While London’s major museums may remain shuttered until at least 4 July, the capital’s commercial galleries have started to cautiously reopen their doors — albeit with strict safety measures in place. Expect to apply hand sanitiser on entry, wear face masks and abide by the government’s social distancing measures. But if you’re ready to dip your toe back in the art world’s metaphorical waters, here’s our guide to the best London art exhibitions that you can now visit in person.
We will continue to update this list as more of London’s galleries reopen, to make sure you’re up to date with all the latest ways to enjoy the best of London’s culture.
Marian Goodman Gallery – Rineke Dijkstra
The gallery’s London outpost has reopened to the public with a solo exhibition of work by Dutch photographer Rineke Dijkstra, best known today for her poignant photographic portraits that foreground the intimate relationship between photographer, sitter and spectator. Central to the show is Night Watching (2019), a three-screen video installation featuring 14 groups of people discussing Rembrandt’s The Night Watch (1642), which is today housed in the Rijksmuseum’s Gallery of Honour. The exhibition also includes a selection of gorgeous works from a number of well-known photography series, such as Family Portraits (2012–) and Emma, Lucy, Cecile, (Three Sisters) (2008–2014).
What you need to know:
There is a limit of 12 visitors in the gallery at any one time. All visitors are required to wear face masks and adhere to the social distancing measures in place. Admission is by appointment only — timed slots can be booked via the gallery website.
Rineke Dijkstra, until 25 July; Marian Goodman Gallery, 5–8 Lower John Street, London W1F 9DY
Pace Gallery – James Turrell
James Turrell’s captivating light installations flooded the Instagram feeds of art-loving Londoners back in February, when his second solo show of new work first opened at Pace. The good news is that it has now reopened to the public — if by appointment only. The exhibition explores Turrell’s continued investigations into light and the sensations felt in response to space, colour and perception. There are four new multi-sensory works from Turrell’s ‘Constellation’ series on display: each subtly changes colour, one morphing into the next. This is one of those art exhibitions that has far more punch when seen IRL.
What you need to know:
To book an appointment, email: [email protected]. For bookings from 6th July, visit Eventbrite.
James Turrell, until 14 August; Pace Gallery, 6 Burlington Gardens, London W1S 3ET
David Zwirner – Bridget Riley and Paul Klee
On display in The Upper Room of David Zwirner’s London gallery is a grouping of studies from the 1980s and 90s by Bridget Riley that reflect on the connection between the writings of Bauhaus master Paul Klee and her own approach to abstract painting. “Paul Klee was of seminal importance to me because he showed me what abstraction meant,” said Riley of Klee’s artistic influence. Rather gratifyingly, there are late works by Klee on display concurrently on the ground and first floors. Hanging alongside abstract compositions are figurative works on paper depicting mask-like faces. Shown together, they reveal the diversity of Klee’s late practice, as well as his restless experimentations with form and medium.
What you need to know:
David Zwirner is open to the public by appointment only. To book your visit, head to their website.
Bridget Riley Studies: 1984-1997, until 31 July and Paul Klee: Late Klee, until 31 July; David Zwirner, 24 Grafton Street, London, W1S 4EZ
Stephen Friedman Gallery – Yinka Shonibare: Justice for All
To mark the reopening of its Mayfair space, Stephen Friedman Gallery presents Yinka Shonibare’s Justice for All, a powerful sculpture of Lady Justice wearing a brightly patterned, ankle-length dress, fashioned from ‘African’ batik. On display for the first time in the UK, Justice for All is a reconfiguration of the British sculptor F.W. Pomeroy’s Lady Justice (1905-06), which stands atop the dome of The Old Bailey, London’s Central Criminal Court.
“I wanted to think about Justice, especially in the light of George Floyd’s tragic death,’ explains Shonibare of his monumental work. ‘Justice has to be equally applied. People of African origin do not seem to have fair justice. Those injustices have always been there and things have to change. I’m sad to think that those things are still going on.” Shonibare has explored notions of imperialist authority and power in his work for thirty years, and has said that the globe which replaces the head of Lady Justice in this sculpture symbolises how “she is a figure in which the aspirations of all the different people are embodied.”
What you need to know:
No appointment necessary.
Yinka Shonibare: Justice for All, until 31 July; Stephen Friedman Gallery, 25-28 Old Burlington Street, London, W1S 3AN
Hauser & Wirth – Isa Genzken. Window
This solo art exhibition features a new body of work by German conceptual artist Isa Genzken that primarily explores themes of travel through the window as a juncture between interior and exterior spaces. Central to the exhibition is an installation of dislocated aeroplane parts — to include seats upholstered in a dated, muted blue fabric and 15 aeroplane windows. Genzken sees travel and the window as a way to “open yourself up and find different ways of looking at things.” This bijou show also includes Saal (Room), a hulking concrete sculpture from 1989, and a series of architectural models related to a number of the artist’s celebrated public sculptures.
What you need to know:
Visits to Hauser & Wirth are open by appointment only. To request an appointment, please contact [email protected] or call 0207 287 2300. The gallery will reopen to the public from 1 July.
Isa Genzken. Window, until 1 August; Hauser & Wirth, 23 Saville Row, London, W1S 2ET
© Ella Kruglyanskaya. Courtesy the artist, Thomas Dane Gallery and Gavin Brown’s Enterprise, New York/Rome
Thomas Dane Gallery – Ella Kruglyanskaya: This is Robbery
Latvian-born, Los Angeles-based artist Ella Kruglyanskaya is best known for her cartoonish vignettes depicting colourful, voluptuous women. Her second art exhibition at Thomas Dane, which spans both London galleries, takes the form of a continuous collage in two parts. Part I showcases a grouping of still lifes that interrogate the act of painting itself, while Part 2 features Kruglyanskaya’s celebrated female figures alongside self-portraits that explore notions of seclusion, performance, cliché and fantasy. This is Robbery explores the artist’s continued interest in the gendered and expressionistic histories of painting. It will make you stop, stare and think. What more could you ask for?
What you need to know:
Thomas Dane Gallery is open by appointment only; to make an appointment, visit their website.
Ella Kruglyanskaya: This is Robbery, until 24 July; Thomas Dane Gallery, 3 and 11 Duke Street, St James’s, London, SW1
Gagosian London: A trio of new exhibitions
Gagosian London is reopening with a bang. The Grosvenor Hill gallery stages an exhibition of sculpture by John Chamberlain, Urs Fischer and Charles Ray, while the Britannia Street outpost presents Still Life, an intriguing solo exhibition of work by conceptual artist Piero Golia. For the mesmerising ‘sculptural happening’ on display, the artist has choreographed a set of objects and incidents to create an experience that seems to unfold outside of time. Meanwhile, the Davies Street gallery showcases new editions of furniture pieces from the legendary Casa Malaparte in Capri, the home of renowned author Curzio Malaparte. Among the standout works on display are a walnut and tuff console conceived in 1941 and a beautiful walnut bench with legs composed of column capitals. Why not hop from one to the other?
What you need to know:
Opening times vary. Please visit their website to read the new guidelines for visiting Gagosian London.
Crushed, Cast, Constructed, until 31 July; Gagosian, 20 Grosvenor Hill, London, W1K 3QD
Still Life, until 31 July; Gagosian, 6-24 Britannia Street, London, WC1X 9JD
Casa Malaparte: Furniture, until 19 September; Gagosian, 17-19 Davies Street, London, W1K 3DE
Almine Rech – Ewa Juszkiewicz and Peter Peri
The French art dealer Almine Rech-Picasso founded her eponymous gallery in Paris in 1997, and has since opened outposts in Brussels, Shanghai and London. The latter has recently reopened (by appointment only) with two solo exhibitions of new work by Ewa Juszkiewicz and Peter Peri.
The Grass divides as with a Comb, Juszkiewicz’s first exhibition at the gallery, features her sumptuous yet unsettling portraits of female sitters that challenge the conventional role of women in art. Course is a concurrent exhibition of recent work by London-based artist Peter Peri, whose two and three-dimensional compositions are influenced by such diverse influences as geometric Modernism, the Russian Avant Garde and literary and science fiction. Among the star exhibits is Super Topology (2019), a mesmerising pen and spray paint on canvas that triggers dizzying visual effects.
What you need to know:
The gallery is open by appointment only. To schedule an appointment, email: [email protected]. Visitors are required to wear their own masks.
The Grass divides as with a Comb and Peter Peri: Course, both until 1 August; Almine Rech, Grosvenor Hill, Broadbent House, W1K 3JH
Robilant & Voena – Lucio Fontana Ceramics
Established by Edmondo di Robilant and Marco Voena in 2000, Robilant & Voena London hosts a breathtaking array of temporary exhibitions of artists spanning near five centuries of art history. Currently on display in the spectacular double height gallery is an exhibition of ceramics by Lucio Fontana. Highlights of the pieces on show include Concetto Spazialie (1950) and Crocifisso (1950-55). In the adjacent gallery hang works by such celebrated 20th-century Italian Modernists as Mario Schifano, Giorgio Morandi and Enrico Castellani.
What you need to know:
The gallery is currently open by appointment only. Visitors are required to bring their own masks. Please email [email protected] or call 020 7 409 1540 to book a slot.
Lucio Fontana ceramics, until end of July; Robilant & Voena, 38 Dover Street, London, W1s 4NL
White Cube – Peter Schuyff and Cerith Wyn Evans
White Cube Mason’s Yard brings together a comprehensive grouping of Peter Schuyff’s large-scale acrylic paintings from the 1980s that chart the artist’s bold investigations into geometric abstraction. Born in Holland, Schuff moved to Vancouver before relocating to New York in the 80s, where he befriended Andy Warhol and George Condo, and exhibited at the influential Pat Hearn gallery. The works on display reveal Schuyff’s deft handling of colour and subtle manipulation of graduated tones to create light across the picture plane.
The Bermondsey site reopens with a glorious showcase of work by Cerith Wyn Evans, a multi-media artist best known for his longstanding interest in temporality. No realm of thought…No field of vision brings together installation, sculpture and painting. Highlights include 9 x 9 x 9, fig. (o) (2020), a monumental neon sculpture that takes its form from drawings of the first helicopter designed in 1907 by Paul Cornu and four new monochromatic paintings that echo Evans’ ‘automatic drawings’ completed in 2008.
What you need to know:
Advance booking is required. Admission is free. Visit the website to book your visit.
Peter Schuyff, until 8 August; White Cube, 25-26 Mason’s yard, London, SW1Y 6BU
Cerith Wyn Evans: No realm of thought…No field of vision, until 2 August; White Cube Bermondsey, 144-152 Bermondsey Street, London SE1 3TQ
