Exhibitions in London
January 2027
January at a glance: 1 exhibition opening, 26 closing, and 39 more on view across the city.
Opening in January
Closing in January
Jurassic Oceans: Monsters of the Deep3 Jan 2027Natural History Museum
Dive back in time to meet the fiercest marine reptiles ever to swim the oceans, from giant ichthyosaurs to plesiosaurs, in this immersive deep-sea exhibition.
Christmas at the Tower3 Jan 2027Tower of London · Free
Victorian Christmas traditions at the Tower, from Christmas cards to gift giving. Included in palace admission (Members go free).
Frida: The Making of an Icon3 Jan 2027Tate Modern
Over 30 iconic works by Frida Kahlo alongside contemporary pieces, exploring her rise into a global cultural and commercial phenomenon.
Sir Richard Owen: A Natural Legacy4 Jan 2027Natural History Museum · Free
A free display on the life of Sir Richard Owen, the Victorian zoologist and palaeontologist whose vision led to the creation of the Natural History Museum, featuring previously unseen artworks, personal publications, and archival photographs.
- Salman Toor: Drawings10 Jan 2027
Courtauld Gallery
A focused display of works on paper — ink, charcoal, gouache — showing how drawing is central to Toor's practice: border checkpoints, still-life compositions, and reinterpretations of historical paintings. Shown in the Drawings Gallery alongside the main solo show.
Salman Toor: Someone Like You10 Jan 2027Courtauld Gallery
The New York painter's first European solo museum show, around 20 paintings exploring queer and immigrant life, with a companion drawings display.
The Music is Black: A British Story10 Jan 2027V&A East Museum
125 years of Black music-making in Britain. An immersive audio experience spanning four continents, telling a story of excellence, struggle, resilience and joy.
Justin Caguiat: Change Ringing10 Jan 2027Serpentine Gallery · Free
Justin Caguiat's first major UK exhibition brings together painting, sculpture, printmaking, sound and film in a site-responsive installation, including thermochromic paintings that shift with heat and light and bronze bells that ring in continually changing sequences.
Rising Voices: Contemporary Art from Asia, Australia and the Pacific10 Jan 2027Victoria and Albert Museum
A landmark V&A collaboration with Brisbane's QAGOMA, showcasing over 40 contemporary artists and First Nations perspectives from across Asia, Australia and the Pacific.
The Music is Black: A British Story10 Jan 2027Victoria and Albert Museum
An immersive sound exhibition spanning 125 years of Black music-making in Britain, with over 120 tracks tracing excellence, struggle, resilience and joy.
- LAIKA presents Wildwood: The Exhibition10 Jan 2027
Design Museum
Behind the scenes of LAIKA's stop-motion film Wildwood, with original props, sketches, puppets and miniature sets, in the Helene and Johannes Huth Gallery.
Screen Portraits: Whitechapel Gallery Artists – Part 213 Jan 2027Whitechapel Gallery · Free
Film programme for the gallery's 125th anniversary with works by Ayo Akingbade, Holly Graham, Maz Murray and Gaby Sahhar, shown in Gallery 5.
Winston Taylor Photo Portrait Prize 202617 Jan 2027National Portrait Gallery
The Gallery's flagship photography prize — now sponsored by Winston Taylor and renamed the Winston Taylor Photo Portrait Prize 2026 — returns with the best contemporary portrait photography from emerging talents and established names.
Freddie Mercury | Splendid Things17 Jan 2027Victoria and Albert Museum · Free
A free trail of eight Freddie Mercury stage looks across the V&A's galleries, from the Bohemian Rhapsody catsuit to his Knebworth crown and cloak.
Michael Landy: Future Ruins17 Jan 2027Sir John Soane's Museum · Free
Michael Landy's meticulous watercolour and pen drawings imagining iconic buildings, including Soane's own museum, as overgrown future ruins.
Tate Britain Commission 2026: Zineb Sedira17 Jan 2027Tate Britain · Free
British-French-Algerian artist Zineb Sedira creates a major site-specific installation for the Duveen Galleries, exploring memory, migration and displacement through photography, performance, video and installation.
Ana Mendieta17 Jan 2027Tate Modern
Newly remastered films, early paintings and late sculptures by the Cuban-American artist, including her Silueta series, many never seen in the UK.
Hokusai: Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji from the Iuchi Collection17 Jan 2027Dulwich Picture Gallery
Hokusai's complete Thirty-six Views of Mt. Fuji, shown in the UK for the first time courtesy of the Iuchi Collection, including the iconic Great Wave.
Winifred Gill: A Bloomsbury Pioneer20 Jan 2027Courtauld Gallery
The overlooked contributions of Winifred Gill (1891–1981), central figure at Roger Fry's Omega Workshops — toy designs, still life painting, and prints tracing her work as an arts and crafts educator.
Yuko Mohri: In Concert24 Jan 2027Barbican Centre · Free
Japanese artist Yuko Mohri transforms The Curve with a site-responsive commission exploring states of flux and acts of repair via light, sound and kinetic sculpture featuring Barbican objects.
The RA Collection29 Jan 2027Royal Academy of Arts · Free
Diploma Works and treasures from the RA Collection spanning over 300 years, shown free in the historic John Madejski Fine Rooms while the main Collections Gallery is expanded. Closed on select dates (21 Jul, 11 Aug, 4 Sep, 2 Oct, 6 Nov, 4 Dec 2026).
By Appointment Only: Romani Art, Culture & Heritage31 Jan 2027London Museum · Free
A rotating display in the Reflections Room featuring British Romani artists Corrina Eastwood, Delaine Le Bas and Dan Turner, celebrating the livelihoods, creativity and craft of Romani communities alongside a historical timeline from 500 CE to 2022.
Painting the French Riviera31 Jan 2027Royal Academy of Arts
Monet, Matisse, Dufy and others capture the light and colour of the Cote d'Azur in this survey of the French Riviera's pull on modern painters.
Amar Kanwar31 Jan 2027Serpentine Gallery · Free
A major solo exhibition of new and existing films by New Delhi-based artist Amar Kanwar, transforming Serpentine North into a meditative visual and sonic environment exploring displacement, nationalism and memory.
Renoir and Love31 Jan 2027National Gallery
The most significant UK exhibition of Pierre-Auguste Renoir in 20 years, tracing love and affection in his art, including 'Dance at the Moulin de la Galette'.
Korea31 Jan 2027British Museum
Two thousand years of Korean creativity in sculpture, painting and decorative arts, from around 300 BC to today, the most comprehensive survey seen in Europe in 40 years.
Also on through January
Nicole Eisenmanto 5 Feb 2027Royal Academy of Arts · Free
A major new courtyard sculpture by New York-based artist Nicole Eisenman, installed in front of Burlington House.
Tim Walker's Fairyland: Love and Legendsto 7 Feb 2027National Portrait Gallery
Photographer Tim Walker celebrates the UK's LGBTQ+ trailblazers in a fantastical exploration of queer identity, community and love.
Charlie Mackesy: The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, the Horse...and Youto 7 Feb 2027Dulwich Picture Gallery
The first UK museum show by author-illustrator Charlie Mackesy: never-before-seen early sketches and original works from The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse.
Yinka Shonibare and Thomas Gainsborough: A Conversationto 7 Feb 2027National Gallery · Free
Yinka Shonibare's contemporary response shown alongside Thomas Gainsborough's 'Mr and Mrs Andrews'. Free to all visitors.
Rudy Loewe: Intimacies of Care – Spaces of Grief and Possibilityto 7 Feb 2027Wellcome Collection · Free
Multidisciplinary artworks by Rudy Loewe reimagine mental healthcare, centring the lived experience of Black people whose UK care is shaped by racist discrimination.
Audrey Amiss: The Surviving Exhibitionsto 7 Feb 2027Wellcome Collection · Free
The first museum show of Audrey Amiss (1933-2013): drawings, paintings and other works through which she spoke out against harmful treatment within the mental health system.
- Cecilia Vicuña: Foraging Quiputo 14 Feb 2027
Whitechapel Gallery · Free
A free participatory installation in Gallery 4, running alongside Cecilia Vicuña: Living Threads. Visitors contribute to a collective quipu — the Andean knotted-cord form central to Vicuña's practice.
Cecilia Vicuña: Living Threadsto 14 Feb 2027Whitechapel Gallery
The first major UK survey of the Chilean artist, poet and activist, spanning six decades of work that dissolves boundaries between art, poetry, performance and ritual. Includes a companion participatory installation, Foraging Quipu.
The 90s: Art and Fashionto 14 Feb 2027Tate Britain
Curated by Edward Enninful, a major show on how 1990s British art, fashion and photography fused into one cultural force, with Hirst, Lucas, McQueen, Westwood and Teller.
Snap Happy! How Children Became Photographersto 21 Feb 2027The Photographers' Gallery
Through photographs and archives, celebrates the creativity and curiosity of children as photographers.
Light and Magic: The Birth of Art Photographyto 21 Feb 2027Tate Modern
Around 200 prints by more than 80 artists trace pictorialism, the first international art photography movement, across the globe.
William Eggleston: All that goes unnoticedto 21 Feb 2027The Photographers' Gallery
Major exhibition celebrating 50 years since William Eggleston's Guide (1976), the book that helped establish colour photography as fine art.
British Wildlife Photography Awardsto 21 Feb 2027Horniman Museum · Free
Award-winning British wildlife photography spanning animal behaviour, botanical subjects, urban wildlife and marine life, with captions giving context for each image.
Sanlé Sory: Colour Yearsto 21 Feb 2027The Photographers' Gallery
Sanlé Sory's rarely seen colour photographs shown together for the first time, capturing youth culture and fashion in Burkina Faso.
Childhood in Warto 28 Feb 2027Imperial War Museum · Free
The UK's first exhibition on how war has shaped children's lives from 1914 to today, told through personal objects, immersive set pieces and much-loved children's books.
Robert Ryman: The Real Thingto 28 Feb 2027Barbican Centre
Major retrospective of over 60 works by American painter Robert Ryman, whose largely white, square canvases invite a closer look at materials and surface.
Andrius Arutiunian: They Tried to Count Usto 7 Mar 2027Hayward Gallery · Free
The Armenian-Lithuanian artist's first UK solo show, reconstructing a fragment of an unfinished radio anechoic chamber from an Armenian radio telescope alongside sculptures and a new sound piece exploring myth and cosmic phenomena.
Nan Goldin: You Never Did Anything Wrongto 7 Mar 2027Hayward Gallery
A major solo show by the American photographer and activist, spanning five decades of intimate work on relationships, addiction and queer subcultures, alongside four recent films including the public debut of a new work.
Gathering Groundto 7 Mar 2027Tate Modern · Free
A collection display bringing together works by artists including Abbas Akhavan, Abel Rodríguez and Zheng Bo, exploring the connection between environmental and social justice.
Peggy Guggenheim in Londonto 14 Mar 2027Royal Academy of Arts
Explores Guggenheim's short-lived Guggenheim Jeune gallery (1938-39) and how it introduced avant-garde art to London.
Cosimo I de' Medici: Art and Dynastyto 21 Mar 2027Wallace Collection · Free
A free display showing how Cosimo I de' Medici, first Grand Duke of Tuscany, used art to build his authority and secure his dynasty, from a monumental wine cooler bearing his emblem to a ceremonial sword linking him to Hercules.
Multiplied wonders: Italian Renaissance woodcutsto 21 Mar 2027British Museum · Free
The first display devoted to Italian Renaissance woodcuts, from early devotional prints to chiaroscuro designs by Titian and Parmigianino, in Rooms 90 and 90a.
Dame Vera Lynn Collectionto 2 Apr 2027Imperial War Museum
A selection of Dame Vera Lynn's personal objects, including letters, correspondence and uniform items from her recently acquired Second World War archive, on display for 12 months near the entrance to the Second World War Galleries.
Es Devlinto 4 Apr 2027Design Museum
The first UK retrospective of artist-designer Es Devlin's 30-year practice in sculpture, performance, language and light, with maquettes and new commissions.
Hyundai Commission: Tarek Atouito 11 Apr 2027Tate Modern · Free
The 11th annual Hyundai Commission fills the Turbine Hall with a site-specific installation by artist and composer Tarek Atoui, blending music, technology, sculpture and performance into multisensory environments.
Van Eyck: The Portraitsto 11 Apr 2027National Gallery
For the first time in history, all of Jan van Eyck's surviving painted portraits brought together in one exhibition.
Vanessa Bell & Duncan Grant: Inside Bloomsburyto 11 Apr 2027Tate Britain
The 50-year creative partnership of Bloomsbury artists Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant, with over 300 works and a recreation of their studio at Charleston in Sussex.
Becoming America: How Science Shaped a Nationto 25 Apr 2027Science Museum · Free
Marking 250 years since US independence, this exhibition reveals the science behind the nation's founding through maps, paintings and instruments from the 1760s to 1790s.
Metamorphoses: Porcelain Sculpture by Rachel Kneeboneto 25 Apr 2027Wallace Collection · Free
Acclaimed artist Rachel Kneebone presents nine white porcelain sculptures throughout the Wallace Collection's galleries, including two newly created works, in dialogue with the museum's historic decorative arts.
Art deco: the golden age of poster designto 30 Apr 2027London Transport Museum
Over 100 original London Transport posters mark the centenary of art deco, with work by design greats like McKnight Kauffer and Jean Dupas, plus Charles Holden's Tube architecture.
Julio Le Parc: Light. Colour. Action.to 3 May 2027Tate Modern
An immersive retrospective of seven decades of kinetic and interactive works, with light sculptures and geometric paintings that turn viewers into participants.
Beyond the Streetsto 5 May 2027Saatchi Gallery
Six decades of street culture's influence on art, photography, fashion, music and activism: over 100 creators across ten-plus rooms, from graffiti and hip-hop to 2Tone.
Constantinople to Istanbul: One City, Two Empiresto 9 May 2027Victoria and Albert Museum
A major UK-first exhibition exploring 1,600 years of art and design from one of the world's greatest cities, across the Byzantine and Ottoman empires.
American Photographsto 16 May 2027Victoria and Albert Museum · Free
A free display drawn from the V&A's US photography collection, revealing the breadth of the country's photographic traditions from early prints to contemporary work.
Tenderness and Rageto 30 May 2027Wellcome Collection · Free
A display exploring HIV and AIDS through stories of protest and care, from the UK's 1980s-90s epidemic to global activism today, via photography, film and archives.
NINAGAWA Mika: Captive Bloomsto 1 Jun 2027The Photographers' Gallery · Free
A free outdoor exhibition of Mika Ninagawa's vibrant, dream-like photographs of blooming flowers and goldfish that dissolve the boundary between real and imagined.
The Bayeux Tapestryto 11 Jul 2027British Museum
The 70-metre tapestry depicting the 1066 Norman invasion, shown in the UK for the first time in almost 1,000 years.
Wildlife Photographer of the Yearto 11 Jul 2027Natural History Museum
Back for another year with 100 new images: the world's best nature photography, from polar landscapes to tropical rainforests, displayed in an immersive exhibition of award-winning shots.
The Nue Black Aestheticto 8 Aug 2027Design Museum
Major exhibition celebrating contemporary Black designers reshaping British design across furniture, architecture, fashion and installation.
Image credits
63
- Sam Belinfante: All that I have to say is…Sam Belinfante, Lumière Mystérieuse, 2023. Photographic print. Photo Courtesy the artist
- Jurassic Oceans: Monsters of the DeepCourtesy of Natural History Museum
- Christmas at the TowerCourtesy of Tower of London
- Frida: The Making of an IconCourtesy of Tate Modern
- Sir Richard Owen: A Natural LegacyCourtesy of Natural History Museum
- Salman Toor: Someone Like You© Salman Toor; Courtesy of the artist, Luhring Augustine, New York, and Thomas Dane Gallery. Photo: Genevieve Hanson
- The Music is Black: A British StoryCourtesy of V&A East Museum
- Justin Caguiat: Change RingingCourtesy Serpentine. Photo: George Darrell
- Rising Voices: Contemporary Art from Asia, Australia and the PacificCourtesy of Victoria and Albert Museum
- The Music is Black: A British StoryCourtesy of Victoria and Albert Museum
- Screen Portraits: Whitechapel Gallery Artists – Part 2Gaby Sahhar, Abstraction Belongs to Us, 2026. Film still. Courtesy the artist.
- Winston Taylor Photo Portrait Prize 2026Courtesy of National Portrait Gallery
- Freddie Mercury | Splendid ThingsFreddie Mercury in the Made in Heaven music video. Photography by Simon Fowler © Mercury Songs Ltd
- Michael Landy: Future Ruins© Michael Landy. Courtesy the artist and Thomas Dane Gallery. Photo: Prudence Cuming Fine Art Photography.
- Tate Britain Commission 2026: Zineb SediraPhoto © Tate (Joe Humphrys)
- Ana Mendieta©The Estate of Ana Mendieta Collection, LLC. Licensed by Artist Rights Society (ARS), New York / DACS, 2026 / Courtesy Marian Goodman Gallery and Alison Jacques, London.
- Hokusai: Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji from the Iuchi CollectionCourtesy of Dulwich Picture Gallery
- Winifred Gill: A Bloomsbury Pioneer© Bodleian, Oxford
- Yuko Mohri: In ConcertCourtesy of Barbican Centre
- The RA CollectionCourtesy of Royal Academy of Arts
- By Appointment Only: Romani Art, Culture & Heritage© London Museum
- Painting the French RivieraCourtesy of Royal Academy of Arts
- Amar KanwarCourtesy of Serpentine Gallery
- Renoir and LoveCourtesy of National Gallery
- KoreaCourtesy of British Museum
- Nicole EisenmanCourtesy of Royal Academy of Arts
- Tim Walker's Fairyland: Love and LegendsCourtesy of National Portrait Gallery
- Charlie Mackesy: The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, the Horse...and YouCourtesy of Dulwich Picture Gallery
- Yinka Shonibare and Thomas Gainsborough: A ConversationCourtesy of National Gallery
- Rudy Loewe: Intimacies of Care – Spaces of Grief and PossibilityCourtesy of Wellcome Collection
- Audrey Amiss: The Surviving ExhibitionsCourtesy of Wellcome Collection
- Cecilia Vicuña: Living ThreadsCourtesy of Whitechapel Gallery
- The 90s: Art and Fashion© Juergen Teller, All rights Reserved
- Snap Happy! How Children Became PhotographersCourtesy of The Photographers' Gallery
- Light and Magic: The Birth of Art Photography© Estate of Lang Jingshan
- William Eggleston: All that goes unnoticedCourtesy of The Photographers' Gallery
- British Wildlife Photography AwardsCourtesy of Horniman Museum
- Sanlé Sory: Colour Years© Sanlé Sory, 2026. Courtesy of Tezeta.
- Childhood in War© IWM (Art. IWM PST 8105)
- Robert Ryman: The Real ThingCourtesy of Barbican Centre
- Andrius Arutiunian: They Tried to Count UsCourtesy of Hayward Gallery
- Nan Goldin: You Never Did Anything WrongCourtesy of Hayward Gallery
- Gathering Ground© Abel Rodriguez, courtesy of the artist and Instituto de Vision
- Peggy Guggenheim in LondonCourtesy of Royal Academy of Arts
- Cosimo I de' Medici: Art and DynastyCourtesy of Wallace Collection
- Multiplied wonders: Italian Renaissance woodcutsCourtesy of British Museum
- Dame Vera Lynn CollectionCourtesy of Imperial War Museum
- Es DevlinCourtesy of Design Museum
- Hyundai Commission: Tarek AtouiCourtesy of Tate Modern
- Van Eyck: The PortraitsCourtesy of National Gallery
- Vanessa Bell & Duncan Grant: Inside BloomsburyCourtesy of Tate Britain
- Becoming America: How Science Shaped a NationCourtesy of Science Museum
- Metamorphoses: Porcelain Sculpture by Rachel Kneebone© Rachel Kneebone. Photo © White Cube (Theo Christelis)
- Art deco: the golden age of poster designCourtesy of London Transport Museum
- Julio Le Parc: Light. Colour. Action.Lent by the Atelier Le Parc 2026 © ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2026
- Beyond the StreetsGOLDIE spraying a can of Buntlack. Photo by Gus Coral.
- Constantinople to Istanbul: One City, Two EmpiresCourtesy of Victoria and Albert Museum
- American PhotographsCourtesy of Victoria and Albert Museum
- Tenderness and RageGallery Photo: Benjamin Gilbert. © Wellcome Collection
- NINAGAWA Mika: Captive BloomsCourtesy of The Photographers' Gallery
- The Bayeux TapestryCourtesy of British Museum
- Wildlife Photographer of the YearCourtesy of Natural History Museum
- The Nue Black AestheticCourtesy of Design Museum
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