Seven London art exhibitions we can’t wait to see in summer 2023

You’ve heard of nightmare fuel, well for some people, Tomas Saraceno’s art is nightmare napalm, because the Argentine artist has some very particular collaborators: spiders. He collaborates with them to create huge web-based installations, exploring their knack for architecture and aesthetics, and their ability to signal shifts in weather, climate, pollution levels, and ecological well being.

Tomas Saraceno: Web(s) of Life is at The Serpentine, Jun 1-Sep 10. More details here.

After a three year renovation, the National Portrait Gallery is finally reopening its doors in June with ‘a full re-presentation of the collection, combined with a significant refurbishment of the building, the creation of public spaces, a more welcoming visitor entrance and public forecourt, and a new Learning Centre.’ The real question is, will they still have that terrifyingly awful, soul-drainingly bad Ed Sheeran portrait on display?

The National Portrait Gallery reopens on Jun 22. More details here.

Wong kicked against the mainstream, documenting the outer margins of American and its queer, countercultural societies. Taking you from the hedonism of San Francisco to the dereliction of New York, via graffiti, Chinese iconography and the AIDS crisis, Wong’s work is a micro-history of modern underground America.

Martin Wong: Malicious Mischief is at Camden Art Centre, Jun 16-Sep 17. More details here.

Plenty of exhibitions recently have tried to show how art can help an ailing planet, but pretty much all of them have fallen flat. Trying to buck that failing trend is the Hayward, with its new show which hopes to highlight ‘highlights the ways in which artists are helping to reframe and deepen our psychological and spiritual responses to the climate crisis’ through work by Cornelia Parker, Hito Steyerl, Agnes Dene, Richard Mosse, Otobong Nkanga and others. 

Dear Earth: Art and Hope in a Time of Crisis is at the Hayward Gallery, Jun 21-Sep 3. More details here.

This American artist has been at the forefront of using art to ask big questions about identity, power and social justice since the 1980s. This will be her biggest ever show in the UK, taking in photographic, film and installation-based art from throughout her career. Experimental, challenging, necessary stuff.

Carrie Mae Weems is at the Barbican, Jun 22-Sep 3. More details here.

Tate Modern is taking a deep dive into the world of African photography, exploring how the medium has shaped artistic production on the continent in recent decades. In the process, it’s become a key way for artists to transcend borders, tell stories and keep cultural histories alive. 

A World In Common: Contemporary African Photography is at Tate Modern, Jul 6-Jan 14 2024. More details here.

This show of work by the world’s favourite performance art mega-star has been delayed more times than a Northern line train, but this September - they promise - it’s really going to happen. It’s a full retrospective, full of greatest hits including a recreation of ‘Imponderabilia’, where visitors will have to pass through a doorway squeezed between two naked performers. When it comes to London next autumn, the now 72-year-old Abramović will not perform it herself (the artist will be present in other ways). Instead, a selection of younger performers trained by the artist will take over proceedings. Visitors will also experience a selection of her other famous works, plus some brand new ones designed specifically for the RA. 

Marina Abramovic is at the Royal Academy, Sep 23-Dec 10. More details here.