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Oh the weather outside is frightful, but the art is so delightful, and since we’ve no place to go, let’s see art, let’s see art, let’s see art.
That’s right, winter has come, but there’s no reason to let the endless gloom, damp, rain and misery get you down because the bleakest season also brings with it some of the best art exhibitions. This winter will see Londoners treated to Renaissance masterpieces, South American modernism, intricate portraiture, Roman legends, outlandish fashion and everything in between.
Get your long-johns on, put on your mittens and head for the warm embrace of London’s museums.
11 London art exhibitions opening this winter
Parmigianino at the National Gallery
The National Gallery’s small, free, tightly focused exhibitions looking at just one or two paintings have quietly become some of this city’s best exhibitions. Next up for them is a look at sixteenth century Italian art maestro Parmigianino’s delicious ‘The Vision of Saint Jerome’, which is going back on display for the first time in 10 years.
Parmigianino is at the National Gallery, Dec 5-Mar 9 2025. Free. More details here.
Takashi Murakami at Gagosian
Brash, bold and garish, Takashi Murakami is the modern master of Japanese pop. But for his latest exhibition, he’s taking a more refined approach: exploring Japanese art history with his own interpretations of his nation’s most important artworks, whacking in bits of anime, AI-imagery and otaku graphics. So… more refined, but no more restrained.
Takashi Murakami is at Gagosian, Dec 10-Mar 8 2025. Free. More details here.
Bloomberg New Contemporaries at ICA
The annual celebration of the UK’s best art graduates returns, this time in a new venue. New Contemporaries is always a chance to see what the art schools are churning out, an opportunity to spot some potential stars of the future and to take the pulse of young art in the UK right now.
Bloomberg New Contemporaries is at the ICA, Jan 15-Mar 23 2025. More details here.
‘Brasil! Brasil! The Birth of Modernism’ at the Royal Academy
Brazilian modernism has been a hot topic in art recently. We had Raven Row’s brilliant show ‘Some May Work As Symbols’ earlier this year, and then the Whitechapel Art Gallery’s somewhat less good Lygia Clark show, and now it’s the RA’s turn with what will surely be a comprehensively historical look at the birth and evolution of modernism’s most colourful and energetic iteration.
‘Brasil! Brasil! The Birth of Modernism’ is at the Royal Academy, Jan 28-Apr 21 2025. More details here.
'At Home: Alice Neel in the Queer World at Victoria Miro
Alice Neel was one of the most important chroniclers of modern life. The American artist painted the people around her, always with tenderness, always with bare honesty. This show – which follows up 2022’s excellent ‘There’s Still Another I See’ – looks at her depictions of figures from queer communities, including politicians, philanthropists, writers, performers, artists, friends and neighbours for a powerful examination of life on the margins, and what it's like to have piercings in unmentionable places.
Alice Neel is at Victoria Miro, Jan 30-Mar 8 2025. Free. More details here.
Jonathan Baldock: ‘0.1%’ at Bloomberg SPACE
Mythological, folkloric, paganistic sculptural shenanigans will fill the ancient Roman Temple of Mithras in English artist Jonathan Baldock’s latest installation. The work will use natural fabrics like hessian and clay to create a personal, intimate reflection on the artist’s own family history as hop-gatherers, and how that all ties to shamanistic ideas of divinity and ritualism.
Jonathan Baldock: ‘0.1%’ is at Bloomberg SPACE, Jan 30-July 2025. Free. More details here.
Noah Davis at Barbican
Part-pure realism, part-hazy fantasy, artist Noah Davis’s paintings present a dreamlike vision of Black life in modern America. He died in 2015, but not before becoming one of the leading young figurative painters in the US, leaving behind a powerful and often beautiful legacy.
Noah Davis is at the Barbican, Feb 6-May 11 2025. More details here.
Mickalene Thomas: ‘All About Love’ at the Hayward Gallery
The Hayward Gallery is being transformed into an everyday 1970s home for this display of paintings by American artist Mickalene Thomas. She’s been at the forefront of contemporary portraiture for a while now, and this show of images of Black women luxuriating in domestic settings will be her most ambitious UK exhibition to date.
Mickalene Thomas: ‘All About Love’ is at the Hayward Gallery, Feb 11-May 5 2025. More details here.
Donald Rodney at Whitechapel Gallery
In his far too short career, Donald Rodney (1961-1998) created an incredibly varied body of work, using a huge breadth of mediums to confront the prejudices that course through British society. The work here tackles themes of racial identity, chronic illness and colonial history, and are a fascinating window into the issues that mattered in 1990s Britain, and still resonate today.
Donald Rodney is at Whitechapel Gallery, Feb 12-May 4. More details here.
Leigh Bowery! at Tate Modern
Not many exhibition titles come with an exclamation point, but then not many exhibitions are about artist, performer, model, TV personality, club promoter, fashion designer and musician Leigh Bowery. Sorry, Leigh Bowery! Mashing together performance, club culture and fashion design, Bowery’s ‘Looks’ had a massive impact on the artists and pop stars of today. Subversive, exciting, avant garde fashion that you’d probably feel a bit silly popping to Costa in.
Leigh Bowery! Is at Tate Modern Feb 27-Aug 31 2025. More details here.
Edvard Munch Portraits at the National Portrait Gallery
When he wasn’t screaming into the void, Norway’s biggest artist was busy depicting the people closest to him. This first UK show dedicated to his portraiture will include images of family, friends, lovers, writers, artists, patrons and collectors, and maybe some anguished expressions of the pain of existence, if we’re lucky.
Edvard Munch Portraits is at the National Portrait Gallery, Mar 13-Jun 15 2025. More details here.
Can’t wait? Hear are the top 10 exhibitions you can see right now.
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