The Best Exhibitions in London for May 2025
Discover must-see exhibitions and art shows that are happening in London right now
By Charlie Walker | Updated May 5 2025
The art scene these days is growing increasingly more difficult to track, even with innovations in communication technology and marketing. Some gallery openings fly completely under the radar, and while these events are exciting, largely free, and often offering free drinks, the art world's events scene lacks the centralisation that live music has with DICE, Resident Advisor and, the frankly dreaded Ticketmaster (and no, I don't want to hear about Art Rabbit ever again, though I would recommend using Brushwrk)
So, here we bring the doings of the art world - both overground and underground - to cater to both casual and eccentric, day-tripper and deep-digger, bringing you a quality mix of entertaining and thought-provoking exhibitions across the capital.
Stay tuned, we update this weekly
‘Ellipsis’, by Isabel & Alfredo Aquilizan - at Ames Yavuz
Ames Yavuz 1 May 2025 to 29 May 2025
Husband-and-wife duo take on more themes of displacement, labour, and migration in their newest show at London's newest gallery space.
‘Dreamland’, by Ingrid Castelein - at Seventeen Gallery
Seventeen Gallery 1 May 2025 to 31 May 2025
Accomplished painter and sculptor grades Dalston with a new series of playful, throught-provoking, unreal presentations.
Richard Hunt: Metamorphosis – A Retrospective
White Cube Bermondsey 25 Apr 2025 to 29 Jun 2025
White Cube presents Chicago sculptor Richard Hunt’s first European retrospective.
Giuseppe Penone: Thoughts in the Roots
Serpentine South 3 Apr 2025 to 7 Sep 2025
Serpentine presents the most comprehensive institutional exhibition of Giuseppe Penone’s practice.
Wura-Natasha Ogunji: space comma space comma space
Tiwani Contemporary 3 Apr 2025 to 24 May 2025
Wura-Natasha Ogunji's second solo exhibition at Tiwani Contemporary, the first at its London space.
Ficre Ghebreyesus
Modern Art 14 Mar 2025 to 10 May 2025
The first UK solo exhibition of work by the late Eritrean-born American artist Ficre Ghebreyesus (1962-2012).
Alvaro Barrington, ‘Back Home / I Am… I Said’ - at Sadie Coles HQ
Sadie Coles HQ 5 Mar 2025 to 26 Apr 2025
Alvaro Barrington’s 'Back Home' at Sadie Coles HQ explores memory, place, and belonging through modernist paintings depicting the sunsets of his native Grenada.
Edvard Munch Portraits
National Portrait Gallery 13 Mar 2025 to 15 Jun 2025
National Portrait Gallery stages its first ever exhibition of portraits by Edvard Munch, featuring works never displayed before in the UK.
Nora Turato: pool7
Institute of Contemporary Arts 9 Apr 2025 to 8 Jun 2025
Turato’s latest debut exhibition 'pool7' a three-part installation of text, video and audio work.
The Face Magazine: Culture Shift
National Portrait Gallery 20 Feb 2025 to 18 May 2025
Iconic portraits from the pages of trail-blazing magazine, The Face celebrated in a major exhibition at the NPG.
The Griffin Catalyst Exhibition: Goya to Impressionism
The Courtauld Gallery 14 Feb 2025 to 26 May 2025
The first ever exhibition of the Oskar Reinhart Collection ‘Am Römerholz’ to be staged outside of Winterthur, Switzerland.
IDENTITA - The Story of Czech Graphic Design
Czech Centre 28 Feb 2025 to 30 Jun 2025
A new exhibition Illustrating the power of graphic design in societal context.
Theaster Gates: 1965: Malcolm in Winter: A Translation Exercise
White Cube Bermondsey 7 Feb 2025 to 6 Apr 2025
White Cube is pleased to present a major exhibition by artist Theaster Gates.
War Rugs: Afghanistan’s knotted history
The British Museum 4 Oct 2024 to 29 Jun 2025
Discover how weavers in Afghanistan recorded the country's turbulent history in traditional rugs.
Coming soon...
Primavera
19 Kensington Park Road 28 May 2025 to 8 Jun 2025
Italian Abstract Artist Monica Maja Richardson Announces Solo Exhibition ‘Primavera’ in Notting Hill.
Victorian Treasures at Leighton House
Leighton House 24 May 2025 to 21 Sep 2025
A range of incredible Victorian treasures will be shown at Leighton House this summer combining two very different collections.
Giacometti x Huma Bhabha
![L: Alberto Giacometti, Femme debout [Standing Woman], 1957, Fondation Giacometti © Succession Alberto Giacometti / Adagp, Paris 2025
R: Huma Bhabha, Mask of Dimitrios, 2019. Image credit: Daniel Perez. Courtesy of the artist and David Zwirner Gall](https://www.culturecalling.com/images/uploads/header_images/_424x240/79ba4696-2da2-c631-dbc9-35c93a394225_%282%29742.png)
Barbican Centre 8 May 2025 to 10 Aug 2025
A major new exhibition by artist Huma Bhabha, the first in a series of three exhibitions in collaboration with Fondation Giacometti.
Watteau and circle
The British Museum 15 May 2025 to 14 Sep 2025
An outstanding collection of drawings by the French 17th-century painter, Antoine Watteau (1684–1721).
Grayson Perry: Delusions of Grandeur
The Wallace Collection 28 Mar 2025 to 26 Oct 2025
In 2025, the Wallace Collection will hold a major exhibition featuring over 40 new works by Sir Grayson Perry.