The Best Exhibitions in London for May 2025

Discover must-see exhibitions and art shows that are happening in London right now

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


Richard Hunt: Metamorphosis – A Retrospective

Richard Hunt, Reaching Up, 2022 © 2025 The Richard Hunt Trust / ARS, NY and DACS, London. Photo ©White Cube (Frankie Tyska)
Richard Hunt, Reaching Up, 2022 © 2025 The Richard Hunt Trust / ARS, NY and DACS, London. Photo ©White Cube (Frankie Tyska)

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

iuseppe Penone, Gesti vegetali (Vegetal Gestures), 1983-1985. Bronze, vegetation. Installation view Galleria Borghese, Rome, 2023. Photo © Sebastiano Pellion di Persano
iuseppe Penone, Gesti vegetali (Vegetal Gestures), 1983-1985. Bronze, vegetation. Installation view Galleria Borghese, Rome, 2023. Photo © Sebastiano Pellion di Persano

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

Wura-Natasha Ogunji - You Fly!, 2024
Wura-Natasha Ogunji - You Fly!, 2024

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

Ficre Ghebreyesus Untitled with Sea Urchin, c. 2002, © The Estate of Ficre Ghebreyesus. Courtesy Galerie Lelong & Co and Modern Art
Ficre Ghebreyesus Untitled with Sea Urchin, c. 2002, © The Estate of Ficre Ghebreyesus. Courtesy Galerie Lelong & Co and Modern Art

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

Käte and Hugo Perls, 1913 by Edvard Munch © Foto Munchmuseet / Ove Kvavik
Käte and Hugo Perls, 1913 by Edvard Munch © Foto Munchmuseet / Ove Kvavik

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

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864 – 1901), The Clown Cha-U-Kao, 1895, oil on canvas, 75 x 55cm, Image: Oskar Reinhart Collection «Am Römerholz», Winterthur
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864 – 1901), The Clown Cha-U-Kao, 1895, oil on canvas, 75 x 55cm, Image: Oskar Reinhart Collection «Am Römerholz», Winterthur

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

Ladislav Sutnar: Žijeme 1931 magazine cover
Ladislav Sutnar: Žijeme 1931 magazine cover

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

Courtesy  Theaster Gates Studio
Courtesy Theaster Gates Studio

White Cube Bermondsey 7 Feb 2025 to 6 Apr 2025

White Cube is pleased to present a major exhibition by artist Theaster Gates.


Barbara Hepworth: Strings

Barbara Hepworth, Small Stone With Black Strings (1952)
Barbara Hepworth, Small Stone With Black Strings (1952)

Piano Nobile 6 Feb 2025 to 6 May 2025

Piano Nobile presents a unique exhibition about one of the most important artists and sculptors of the 20th century.


Christina Kimeze: Between Wood and Wheel

Christina Kimeze, Soaring, 2024. Oil, pastel and oil stick on suede matboard © Christina Kimeze, image courtesy of the artist.
Christina Kimeze, Soaring, 2024. Oil, pastel and oil stick on suede matboard © Christina Kimeze, image courtesy of the artist.

South London Gallery 31 Jan 2025 to 11 May 2025

Discover the radiant, textured paintings of Christina Kimeze at the South London Gallery, her first solo exhibition in the UK.


GALLI: So, So, So

Galli, Kentaur (für Schari!), 1990. Courtesy the artist and Kraupa-Tuskany Zeidler, Berlin
Galli, Kentaur (für Schari!), 1990. Courtesy the artist and Kraupa-Tuskany Zeidler, Berlin

GOLDSMITHS CCA 7 Feb 2025 to 4 May 2025

So, So, So marks the first UK solo exhibition of artist Galli (b.1944, Germany).


War Rugs: Afghanistan’s knotted history

Small woven war rug, probably Afghanistan or Pakistan, 2000–2010.
Small woven war rug, probably Afghanistan or Pakistan, 2000–2010.

The British Museum 4 Oct 2024 to 29 Jun 2025

Discover how weavers in Afghanistan recorded the country's turbulent history in traditional rugs.


Breaking Lines

Image: Carlo Carrà, Atmospheric Swirls – A Bursting Shell, 1914, Estorick Collection
Image: Carlo Carrà, Atmospheric Swirls – A Bursting Shell, 1914, Estorick Collection

The Estorick Collection 15 Jan 2025 to 11 May 2025

The Estorick Collection starts 2025 by exploring the revolutionary world of experimental poetry.



Coming soon...


Primavera

MonicaMajaRichardson_Studioportrait_LeeSharrock
MonicaMajaRichardson_Studioportrait_LeeSharrock

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

Image credits: Albert Moore, Apricots, 1866; Edward Burne-Jones, The Wheel of Fortune, 1875; John William Waterhouse, Sketches for different compositions, including Phyllis & Demophoon
Image credits: Albert Moore, Apricots, 1866; Edward Burne-Jones, The Wheel of Fortune, 1875; John William Waterhouse, Sketches for different compositions, including Phyllis & Demophoon

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
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

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

Antoine Watteau (1684–1721), two studies of a man playing the guitar and of an arm. Chalk on buff paper, about 1716.
Antoine Watteau (1684–1721), two studies of a man playing the guitar and of an arm. Chalk on buff paper, about 1716.

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

Photo: Grayson Perry ©️ Richard Ansett, shot exclusively for the Wallace Collection, London
Grayson Perry and Untitled Drawing, 2024, 42 x 30 cm, 16 1/2 x 11 3/4 in © Grayson Perry. Courtesy the artist and Victoria Miro
Photo: Grayson Perry ©️ Richard Ansett, shot exclusively for the Wallace Collection, London Grayson Perry & Untitled Drawing, 2024, 42 x 30 cm, 16 1/2 x 11 3/4 in © Grayson Perry. Courtesy the artist and Victoria Miro.

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.