Art shows, everywhere, all at once (52 reviews)
w/c 16 June 2025
Welcome new subscribers! To help the recent surge of new readers catch-up with the wide wild world of London art, this issue has collected together all the reviews I’ve recently written, plus seven new ones, for shows still open that you can see.
A quick breakdown:
7 full length reviews, with plenty of photos
11 Roundup-Worthy shows (e.g. the ones NOT to miss!)
19 other shows (good, but not worth going out of your way to see them)
15 NOPE shows. The ones I don’t recommend. Hey, art is subjective, but I know for a fact that many of my readers specifically go to these shows just to see if they’re as bad as I said they were.
🆕 ← look for this icon for new reviews debuting in this issue
There’s plenty here to keep your art hops hopping for the next few weeks but if there are any shows not listed that you want me to review, leave a comment or get in touch.
Without further ado… let’s dive right in!
PS - There’s also new content in the Anecdotes & Looking Ahead sections, too!
Full Reviews:
Six full length reviews to help you decide if you want to see (or pay for) these shows. Each has plenty of photos and practical information to help you book tickets. Links will take you to my website: LondonArtRoundup.com
Do Ho Suh @ Tate Modern (£)
Semi-transparent ‘ghostly memories’ of architecture steal the show in an exhibition of works about ‘home’.
Feel the Sound @ Barbican Curve (£)
By the end my heart rate had accelerated and my toes were happily tapping
Leigh Bowery! @ Tate Modern (£)
The biggest emotion this show raises is: Why?
🆕 Slade MA/MFA Degree Show 2025
Find out which rooms kept me lingering, and why.
THE ECHO OF PROTEST IS DISTANT TO THE PROTEST @ Auto Italia
Why is it so hard to say you’re sorry?
(Un)Layering the future past of South Asia @ SOAS Gallery
A showcase of 26 contemporary artists from South Asia.
Victor Hugo - Astonishing Things @ Royal Academy (£)
Author. Playwright. Politician. Visual artist? Yes, and a damn good one, too!
One-line reviews of everything else currently open*
(* That I’ve seen.)
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👍🏻👍🏻 ROUNDUP-WORTHY — see it if you can!
Alison Jacques - Bona de Mandiargues (Mayfair) — Is it painting? Is it collage? Are these undiscovered surrealist masterpieces? Whatever they are, they’re the most quirky and charming mixed-media works I’ve seen in ages. 🗓️ Until 04 July
Amanda Wilkinson - Derek Jarman (Farringdon) — The Black Paintings were a highly personal series that’s more sculptural diary than visual statement. Thick and tar-like, the black oil on canvas traps teeth, bullets, broken glass, cultural artefacts and written commentary. This is Part 1 of a rare opportunity to get a chronological view of these seldom seen works. 🗓️ Until 11 July
Beers - Andrew Salgado (Farringdon) — These portraits aren’t stylistic treatments, they’re windows that transport you into a vibrant world so fully realised that you’ll wish you could book an Airbnb inside them. 🗓️ Until 28 June
Bernheim - Eli Ping (Mayfair) — The wall abstracts would make Georgia O'Keeffe blush, but it’s the finely balanced resin and canvas sculptures that’ll make your jaw drop. 🗓️ Until 20 June
Brooke Benington - Best Self (group show) (Fitzrovia) — There’s a lot of weird and wonderful “what is that?” in this group of experimental contemporary artists you really should have on your radar. 🗓️ Until 28 June
🆕 Royal Academy of Arts - Summer Exhibition 2025 (Mayfair) — They reversed the flow (you now walk anticlockwise) and dispersed the architectural models throughout all the rooms, but it’s the light and airy hang and some really fantastic works that make this one of the better summer exhibitions of the decade (so far). (£ Ticketed) 🗓️ Until 17 August
Sadie Coles - Ugo Rondinone (Soho) — Both innocuous and explicit, these rainbow wax casts of dancers inhabiting a visually overwhelming day-glo neon installation will wreak havoc with your eyesight. 🗓️ Until 02 August
Serpentine Galleries North - Arpita Singh (Hyde Park) — I went back for a 2nd viewing and though I still prefer the smaller inks and watercolours when the artist has slowed down to examine a singular expression, I gained a new appreciation for the larger, more chaotic works thanks to the free Bloomberg Connects companion guide. 🗓️ Until 27 July.
Seventeen - Erin O’Keefe (Haggerston) — Don’t read a thing. Just go and slowly work your way around the gallery. Study the shapes and shadows and see if you can figure out what’s going on. It’s not quite magic, but like a good trick you’ll never see these the same way again once you learn how they’re done. 🗓️ Until 19 July
Stephen Friedman Gallery - Jaune Quick-to-See Smith (Mayfair)— It’s not all great (the Charlo pastel drawings look like kindergarten scribbles) but the large Native American pop-art canvasses are fun, fascinating and dripping with political commentary about a problematic past that most Americans choose to ignore. 🗓️ Until 26 July
🆕 White Cube - Richard Hunt (Bermondsey) — I don’t know why it took me ages to get to this show, because this retrospective is a must for fans of abstract, sculpture or steel. There’s so much more variety than I’d anticipated, and the hang is superb. It’s almost over so prioritise this one if you haven’t yet been. 🗓️ Until 29 June
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👍🏻 IF YOU’RE IN THE AREA — but don’t go out of your way…
Albion Jeune - Base Materialism (group show) (Fitzrovia) — Most of the works in this show defy categorisation and challenge the norms of traditional art, but if you really want your head to spin try reading the incomprehensible jargon-filled press release. 🗓️ Until 31 Aug
Alma Pearl - Margarita Gluzberg (Haggerston) — Before you visit make sure they’ll be playing the collection of antique 78 rpm shellac/gramophone records of birdsong, because the pencil drawn colour studies aren’t worth the trip alone. 🗓️ Until 05 July
Benjamin Rhodes Arts - Helen de Sybel (Shoreditch) — I honestly cant believe commercial galleries are still showing floral still lifes, but something very interesting happens when this artist paints on thin, elongated canvasses. 🗓️ Until 26 July
🆕 Cecilia Brunson Projects — two shows (Bermondsey) — Only go on a late sunny morning when the angles are just right to cast fascinating sculpture shadows in the stunning entry garden, because the textiles inside are about as exciting as the John Lewis beach towel range. 🗓️ Until 25 July
🆕 Drawing Room - Invites… (trio show) (Bermondsey) — For very different reasons two of these artist’s works will make you want to stroke them (Please don’t!) while the third artist has somehow managed to sneak a few sculptures into a show dedicated to work on paper. Cheeky! 🗓️ Until 27 July
Emalin - Augustas Serapinas (Shoreditch) — Most people will assume this political statement about Lithuanian housing is just a fancy indoor allotment, because it also is. Borscht fans won’t want to miss the closing party serving up food made from the harvest. 🗓️ Until 26 July
Flexitron - Anemoia (duo show) (Islington) — It’d be nice to examine Amanda Seibæk’s mixed media on voile works up close, but the view from outside this appointment-only window gallery is pretty much enough. 🗓️ Until 21 June
Halcyon Gallery - Bob Dylan (Mayfair) — They’re accomplished with a distinct visual style, but do we really want one of the world’s greatest musical poets to spend his time making generically bland paintings? No, no we don’t. 🗓️ Until 06 July
Holtermann Fine Art - Balancing Acts (Mayfair) — One fantastic new Olivia Bax pulp-covered assemblage style sculpture, plus two other things I tried hard to ignore. 🗓️ Until 26 July
IMT Gallery - Soyoung Hyun (Cambridge Heath) — With unexpected textures including volcanic stones from Mount Etna, these quirky ceramic works fit right in with the experimental gallery ethos. 🗓️ Until 29 June
Lamb London - Dialogues (duo show) (Mayfair) — If you like piña coladas, and pretty palm tree scenes, then this art will make you day dream, about tropical themes. (Every cheesy canvas deserves a good parody.) 🗓️ Until 28 June
Ming Gu Gallery - Mingzhang Sun (📍Clapham Junction) — I really like the style of these works and hope you do too, because there’s not much variety across the 17 canvasses that have been hung. 🗓️ Until 30 June
Mother’s Tankstation - Stephen Wong Chun Hei (Bethnal Green) — I want to play this video game and get lost in this world. Alas, it’s just canvas. 🗓️ Until 05 July
Nahmad Projects - Visual Symphonies (Mayfair) — Music themed works from Braque, Calder, Debuffet, Kandinsky, Miró, Picassso and 2 others. 🗓️ Until 25 July
Niru Ratnum - Diana Puntar (Fitzrovia) — Skip the upstairs abstracts and head straight to the basement where the art of the pickle, with a fascinating back story, might tickle your fancy. 🗓️ Until 12 July
Pi Artworks - Osman Dinç (Fitzrovia) — This impressive retrospective of abstract geometrics, mostly steel sculptures but some gouache on card, will make you wonder why you’d never heard of this artist before. 🗓️ Until 13 June
🆕 Serpentine Pavilion 2025 by Marina Tabbasum (Hyde Park) — Like most year’s entries this one is much better looking from within, but the sterile space makes sitting inside feel a bit like waiting to be called to see your GP. 🗓️ Until 26 October
Soft Opening - Something where there should be nothing (group show) (Cambridge Heath) — Serious abstracts offset by works with a strong sense of play make for an amusing but disjointed contemporary art journey. 🗓️ Until 05 July
Wellcome Collection - 1880 That (Euston) — Responding to the ripple effects of the 1880 Congress on Education of the Deaf, which led to sign language being suppressed, this is a playful and fascinating examination of the misunderstandings that can happen between spoken and signed languages. 🗓️ Until 16 November (Free)
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👎🏻 NOPE — you can give these shows a skip:
🆕 Forma - My Tongue In My Friend’s Mouth (Bermondsey) — Never judge a book by its cover, and never judge an art exhibit by its title. The interest factor at this exhibit was inversely proportional to the salaciousness of the six words that lured me to see it. 🗓️ Until 31 August
General Assembly - Silk (group show) (Mayfair) — This was my first visit to this gorgeous and friendly gallery and it won’t be my last, because I’m hoping they can do better than this show which felt more like a random selection of leftover work than a thoughtfully curated hang. 🗓️ Until 26 June
Goodman Gallery - Leonardo Drew (Mayfair) — The production may be exquisite but it’s still just sterile decorative art for the 1%, which might be why they put a luxury sofa in the gallery to help potential buyers better imagine the works in their penthouse. 🗓️ Until 28 June
Harlesden High Street - Cell 72: The Cost of Confinement (Harlesden) — I’m really confused why Americans are staging political performance art about the US prison system in NW London, and now that the performance part has ended it’s going to be an underwhelming visit for anyone that makes the trip. Had this been about UK prison overcrowding staged in a Regent Street pop-up it would have been show of the year. 🗓️ Until 13 July
Hauser & Wirth - Michaela Yearwood-Dan (Mayfair) — Beaded and glittered and littered with greeting card phrases, the only thing I enjoyed was eavesdropping on two American women drone on about how much they loved them. 🗓️ Until 02 August
Herald St - Nicole Wermers (Holborn) - I really wanted to see the fuzzy tailed garden hoses up close, but whoever was tending gallery was ignoring the buzzer. The view through the window pretty much sums it up, though. 🗓️ Until 28 June
Kearsey & Gold - Filippo Antonello (Mayfair) — A fascinating exploration of materiality — bleach and ink on velvet, denim, and corduroy — but the only thing I liked was the purple bench / massage table. 🗓️ Until 05 July
Moskowitz Bayse - Mary Herbert (Bethnal Green) — Why would an LA gallery host a UK pop-up for their only London artist? I can only assume the sale forecast meant it was cheaper to fly 1 gallerist than ship 18 works round trip. 🗓️ Until 28 June
New Art Projects - Me and You in The Continuum (Now: Zero) (duo show) (Islington) — The images of banged up cars and a flaccid penis aren’t changing my mind about photography as a form of collectible art. 🗓️ Until 12 July
Night Café - Mandy Franca (Fitzrovia) — I could sit and stare at clouds all day long. Just not these clouds. 🗓️ Until 20 June
Pace - Emily Kam Kngwarray (Mayfair) — Remember as a kid how you loved making pretty patterns using potato stamps? That’s all I could think about when viewing these works, which doesn’t bode well for the artist’s upcoming Tate Modern exhibiton. 🗓️ Until 08 August
Pilar Corrias - Philippe Parreno (Mayfair) — The ginormous video is a live feed, composited from five cameras in Spain. Brilliant concept, but staring aimlessly at the empty hills of Almería is something best done in person with a gin & tonic in hand and a hammock on standby. 🗓️ Until 28 June
Pipeline - Rachel Clancy (Fitzrovia) — If you’re going to make me look at images of carpets then you need to do more than just be a highly skilled painter. Which Clancy is, but the works in this show lack her usual wit or spark. 🗓️ Until 02 August
Rose Easton - Amanda Moström (Bethnal Green) — Knowingly clever? Kitsch? Gimmick? They’re all salt. A little goes a long way but if you sprinkle too much… 🗓️ Until 28 June
Waddington Custot - Bernar Venet (Mayfair) — Doing pretty much the same thing as Goodman (see my story above) only with a much bigger sofa. 🗓️ Until 19 July
Anonymous Art Anecdotes
On a recent gallery visit I was left alone by the staff, which is just the way I like it when I enter a space. I like to first experience the art on my own w/o having it explained at me. (Is there a gallerist equivalent term for mansplaining?)
While I was slowly looking another visitor got buzzed in. I glanced up to see who it was but was immediately distracted by the visual swoosh of a small dog that had bolted out of the office and ran right to this new person. Clearly they were old friends. I smiled at them. The dog did not smile back.
Bark! Bark! Yip! Bark! And then it rushed around the artwork to come bark bark yip yip yip at me up close.
Maybe that’s why so many galleries have dogs these days. They’re being trained to sniff out critics!
Looking ahead…
This week is all about Degree Shows. Specifically Slade, RCA, CSM and Goldsmiths, in that order. And there’s plenty more to come throughout June and July.
Navigating the show calendar can be a logistical nightmare but the effort is worth it. To make it easier for you to plan out what to see, here are four helpful guides:
The Shock of the Now's Guide to Degree Shows 2025 (requires subscription)
The Gallery Entry Game
Last week’s challenge was Beaconsfield, an artist-run non-profit space in Vauxhall. The venue consists of two large exhibition areas: a railway arch tunnel (look closely and you can see a passing Southwestern Railway train in the photo) and an upper level sloped hall in the main building, which is all that’s left of the former Lambeth ragged school for girls. Congrats to everyone who knew, or guessed, correctly!
Check your inbox on Friday morning for another new entry entry! (That’s not a typo.)
What else would you like to see / read / know?
Thanks for making it all the way to the end of my Newsletter. Did you like what you read? Was there something else you expected? Leave a comment and let me know!
