Two by Four Day Weeks
w/c 30 March 2026
It always feels like cosmic overcompensation when a long Easter weekend lands immediately after the clocks spring forward, which might explain why Mother Nature has stepped in to balance out the karma with a forecast of clouds and rain every day (as of the time of writing). Never fear: museums and galleries will keep you dry.
Need a recommendation? I’ve got sixty-two!
This week thirteen new reviews join over four dozen I’d already written to give you plenty of options to get inspired by art over the next few weeks and weekends while the Roundup takes a much needed break. I’m hoping this long omnibus of reviews will keep you entertained, but please triple check opening days and times with the venue(s) if you plan to visit over the bank holiday weekend.
Good luck ticking as many as you can off your list.
The Roundup returns on Tuesday 14 April.
Full Reviews:
Visit LondonArtRoundup.com tomorrow (or anytime in April) to read the latest edition of the monthly series Why I Like It. I think you’ll know this one!
Short reviews of everything I’ve seen that’s still open.
If you’re new or need a refresh: here’s an explanation of the ratings categories.
🆕 ← Look for this icon to find new reviews that debut in this issue.
‼️ ← Hurry! Less than two weeks before this show closes.
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👍🏻👍🏻 ROUNDUP-WORTHY — see it if you can!
Arcadia Missa (Marylebone) — Morag Keil presents an amusing yet disturbing take on tech native generations, while half a dozen Nnena Kanu drawings prove there’s literally more texture and depth in her work than most of the reviews about her Turner Prize win would have led you to believe. 🗓️ Until 25 Apr
Ben Uri Gallery - Sam Rabin (St. John’s Wood) — Boxing can be brutal but Rabin’s empty rings and faceless figures give it a tender loneliness. Maybe it’s his use of crayon, which reminds me of courtroom artist renderings, or the fact that he was a boxer and wrestler himself, but these almost-hundred-year-old works bring out the humanity in the sport. 🗓️ Until 01 May
Cell Project Space - LA Timpa (Cambridge Heath) — I’m not gonna lie: none of the works are gonna blow your mind. But the physical intervention of the gallery, creating rooms within rooms to display found object assemblage sculptures with an ambient soundtrack, made and played with archaic tech, sets a distinct mood that sucks you in and repeatedly presses your curiosity buttons. What is it? What does it mean? Does any of it even matter? Sometimes the most intriguing art just asks questions to which it has no answer. 🗓️ Until 03 May
🆕 David Zwirner - Flavin, Judd, McCracken, Ryman, Sandback (Mayfair) — Works by American minimalism masters. 🗓️ Until 22 May
Frith Street Gallery - Daphne Wright (Piccadilly Circus) — The full scale, frozen-in-time sculptures are an incredibly moving reminder about the preciousness of life, including an amusing mini-fridge filled with roast chicken and asparagus, and a depiction of the artist’s sons that’s so eerie and ridiculously lifelike you’ll be forgiven for wondering when the models will be given a tea break. 🗓️ Until 18 Apr
Hauser & Wirth (Mayfair) — Bigger is better when the abstract canvasses from Takesada Matsutani uncomfortably spill onto the gallery walls, but it’s the repulsive and rabid monster phalluses that Tetsumi Kudo has locked in cages that feels radically ahead of its time. Made in the 1960-70s, the text says they’re environmentally focussed but these feel like a powerful political statement about recent topics dominating the news and the hypersexualised world we live in. 🗓️ Until 18 Apr
🆕 Imperial War Museum - Beauty and Destruction: Wartime London in Art (Lambeth North) — This temporary exhibition that shows “how the artists of the 1940s responded to the drama of London under attack” is perfectly paired with the works in the Blavatnik Art, Film and Photography Galleries that does the same, except with a wider range of artists across a lot more wars. It’s a powerful and timely combo that hammers home but never glorifies the brutality of warfare. 🗓️ Until 01 Nov
Lévy Gorvy Dayan - Juanita McNeely (Mayfair) — The contorted poses with carefree abandon are exactly what I imagine in my head when I hear the phrase “dance like no one’s watching”. And then my brain got smacked back to disturbing reality with the porn, abortions, and what appears to be… a jealous monkey? These brash, surreal and shamelessly in your face works are a challenging breath of fresh air. 🗓️ Until 25 Apr
🆕 Nahmad Projects - Petits Bijoux (Mayfair) — Braque, Calder, Ernst, Kandinsky, Klee, Miró, Picasso, Renoir and Schile are just a third of the famous names on display in a show that sets an almost impossible bar to achieve for any gallery planning to stage a small works exhibtion. Nahmad hasn’t just thrown down the gauntlet, it’s snapped its fingers and obliterated half the competition. 🗓️ Until 08 May
Saatchi Gallery - The Long Now: Saatchi Gallery at 40 (Chelsea) — My top 3 reasons to visit Saatchi Gallery’s celebration of ground-breaking contemporary art could all cause serious injury. Read my full review. 🗓️ Until 26 Apr (£ Ticketed)
Serpentine Gallery North - David Hockney (Hyde Park) — They finally found a way to make his iPad work look great. Read my full review. 🗓️ Until 23 Aug
‼️ Tate Modern - Theatre Picasso (Southbank) — It’s a curatorial stretch to correlate Tate’s mostly second rate collection of Picassos to the theatre, but the side-by-side staging of his wide range of styles, leading you through a dynamic “backstage” journey, makes for an incredibly engaging experience. 🗓️ Until 12 Apr 2026 (£ Ticketed)
Tate Modern - Tracey Emin (Southbank) — Some artists brighten your day with pretty pictures. Emin’s purpose is and always has been to reflect the trauma of humanity, specifically hers, right back at us with unflinching openness and brutal honesty. It’s often uncomfortable viewing, both thematically and in terms of the visual aesthetics (or lack thereof), but this retrospective makes it impossible to ignore the force that she is. 🗓️ Until 31 Aug (£ ticketed)
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👍🏻 IF YOU’RE IN THE AREA — but don’t go out of your way…
‼️ Beers - Andreas Welin (Farringdon) — The multi-layered figurative in the window gives way to a collection of atmospheric summer camp vibes that might inspire you to get out for a Spring country walk. 🗓️ Until 11 Apr
Ben Brown Fine Arts - Gavin Turk (Mayfair) — This new series of life sized, photorealistic paintings makes me want to start a new weekly challenge: The Gallery Exit Game. 🗓️ Until 22 May
‼️ Bernheim - Cristine Brache (Mayfair) — This could have been yet another boring example of a female artist getting away with using porn to subvert the male gaze (because if a straight male did it, it’d be misogynistic and pervy) but there’s something undeniably ironic and more than a bit unsettling about the way these vintage Playboy bunnies appear to have been frozen in ice, as if they’re a ready-meal waiting to be defrosted. 🗓️ Until 02 Apr
‼️ Bobinska Brownlee New River - Fuzzy Logic (group show) (Essex Road) — You’d have to be a Vulcan to understand the logic in these exploratory works that repurpose watch straps, postage stamps and plywood offcuts to various degrees of success. But damnit, Jim, good art isn’t supposed to be logical. 🗓️ Until 05 Apr
Camden Arts Projects - Erwin Wurm (Chalk Farm) — Who wears the trousers in your household? Partner? Children? Pets? How about the houseplants? If palms wearing assorted human apparel makes you laugh then this is the show for you! Just know that ten of these is pretty much all you get, aside from two conceptual “interactive” artworks that feel like bad corporate away-day ice breakers. 🗓️ Until 26 Apr
🆕 Corvi-Mora / Greengrassi (Kennington) — Many of the ceramic pairs from Sam Bakewell remind me of rich and creamy layers of cake, with some experimental textures that are sublime. The Myra Davey show upstairs doesn’t explain the six somewhat interesting b&w photo sets of discarded tech, and I ignored the 32 minute boring video. 🗓️ Until 30 May
🆕 Elizabeth Xi Bauer - Petra Feriancová (Exmouth Market) — I initially assumed these conceptual abstracts formed a group show. Nope. It’s all from one mind and there’s a lot going on should you care to delve into the research, but they’re equally enjoyable for those who just like to look. 🗓️ Until 19 Apr
🆕 Gagosian - Rachel Whiteread (Mayfair) — A short and succinct summary of her latest material infatuations. Pair it with her Hazlitt H-H show if you’re a fan of the how it started / how it’s going meme. 🗓️ Until 16 May
‼️ The Gallery of Everything - If I Had a Dream It Would Be a Good Dream (duo show) (Marylebone) — The simplest works, such as a paper doll ballerina that dances in the wind or a working clock that swaps lit candles for hands, are charming and effective. Things get muddled and off-putting as they get bigger and, in the case of the mediocre song, louder. 🗓️ Until 12 Apr
GRIMM - Michael Raedecker (St. James’) — Potentially viewed as dystopian from a distance, a close-up examination of the soft threads and sparkles brings a calming meditative vibe to these isolated billboards, waterfalls, night scenes and moonbeams, and one elegant swan. 🗓️ Until 18 Apr
‼️ Gathering - The Weight Between (group show) (Piccadilly Circus) — This large collection of mostly sculptural mixed-media abstracts presented without explanation (there’s no map but they’ll tell you if you ask) is a perfect opportunity to challenge your assumptions about what makes something art, or just have fun playing “What do you think that is?”. 🗓️ Until 11 Apr
Guildhall Art Gallery - Jock McFadyen with Jem Finer (Bank / Moorgate) — The giant canvasses with accompanying ‘soundscape’ so effectively recreate the lonely and eerie feelings of waiting for a late night Tube that I wouldn’t have been surprised if a mouse had scampered by. Those who don’t want to be reminded of the dirty grime and eerie sounds of the underground might prefer Room 2, filled with McFadyen’s super widescreen East London scenes. 🗓️ Until 20 Sep
🆕 Haricot Gallery - The Drunken Boat (group show) (Camden Road) — 40 works, some quite large, from 23 artists… with wall space to spare! The inaugural show at this gallery’s new and significantly larger venue is both an overview of their programme and a taste of their ambitious aspirations. 🗓️ Until 25 Apr
Hazlitt Holland-Hibbert - Rachel Whiteread (St. James’) — Don’t let the title (On Paper) fool you; no gallery is daft enough to put on a Whiteread exhibit without sculptures. If you don’t understand that statement, you will after you visit the show. 🗓️ Until 18 Apr
Hypha Gallery 1 / No. 1 Poultry - Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead (group show) (Bank) — There are some thought provoking works in this show about “envisioning the possibilities of animal resistance against human abuse”. There’s also quite a few duds (and, sadly, no penguins) but the good outweighs the bad which is generally what you want in a large group exhibition. 🗓️ Until 18 Apr
Hypha Gallery 2 / No. 1 Poultry - Metafictions of post-post-postmodern (group show)(Bank) — Lots of large, illustrative drawings, including some comic book style panel work, are squeezed into the smallest No. 1 Poultry gallery, which is fine because most of these require an up-close study to fully appreciate just how skilled all the artists are. 🗓️ Until 18 Apr
🆕 Hypha Studios - Arcade (group show) (Euston Sq / Warren St) — Loved the mad-scientist / made-in-the-shed vibes, but very few of these wild and exotic game stations enticed me to sit down and play, and those that did were mostly confounding. Maybe I’m just the wrong demographic? 🗓️ Until 18 Apr
IMT - The House (group show) (Cambridge Heath) — You won’t find domestic bliss in these works that explore “the discordances of being at home”, but you’ll certainly be tempted to snooze on the swanky sun loungers as you zone out to one particular repetitive audio work. 🗓️ Until 19 Apr
‼️ Lisson - Rodney Graham (Edgware Road) — If, like me, you’re unfamiliar with this “artist difficult to categorise” then just go without studying up on the show and keep an open mind. Be sure to watch the whole upstairs video (it’s not that long) then read about it before you leave to see if your assessment has been upended. 🗓️ Until 11 Apr
‼️ Lyndsey Ingram - Ishbel Myerscough (Mayfair) — You could play I Spy for days with the meticulously detailed pen & ink drawings of the artist’s home. Much more engaging than the solemn oil paintings whose main salvation is the way they are framed. Chef’s kiss! 🗓️ Until 10 Apr
Lyndsey Ingram - London in Motion (group show) (Mayfair) — Cyril Power was a master at capturing and conveying motion, and these moody art deco linocuts will remind you why the London Underground has always inspired mystery and intrigue. 🗓️ Until 17 Apr
‼️ Modern Art - Hu Xiaoyuan (St. James’) — I was underwhelmed by the large assemblages (in English: random bits bunged together) but they’re filled with such delicate details and tiny little gems that it’s worth foraging for them. Aspiring supermodels will love the attention from the silk screen mazes that sway as you sashay. 🗓️ Until 02 Apr
‼️ Night Café - Lucy Neish (Fitzrovia) — This artist, known for her quirky little oil works, has gone large, very large, and also given us the best show title of the year, which doubles up as an apt review: ‘Better than expected, worse than I hoped’. 🗓️ Until 11 Apr
🆕 Ordovas - Red (group show) (Mayfair) — There’s a few legit hits in this show themed around a single colour, but most of it is filler. I’m much more hopeful that the next show, rumoured to be called 1989, will be the inflection point that plants this gallery on everyone’s radar. 🗓️ Until 24 Apr
‼️ Public Gallery (Aldgate East) — I can’t decide what scares me more: the elongated hominid figures that Cathrin Hoffman paints or the giant sculptures in which she brings them to life. The four perfectly paired painters in the at twilight / at dawn (group show) next door trigger far fewer nightmares, but they’re also far less engaging despite the technical talent on display. 🗓️ Until 11 Apr
Royal Academy of Arts - Rose Wylie (Mayfair) — Read my full review. 🗓️ Until 19 Apr (£ ticketed
Saatchi Yates - Joanna van Son (St. James’) — This self taught painter blends and mashes many familiar styles into an incredibly distinct look. It’s a striking effect, but I got bored halfway through since all the works are essentially variations of the same painting (of literally the same person). 🗓️ Until 16 Apr
‼️ Sadie Coles - Alexandra Christou (St. James’) — I passed by multiple times without going in because the works didn’t appeal from the street but eventually I took a shot and was quite impressed, especially once I learned the self-taught artist’s works never exhibited in her lifetime. 🗓️ Until 11 Apr
🆕 Sadie Coles - Seth Price (Soho) — Watching this video is like getting stuck at a party listening to someone charismatic talk utter bollocks. It goes everywhere and nowhere and just goes on and on… and yet you can’t seem to tear yourself away, not even when your impatient partner tugs your sleeve and whispers “we’ve got seven more galleries to get to” and you whisper back “just a few more minutes” even though the last two times you did that nothing interesting actually happened. But maybe after this next scene… 🗓️ Until 02 May
‼️ SLQS - Au fil du temps (trio show) (Shoreditch) — Featuring the output from a one-month residency in a remote home in the French countryside, these works reward slow lookers interested in technical details, historical references, subtle artistic flourishes and nipple biting snakes (see photo below). 🗓️ Until 11 Apr
‼️ Smallest Gallery in Soho - Daisy Doig (Soho) — If the words ‘dirty’ and ‘neon’ immediately come to mind whenever you think of Soho then this show of illuminated rusty garden tools should bring a warm and ironic smile to your face. 🗓️ Until 11 Apr
🆕 Soho Revue (Soho) — You can skip Tracing Movement, the ground floor group show with a modest selection of passable art. Better works and a much better hang are waiting for you upstairs in Briefly Gorgeous, where six female artists explore the brevity of beauty. 🗓️ Until 18 Apr
‼️ Taché - Breanna Gordon (Fitzrovia) — Another exceptional debut show from a gallery with a knack for identifying exciting new talent. The trompe-l’œil works, while technically exquisite, aren’t saying anything interesting. The reason you’ll want to keep your eye on this artist is because of the dark and surreal twists. 🗓️ Until 09 Apr
Tafeta - Oluwasemilore Delano (Fitzrovia) — Heroin chic went out of vogue in the 90s but these skeletal cows (literally) command your attention, and not just because you can still smell the vibrant oils dripping down the multi-panel wood canvasses. 🗓️ Until 18 Apr
Tate Britain - Prunella Clough (Pimlico) — Room 18 has been converted into a mini shrine to Clough’s not quite landscape, not quite not abstract “urbscapes” along with a treasure trove of source inspiration from her archives including sketchbooks and photos. Ranging in age from 30-75 years old, many of these paintings could seamlessly slot into a contemporary exhibition. 🗓️ Until 08 Nov (FREE)
‼️ Tate Britain - Turner & Constable (Pimlico) — It doesn’t matter what I think, you already know if you’re going to this show and you already know why. My only advice? Choose your day and time wisely. I attended a very crowded Tuesday 1pm slot and there was a very real risk that 2-3% of the attendees were going to die of natural causes (old age) before they got to the end. I did not expect this show to make me feel so young again! 🗓️ Until 12 Apr (Ticketed)
Tate Modern - Nigerian Modernism (Southwark) — There’s some amazing work. There’s some bad work. There’s arguably way too much on display (!) and a lot of it makes me question whether it’s actually any good or just different and exotic. It’s an overwhelming experience, but it’s worth a visit. 🗓️ Until 10 May (£ Ticketed)
Two Temple Place - The Weight of Being (group show) (Strand) — Most of the work, which is mostly painting and photography, is top notch but this “reflection on the toll of existence” generally falls into the trap of relying on imagery of slumped bodies and sullen faces, a trope used far too often as shorthand for psychological or emotional turmoil. 🗓️ Until 19 Apr
‼️ Union - Sabrina Shah Shane Bradford (Shoreditch) — I’m not sure about the final output but the show concept (one artist painting atop another artist’s unfinished/abandoned canvasses) sent my brain into overdrive thinking about dream artist pairings I’d like to see do something similar. 🗓️ Until 04 Apr
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👎🏻 NOPE — you can give these shows a skip:
ai. gallery - Entropy of Loops (group show) (Spitalfields) — A black & white film about dripping water & ghosts, a mechanical belt that looks and sounds industrial, and a DIY foley playground in Tracey Emin’s old lap pool might seem like an interesting trio of audio works, but everything looked better than it sounded and nothing made me want to listen for more than a few moments. 🗓️ Until 25 Apr
Barbican Curve - Julia Phillips (Barbican) — Looking like experiments pulled from a sci-fi genetics lab, there’s just enough mystery in the sculptures to spark a discussion but The Curve is a big, dynamic space and there’s simply not enough here, either in content or volume, to make this show truly impactful. 🗓️ Until 19 Apr
Bloomberg Space - Mark Manders (Bank) — A giant work so perfectly paired with the Mithraeum that you won’t think it’s contemporary art but yet another long lost artefact on temporary display. It just doesn’t add anything new to the experience and I almost walked right by. A case of the right work in the wrong place. 🗓️ Until 04 Jul
Josh Lilley - Timothy Lai (Fitzrovia) — Sadly, the best way to view these works is from across the room. Not because they’re bad. Well, not all of them. Some are inspired, most are just a bit too twee. But they’re so horribly lit I spent most of my time squinting from the harsh glare reflecting off the canvasses. 🗓️ Until 15 Apr
🆕 Kearsey & Gold - Notes Along the Way (group show) (Soho) — Despite a fabulous Frank Bowling (in an ill-advised frame) its just not yet worth climbing 67 steps to visit the new location of this former Cork Street gallery that’s currently showing YBA-era work that fell off the radar then and isn’t worth resuscitating now. 🗓️ Until 02 May
Lisson (Edgware Road) — Some artists get to a certain age and stature in their practice and galleries can pretty much get away with throwing anything they do on the wall and it’ll impress. Sean Scully is not one of those artists, and they try to distract you from that fact by pairing his unfinished sketches, colour studies and illegible notes with curious bronze cats in gravel from Leiko Ikemura. 🗓️ Until 09 May
Maximilian William - Keiji Ito and Elias Saile (Fitzrovia) — A few of the abstract-ish heads held my attention but most just look like kiln mishaps being marketed as quirky doorstops. As for the washed-out ghostly figurative works? Will someone please put this pointless painting trend out to pasture? 🗓️ Until 18 Apr
🆕 Neither - Colin Pearson (Kennington) — Corvi-Mora’s ‘third space’ is currently just a window display of nine ceramics that look like casts of obscure engine parts. Whether you go in person or view them online you’re still looking at them through glass, but at least you can enjoy the website in your pyjamas. 🗓️ Until 30 May
Raven Row - Conceptual Art and Christine Kozlov (Liverpool Street) — Art students and hardcore conceptual art fans will appreciate this extensive collection of 1960-70s conceptual pieces, accompanied by an incredibly comprehensive and informative handout. Everyone else will rate the work somewhere along a scale that ranges from Tedious to Excruciating. 🗓️ Until 26 Apr
‼️ South London Gallery - New Contemporaries (Peckham) — Filled with uninspired paintings chasing tired trends, tedious videos, experimental works that fell flat and a hang that doesn’t really benefit anyone, I thought this year’s outing was mostly underwhelming. Yes there are a few gems, but something’s amiss when the best thing in a contemporary art showcase is the photography. 🗓️ Until 12 Apr
Anonymous Art Anecdotes
The door was locked but the lights were on during scheduled opening hours. I pressed the buzzer once and politely waited longer than I should have had to. Somebody finally dragged their feet from out of the back room to open the door and as I walked inside I had to mentally scan through my archives wondering if I’d ever given this gallery a NOPE review because the tone in which the gallerist snarled “let me know if you have any questions” was anything but friendly.
Honestly… it’s been 36 years since Pretty Woman taught shopkeeps to never judge a book customer by it’s cover and yet…
Looking ahead…
Seen all 62 of the shows listed up above?
I don’t believe you.
But anyway… Here’s an eclectic selection of new early April shows.
Veronica Ryan @ Whitechapel Art Gallery — 01 April – 14 Jun (£ ticketed)
Gabriele Risso @ The Chapel, Brompton Cemetery — 03-06 Apr
Derwent Art Prize 2026 @ The OXOGallery — 09-19 Apr
Ben Wakeling @ Well Hung — 09 April - 09 May
DYSPLA: Neurodivergent Aesthetics @ Stephen Lawrence Gallery — 10 Apr - 06 May
Could You Come To Me @ Ione & Mann — 10 Apr - 16 May
Drawing Biennial 2026 @ Drawing Room - 16 Apr - 23 Jun
The Gallery Entry Game
Last week’s entry leads you into IMT Gallery (the TLA stands for Image Music Text) located at 210 Cambridge Heath Rd, E2 9NQ. Founded in 2005, the gallery is well known for showcasing experimental and innovative art. They also facilitate workshops that foster thought-provoking engagement with the arts, and are fun! You’ll have to navigate a long series of fenced walkways to get to their door, but a warm welcome from Lindsay, Cordelia and Walter awaits you once you’re inside.
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!
