Amongst the many cultural offerings across our capital city, the free exhibitions in London are definitely worth bookmarking. Many of this season’s must-see shows don’t have an admission charge, meaning you can marvel at a Victorian masterpiece at the Royal Academy, see Barbara Kruger’s latest body of work at the Serpentine and contemplate the meaning of beauty at the Wellcome Collection – all without paying a thing. Here’s our guide to the best free exhibitions in London this spring.
Free Exhibitions in London
Rong Bao Is Me
Saatchi Gallery
Until 31 March
This showcase of Royal College of Art graduate and theCOLAB / Royal College of Art / Yorkshire Sculpture Park 2023 Award Winner Rong Bao is set to be one of the most sought-after free exhibitions in London this spring. Presenting the artist’s practice across sculpture, painting, installation and video, Rong Bao Is Me marks Bao’s debut solo show, as well as the first solo show at the Saatchi Gallery dedicated to a female Chinese artist.
The playful show invites sensory interactions between the audience and the artworks, creating an artistic playground that asks viewers to push boundaries and laugh at the absurdity of life. Standout pieces include large-scale inflatable sculptures from Bao’s Floating collection, such as ‘The Enigma’, a vast pink balloon model made up of intertwined tubes that calls to mind vessels or strange organs.
Andrew Pierre Hart: Bio-Data Flows and Other Rhythms – A Local Story
Whitechapel Gallery
Until 7 July
London-based interdisciplinary artist and experimental music producer Andrew Pierre Hart is known for his work exploring connections between sound and painting. In what promises to be one of the best free exhibitions in London this spring, this new show at Whitechapel draws on the gallery’s longstanding history as a home for migrant and diasporic communities.
Bio-Data Flows and Other Rhythms – A Local Story features a series of six new oil paintings, a site-specific mural and a bamboo sculpture, as well as a sound composition and a film shot in the streets surrounding Whitechapel Gallery. The film features three dancers who navigate the gallery and surrounding streets, interpreting the area through their movements, while several of the paintings depict people who live and work locally. According to Hart, the works have been created to capture “the quotidian rhythm of Whitechapel… its vibrant rumble and dissonant past”.
Fanciful Figures
Sir John Soane’s Museum
22 March – 9 June
As well as being the house and museum of the British architect Sir John Soane (1753-1837), Sir John Soane’s Museum puts on excellent temporary exhibitions. In March that will be Fanciful Figures, which explores the history of the figures used in architectural drawings – known as ‘staffage’ – and will be the first ever exhibition dedicated to these eye-catching characters.
The popularity of these figures dates back to the Georgians, who placed them into their drawings to animate and enhance their designs. Between the city traders and happy families, street-side boxing matches and children riding in dog-carts, the figures celebrated in the exhibition help piece together a vibrant picture of both urban and rural life during Soane’s lifetime and earlier.
Turner and Bonington
The Wallace Collection
Until 12 May
Turner and Bonington is a one-room display of watercolour landscapes by J.M.W. Turner (1775-1851) and Richard Parkes Bonington (1802-1828) in the gallery’s Housekeeper’s Room. There are ten works in total by the two artists, the first time they’ve been on display for 17 years, so definitely one to catch if you’re in the area.
There are four views of Yorkshire by Turner and five depictions of Normandy and Venice by Bonington. Hung together, they take the visitor on a wonderfully evocative journey from the rugged Yorkshire Dales and crab fishing on Scarborough beach to the grand canals of Venice and the gothic grandeur of Rouen cathedral.
Flaming June
Royal Academy
Until 12 January 2025
First exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1895, Flaming June is one of the most important works by Frederic, Lord Leighton PRA (1830–1896). Now, almost 128 years later, the Victorian masterpiece has returned to Piccadilly, on loan from the Museo de Arte de Ponce in Puerto Rico.
The captivating painting will be shown alongside works from the RA collection, including other pieces by Leighton and his contemporaries, as well as those who inspired him – keep an eye out for Michelangelo’s Taddei Tondo. Set to be one of the most talked about free exhibitions in London this year, it’s a fantastic opportunity to see this iconic work in the flesh.
Barbara Kruger: Thinking of You. I Mean Me. I Mean You.
Serpentine Galleries
Until 17 March
This new show at Serpentine South marks the seminal American artist’s first solo exhibition in London in over 20 years. Kruger is known for her impactful work with images and words, which was inspired by her early career as a graphic designer for magazines. Thinking of You. I Mean Me. I Mean You features a unique selection of installations alongside moving image works and multiple soundscapes that bring her works to vibrant life.
Highlights in the show include the UK premiere of Untitled (No Comment) (2020), an immersive three-channel video installation that explores how we create and consume content online. The work features a barrage of images and memes, ranging from blurry selfies to cat videos. You’ll also find reconfigurations of some of Kruger’s most iconic pieces from the 80s, including Untitled (I shop therefore I am) (1987) and Untitled (Your body is a battleground) (1989).
Tiona Nekkia McClodden: A MERCY | DUMMY
White Cube Bermondsey
Until 24 March
Over at White Cube Bermondsey, A MERCY | DUMMY marks American visual artist Tiona Nekkia McClodden’s first solo show at the gallery. The exhibition centres around two key works: the first, A MERCY, takes its title from a 2008 novel by Toni Morrison and is made up of a series of hand-painted steel head gates – devices used to restrain livestock in preparation for slaughter.
The other, DUMMY, draws reference from The Blacks: A Clown Show, the 1958 play written by novelist and playwright Jean Genet. The piece is presented as an immersive installation in the form of a one-act play, featuring a leather dummy voiced by British actress Sophie Okonedo. Together the works offer up a powerful commentary on the notions of performativity and violence.
The Cult of Beauty
Wellcome Collection
Until 28 April
An exploration into the ideas of beauty across time and cultures, The Cult of Beauty promises to be one of the best free exhibitions in London to see this Autumn. New commissions, contemporary artworks and archival material have all been brought together to explore three themes – The Ideals of Beauty, The Industry of Beauty and Subverting Beauty.
From an ancient Egyptian mirror through to modern-day works by photographer Juno Calypso and a multisensory commission Beauty Sensorium, over 200 objects will be on display. The visitor is invited to consider the influence of status, health, age, race, gender and morality on perceptions of beauty and to see it in a very different light.
The Space Around Us
Cromwell Place
Until 30 April
This free exhibition at Cromwell Place brings together paintings and sculptures by eight different female artists: Anila Quayyum Agha, Miya Ando, Golnaz Fathi, Jane Lee, Tayeba Lipi, Neha Vedpathak, Joan Vennum and Susan Weil. All of the works on show have been chosen because of the way they explore, activate or reimagine spatial environments.
The environments on show in The Space Around Us range from colour-saturated landscapes on canvas to abstract compositions that examine the interplay between paintings and wall surfaces. Together, they reveal the varied ways in which artists engage with space to present ideas of identity, gender, perception and place.
Rediscovering Gems
British Museum
Until 2 June
Delve into the archives at the British Museum with this free exhibition on classical gems. Depicting deities, famous individuals, animals, objects and scenes from myth or daily life, these pieces have been highly prized by collectors from the Renaissance onwards, but never more so than in 18th-century Europe. Rediscovering Gems explores the enduring appeal of these delicate pieces.
Used as seals, worn as jewellery or merely collected as objects of beauty, it took phenomenal skill to carve these miniature designs, which swiftly became sought-after luxury objects and status symbols among the aristocracy. What’s more, ten of the engraved gems on show are ones that have been recently recovered, after being taken as part of the Museum’s theft scandal last August.
Art Now: Zeinab Saleh
Tate Britain
Until 23 June
While some of the exhibitions at the Tate Britain come with ticket prices, there are always plenty of free shows to catch too. Right now, that includes a showcase of works by young London-based, Kenyan-born artist Zeinab Saleh. The evocative series of paintings and drawings on display were created specifically for this exhibition, using acrylic paint, charcoal and soft pastels.
Saleh’s pieces are inspired by everyday experiences, personal encounters and memories, and evoke a dreamlike quality. Picked out in a soft colour palette of pale blues, pinks and white, the works invite calmness and contemplation, and offer a welcome respite from the hectic world around us.
Hudson
Claridge’s ArtSpace
Until 2 April
One of the most exciting new free exhibitions in London is being held at Claridge’s ArtSpace and features three British artists, who are all members of the same family. Curated by Mollie Dent-Brocklehurst, a formidable figure on the London art scene, Hudson features works by the acclaimed Richard Hudson and his sons, Henry Hudson and Richard WM Hudson, shown together for the very first time.
The exhibition centres around Richard Hudson’s smooth, sensual sculptures, which draw on themes from art history, psychology, anthropology and philosophy. Don’t miss the chance to see his shimmering ‘Tear’, which is currently on display in Claridge’s iconic lobby. Other abstract works are shown alongside pieces by his sons, including mixed media works in ceramic, wood and stone, and plasticine-sculpted paintings.
