With over 200 museums and countless commercial and independent galleries to choose from, making the most of the Big Smoke's cultural offering requires equal amounts of discerning, open-mindedness, and dedication. That's understandable: even as a Culture Editor, I am the first to feel overwhelmed by the ever-expanding density of London's year-round artistic program, and often find myself missing out on the best London exhibitions as a result. To prevent the number of initiatives organized in the city from pushing you away, rather than bringing you closer, from the workshop of innovation that is its artistic community, every month I am narrowing down all local creative happenings to the best exhibitions to visit in London.
How do I pick them? In short, with an eye toward meaning. In a historical moment where multiple global challenges seem to converge, from climate change and migration to the resurgence of conflicts, I want the best London exhibitions to hold a mirror up to the complexity of our times — engaging viewers through, yes, skillfully crafted and aesthetically pleasing artworks, but also — and most importantly — with difficult discussions that can favor new ways of being together, conceiving our time on Earth, and preserving the planet for generations to come.
Whether you're looking to experience the city's creative pulse right on its streets, while sojourning at one of the best London hotels, or you're keen to indulge in an afternoon at one of its leading artistic institutions, this interdisciplinary roundup of showcases will help you put the right names on the map. From burgeoning young galleries' latest artistic outings to public art installations transforming the urban fabric, and anticipated solo presentations by some of the world's leading creative talents, these are the only London events you should look out for right now.
1. The World of Tim Burton — Design Museum
Launched on October 25 at London's Design Museum, The World of Tim Burton has already made history as the driver of "the biggest advance ticket sales for an exhibition" in the institution's 35 years of activity, with more than 32,000 visitors secured before its opening date. Reuniting 600 items, including costumes, props, and hundreds of original sketches from the director's films, under one roof, the showcase is a spectacular, excitingly mind-boggling celebration of his 50-year-spanning creative production and career. Realized in partnership with Harvey Nichols, which presents Burton-inspired holiday windows, and Snapchat, which will bring the audience an exclusive AR experience, the event is the final chapter of the filmmaker's touring personal archive.
The brainchild of independent curator Jenny He, and adapted by Maria McLintock, The World of Tim Burton will transform the director's otherworldly creations, mostly visible on screen, into tangible objects. Visitors can observe these cinematic artifacts up close, from Johnny Depp's Edward Scissorhands costume and the iconic Catwoman suit from Batman Returns to Jenna Ortega's Wednesday Rave'N dress. Casting light on Burton's design-led approach to filmmaking, the exhibition also platforms the fruits of some of his most extravagant collaborations with acclaimed costume and production designers, including Colleen Atwood and Rick Heinrichs, in a multidisciplinary exploration of his fantastical microcosm.
Through April 21. Book your tickets at designmuseum.org.
2. Felicity Aylieff: Expressions in Blue — RBG Kew
Felicity Aylieff's Expressions in Blue exhibition at Kew Gardens features towering, hand-thrown porcelain vessels up to 16 feet tall, blending Western and Chinese ceramic traditions. Inspired by Jingdezhen's renowned porcelain craftsmanship, Aylieff collaborated with Chinese artisans to create cobalt-painted and vibrant enameled pieces. Each item, with its intricate scale and hand-brushed designs, reflects her fascination with traditional blue-and-white china while simultaneously adding a modern, artistic touch and emphasizing our connection to nature, artistry, and scale. Developed over five years, the exhibit invites viewers to experience awe through these monumental works. Peek behind the scenes of the project in our exclusive interview dedicated to Felicity Aylieff Kew Gardens showcase, recorded in person on the site of her newest solo show.
Through March 23. Book your tickets at kew.org.
3. The Stars Fell on Alabama — Edel Assanti
Open at London's Edel Assanti through November 30, The Stars Fell on Alabama: Southern Black Renaissance offers a haunting, fascinating look at a unique artistic flowering among Alabama's Black artists from the 1980s onward. Showcasing the work of seven artists, including the legendary Thornton Dial and Lonnie Holley, the exhibition celebrates how these transformed local materials and traditions into profound works of assemblage, quilting, painting, and sculpture. Grown from deep cultural roots, these creative manifestations express resilience and communal identity amidst historical challenges, reflecting on themes such as slavery and segregation.
Borrowing its title from Alabama's historic meteor shower in 1833, it compares this burst of artistic energy to a celestial event. Alabama, described as a cultural epicenter, fostered this distinct Southern Black renaissance, which emerged largely outside traditional art institutions, within the artists' own homes and cherished social havens. Displayed in various forms, from cemeteries to "yard shows," the works embody a blend of jazz, gospel, and visual improvisation, creating powerful tributes to shared Black Southern experiences.
Through November 30. Find more information at edelassanti.com.
4. Haegue Yang: Leap Year — Hayward Gallery
Creature-like, whimsical standing sculptures, striking light effects, mesmerizing wall puzzles, and fuzzy, hypnotic totems: all of this, and much more, is on view in Seoul-born Haegue Yang's just-opened solo presentation at Hayward Gallery. Titled Haegue Yang: Leap Year, the show — marking her first major survey in the UK — reflects the broad exploration of mediums that provide the foundation for the artist's production, as well as celebrating the phantasmagoric essence of her oeuvre. Yang, who borrows from the rich symbolism of East Asian traditions and folklore, is as tapped into the legacy of her home country as she is inspired by modernism, contemporary art history, and natural elements.
In this show, she transforms the wide rooms of Hayward Gallery into an immersive maze of textures, colors, and light, repurposing homeware as well as industrial objects to spark reflection on their social, spiritual, political, and environmental connotations. Developed between the 2000s and today, these fantastical artworks, incorporating anything from laundry racks and light bulbs to bells, Korean paper, and fabric, are at once strange and familiar, haunting and reassuring, conjuring viewers to reassess their relationship with the items that shape their lives, the people inhabiting it, and the world around them.
Through January 5. Book your tickets at southbankcentre.co.uk.
5. Nicola L.: I Am The Last Woman Object — Camden Art Centre
French visual artist Nicola L. (1932-2018) is the focus of a new, thought-provoking retrospective at Camden Art Centre, where her shape-shifting understanding of art is brought to the fore along with the deeply political nature of her work. I Am The Last Woman Object is exactly about what you would expect it to be, but the large-scale, curious functional objects, soft sculptures, and audiovisual installations gathered on this occasion will amuse you nonetheless. A leading figure within the Pop Art, Nouveau Realism, Feminism, and design scenes, Nicola L. was a pioneering voice in the fight for women's rights, and her critique of female objectification appears center and front in her stylized but equally powerful artistic investigations.
Bringing together sculpture, performance, painting, collage, and film characterized by an irreverent vision, I Am The Last Woman Object confronts the audience with hanging artworks resembling shed human "skins". These textile pieces, originally conceived for performative use, would be animated by multiple people who inserted their limbs in them, giving life to a collective organism that nullified the gap between art and the observer. Elsewhere, the artist's preoccupation with the commodification of womanhood translates into sofas and cabinets that, shaped after dismembered female bodies or body parts, exacerbate the physical and psychological exploitation to which women are subjected by society. An ode to female resilience, boldness, and genius, the exhibition touches on complex conversations while retaining the deeply imaginative and uplifting feel of Nicola L.'s work — a visionary whose provocative creations have, for better or worse, never been more relevant.
Through December 29. Book your tickets at camdenartcentre.org.
6. The Imaginary Institution of India: Art 1975–1998 — Barbican Centre
Garnering more than 30 Indian artists credited with reshaping the country's artistic landscape in a moment of critical political and social unrest, The Imaginary Institution of India: Art 1975–1998 turns on the creative output that punctuated the era from Indira Ganghi's 1975 Emergency through to the 1998 Pokhran nuclear tests to examine the reality and legacy of that historical period. Weaving together considerations on India's postcolonial identity and exploring democracy, resistance, and the evolving cultural consciousness as they manifest in the nation's aesthetic fabric, the group show offers a valuable opportunity to learn about the complexity of Indian society through the artworks of its leading talents.
Known for his intricate, tapestry-like depictions of Indian mythology, the late legendary artist M.F. Husain introduces the audience to the vibrancy of the country through evocative scenes of life, battle, and faith. Elsewhere, the surreal canvases of India's first Pop artist, Bhupen Khakhar, stand out for their activism in bearing witness to the experiences of the local homosexual and urban middle-class communities, with pioneering Indian video artist Nalini Malani leveraging the multisensory power of visual storytelling to spark debate on the state of feminism and anti-colonial themes.
Through January 5. Book your tickets at Barbican.org.uk.
7. Olafur Eliasson: Lifeworld — Piccadilly Circus
Projected on the iconic advertising screen of Piccadilly Circus as part of the annual art program of CIRCA, Icelandic-Danish award-winning conceptual artist Olafur Eliasson’s Lifeworld (2024) brings five of his colorful explorations to the heart of London, adding a vibrant touch to autumn in the British capital. Visible at different moments in time in New York's Times Square, Seoul's K-Pop Square, Berlin's Kurfürstendamm, and London itself, as well as being showcased 24/7 on WeTransfer.com, this collection applies a custom blur effect to abstract some of the world's best-known destinations into striking patches of light and shadows. Intriguing and mysterious, Eliasson's creations break into the omnipresent flow of commercials inherent to these locations to delve into themes of agency and vulnerability, collective action, and hope, making our experiences of such landmarks more uplifting and inspiring and reminding us of our need for belonging.
Through December 31. Public art installation. Find more information at circa.art.
8. Nacho Carbonell: Escaping Forward — Carpenters Workshop Gallery
Spanish-born artist Nacho Carbonell perfectly embodies the way art and design are not mutually exclusive worlds, but two faces of the same coin that, constantly influencing each other, give way to truly unique manifestations. Launched on October 8 at Carpenters Workshop Gallery and continuing through January 11, Escaping Forward sees him rework raw organic materials into sculptural pieces that exude a primordial energy. Tables, shelves, cabinets, and lamps take on a spirited nature when conceived by the Eindhoven-based talent, whose signature textural, mixed-media aesthetic blends the boundaries between functional design and avant-garde artistic investigations.
As you wander through the West London gallery, the fanciful exemplars of his Concrete Base Table Lamp series, inspired by the storied, centenary look of trees and other types of vegetation, seem to lean towards you, as if greeting visitors. His Back to Back Cabinet, meticulously sculpted out of sand, paverpol, wooden sticks, metal mesh, and glass, boasts the same colossal presence of bears, The Roots Mural presents the gradient pink-and-blue palette of decaying matter, while Carbonell's Net Chair and A La Mesa (TC12/2022) — two of the more stripped-back artworks on view — offer a fascinating take on brutalist interiors. Crafted to elicit an emotional response in the people who view them, these spellbinding objects invite us to tune into the environment around us to cultivate joy, wonder, and boundless imagination.
Through January 11. Free admission. Find more information at carpentersworkshopgallery.com.
Whether you are based in London or visiting on a holiday, venturing into any of the above galleries and museums will grant you a new perspective on your surroundings, leaving you craving for more inspiration. Keep an eye out for another freshly curated dose of art and design shows not to miss this year.
