830).
The marble Tondo – the Renaissance term for a circular relief – is the only Michelangelo sculpture in Britain, carved at the same time as David, so there is this rather emotional and powerful link between the two. It depicts the virgin and child with John the Baptist. Taddei is the name of the family that commissioned it, and again Vasari records its creation. Taddei was a patron of Raphael, and Raphael explicitly drew inspiration from the Tondo in two drawings and one sculpture.
These three Renaissance artists have never been surpassed. While this is not a major exhibition, it is an important one. The RA knows its audience and this does not disappoint.
Details: Until 16 February 2025 at the Royal Academy (Burlington House, Piccadilly, London, W1J 0BD). royalacademy.org.uk
