Narrowing down your London art exhibitions must-see list is rarely easy, even in the quieter months on the art calendar. As summer enters full swing, stay up-to-date with our guide to the best London art shows in the city and around the UK in summer 2023.
The best London art exhibitions to see in summer 2023
'Between Worlds'
The Photographers' Gallery
Until 24 September
Still from Habitat game
Virtual worlds, briefly digital epicentres of user communities and all-consuming lifestyles lived online, tend to burn brightly before disappearing, hosting one last ‘end of the world’ party before the servers are permanently switched off.
The journey since the earliest online games – from Maze, the first 3D first-person game to be created, to PlayStation Home, WorldsChat and Myst Online – is now traced by a new London exhibition. ‘Between Worlds’, which opened this summer to mark the 20th anniversary of Second Life, a rare example of a still-active virtual world, explores these online communities.
Writer: Hannah Silver
thephotographersgallery.org.uk
Isaac Julien: ‘What Freedom Is to Me’
Tate Britain
Until 20 August 2023
Installation view, Isaac Julien, Once Again…(Statues Never Die), Tate Britain, 2023
Artist and filmmaker Isaac Julien’s Tate Britain retrospective ‘What Freedom Is to Me’ questions histories, and explores activism, but is also full of joy and beauty. The retrospective covers 40 years of work specialising in film, photography and installation explores activism, selfhood, how we make histories, knowledge and Black and queer identity, with exhibition design by Adjaye Associates.
Writer: Harriet Lloyd-Smith
Antony Caro: ‘The Inspiration of Architecture’
Pitzhanger Manor
Until 10 September 2023
Anthony Caro: 'The Inspiration of Architecture' at Pitzhanger Manor & Gallery
Antony Caro was, undoubtedly, a revolutionary in sculpture, subverting existing conventions in material, surface and form. He was also a master of the intersection, proving how art and architecture are not mutually exclusive entities. Caro’s relationship with architecture is now being explored at Pitzhanger Manor, London through 16 key works created between 1983–2013. The sculptures engage in a choreography of sorts with Sir John Soane’s building, notably in Caro’s inclusion of coloured Perspex, which echoes Soane’s epic use of stained glass.
Writer: Harriet Lloyd-Smith
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The 2024 Ivor Novello nominations for songwriting have been revealed77 British and Irish songwriters and composers make up this year's nominees, announced tonight at London's Groucho Club
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Why Bollinger’s La Grande Année 2015 champagne is worth celebratingChampagne Bollinger unveils La Grande Année 2015 and La Grande Année Rosé 2015, two outstanding cuvées from an exceptional year in wine-making
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Lexus installation explores time at Milan Design Week 2024Lexus brought designer Hideki Yoshimoto’s ‘Beyond the Horizon’ to Milan’s Art Point, part of its ongoing series of collaborations with Fuorisalone
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Kembra Pfahler revisits ‘The Manual of Action’ for CIRCAArtist Kembra Pfahler will lead a series of classes in person and online, with a short film streamed from Piccadilly Circus in London, as well as in Berlin, Milan and Seoul, over three months until 30 June 2024
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Guglielmo Castelli considers fragility and violence with painting series in VeniceGuglielmo Castelli’s exhibition ‘Improving Songs for Anxious Children’ at Palazzetto Tito, Venice, explores childhood as the genesis of discovery
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Yinka Shonibare considers the tangled relationship between Africa and Europe at Serpentine SouthYinka Shonibare‘s ‘Suspended States’ at Serpentine South, London, considers history, refuge and humanitarian support (until 1 September 2024)
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Gavin Turk subverts still-life painting and says: ‘We are what we throw away’Gavin Turk considers wasteful consumer culture in ‘The Conspiracy of Blindness’ at Ben Brown Fine Arts, London
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Dorothy Hepworth and Patricia Preece: Bloomsbury’s untold story‘Dorothy Hepworth and Patricia Preece: An Untold Story’ is a new exhibition at Charleston in Lewes, UK, that charts the duo's creative legacy
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Don’t miss: Thea Djordjadze’s site-specific sculptures in LondonThea Djordjadze’s ‘framing yours making mine’ at Sprüth Magers, London, is an exercise in restraint
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‘Accordion Fields’ at Lisson Gallery unites painters inspired by London‘Accordian Fields’ at Lisson Gallery is a group show looking at painting linked to London
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Fetishism, violence and desire: Alexis Hunter in London‘Alexis Hunter: 10 Seconds’ at London's Richard Saltoun Gallery focuses on the artist’s work from the 1970s, disrupting sexual stereotypes
