Ten things to see at London Gallery Weekend

Now in its fifth year, London Gallery Weekend returns once more from 6 – 8 June, featuring over 125 contemporary galleries across the city. One of the world’s largest events of its kind, it celebrates the art and creativity of the UK capital, presenting the works of established and emerging talents of diverse backgrounds. This year sees artists tackling pressing societal issues such as our changing ecological climate, external cultural, political, social and economic factors that impact our lives, contemporary consumption habits and what identity, belonging, and community look like today. Alongside the exhibitions, performances, live talks and special events will also take place over the three-day weekend.

Shyama Golden ‘Too Bad, So Sad, Maybe Next Birth’ at PM/AM, until 1 July

The title is a phrase Shyama Golden’s parents use when things do not go according to plan. Searching for the meaning of life while recognising that living and dying are inherently spiritual, the reincarnation-like works in the exhibition – her first solo presentation in the UK, are divided into four acts, each presented through a pair of oil paintings– a large-scale scene and its close-up vignette counterpart that reflect the tension between individual destiny and the external factors that influence our lives. Golden, who is of Sri Lankan heritage and resides in America, explores the patterns shaping migration, such as economic, political, and environmental factors, alongside class and cultural inheritance. The blue Kolam theatre mask of her alter ego ‘Maya’ reappears in different identities and eras, drawing influence from her personal memory and Sri Lanka’s rich folklore, which blends dance and ritual (including the island’s supernatural demon-protrayed Yakas). Merging the autobiographical and mythical, an essence of melancholy and outlandishness pervades her dreamscape, surreal paintings like ‘Hollywood 1979', illustrating the strangeness of LA.

pmam.org

Philippe Parreno 'El Almendral' at Pilar Corrias until 28 June

Having a long-standing partnership with the gallery, this new exhibition focuses on ecology, blending cinematic visuals with real landscapes into a hybrid structure. It examines the relationship between fact and fiction, land and landscape, by redefining traditional views of ecological knowledge. Situated on a 33-hectare plot north of Spain’s Tabernas Desert in the province of Almeria, the film is linked to a newly completed park envisioned as a site of transformation. 'El Almendral' serves simultaneously as a changing film set and ecological habitat, which will continually stream in real-time– day and night, in the main gallery space and present as a living narrative responsive to environmental shifts and seasonal cycles. Alongside the film, works from Parreno’s ongoing Marquee series, of translucent acrylic glass designs with light bulbs, will be displayed. They take inspiration from the mid-20th-century flickering, neon-lit marquees that hung above cinema entrances announcing the titles of films being screened.

pilarcorrias.com

Michaela Yearwood-Dan ‘No Time for Despair’ at Hauser & Wirth until 2 August

Michaela Yearwood-Dan's artworks hold space for joy and community. Her inaugural solo exhibition at Hauser & Wirth showcases a range of new paintings, spanning from large, expansive pieces to more intimate works. Richly coloured and detailed, her paintings merge the political with the personal, influenced by elements such as healing rituals, queerness, blackness, and femininity. The exhibition also features ceramic sculptures, benches adorned with flowers, and an immersive sound piece developed in collaboration with composer Alex Gruz. Through these various mediums, the artist explores queer community, following an intuition that embraces fluidity over rigid identities. The show's title refers to Toni Morrison’s article in The Nation, which asserts, ‘In times of dread, artists must never choose to remain silent.’ Yearwood-Dan's art evokes a sense of optimism, serving as a call to action to connect, seek joy amid darkness, and embrace an infinite way of existing.

hauserwirth.com

David Hockney 'In the Mood for Love: Hockney in London, 1960-1963' at Hazlitt Holland-Hibbert until 18 July

This comprehensive survey focuses on the period from 1960 to 1963, a crucial time in David Hockney’s career, showcasing early paintings, prints, and drawings from both private and public collections, many of which have not been exhibited since the 1960s. It outlines his artistic development at the Royal College of Art and the years immediately following his graduation. Hockney’s creativity flourished after moving from Bradford to study at the RCA, where he drew inspiration from European and American artists such as Jackson Pollock and Picasso. During this time, he cultivated a distinctive and bold visual style that led to his Love series. Pieces such as ‘The First Love Painting’ (1960), ‘Love Painting – Shame’ (1960), and ‘Composition (Thrust)’ (1962) from the RCA’s collection are also featured in the gallery. Influential literary figures, including Greek poet Constantine P. Cavafy and American poet Walt Whitman, along with his friends and lovers– who became prominent subjects in his artwork, shaped his vision during the 1960s, as illustrated by works like ‘The Cha Cha that was Danced in the Early Hours of 24th March 1961’ (1961).

hh-h.com

Modupeola Fadugba 'Of Movement, Materials and Methods' at Gallery 1957 until 29 June

Known for her body of work centred around water as a portal for both resistance and release, Nigerian artist Modupeola Fadugba’s solo exhibition signifies a departure in her artistic practice from the theme of water, with her paintings of solitary swimmers transitioning to solid ground, centring on collective choreography through a personal yet expansive meditation on transformation and heritage. It draws inspiration from the vibrant pageantry of the Ojude Oba festival, held annually in Ijebu-Ode, Nigeria – an ancient festival celebrated by the Yoruba people. The festival is renowned for its equestrian parade, magnificent attire, and deeply rooted communal traditions, which embody a dynamic symbol of unity, cultural continuity, and identity. With her background in chemical engineering and a mixed media practice, she employs fire-scorched surfaces– burning the canvas, layering beading, and incorporating gold leaf. She integrates traditional Nigerian motifs and layers hues of magenta and coral to capture the festival’s striking atmosphere and vibrancy. Through this multi-layered approach and collaboration with local artisans, Fadugba creates art that possesses an aesthetic language rooted in materiality, community, and diasporic memory.

gallery1957.com

‘Finding My Blue Sky’ at Lisson Gallery 27 Bell Street and 67 Lisson Street until 26 July

Featuring the work of 20 artists of diverse nationalities and ages, including Lubaina Himid, Haroon Mirza, Otobong Nkanga, Barbara Walker, Huguette Caland, Lawrence Abu Hamdan, Laure Prouvost, Celia Hempton, among others, the exhibition held across the gallery’s two London spaces and the surrounding neighbourhood in Edware Road, investigates themes of memory, migration, belonging and the search for sanctuary, all explorations that feel pressing in today’s challenging world. Curated by the Director of Collections at the Sharjah Art Foundation, Dr. Omar Kholeif, it’s framed as his “love-letter to London” and takes inspiration from Kholeif’s experience as the child of Sudanese and Egyptian parents, his 40-year relationship with the city– a place of return and reflection, and his encounter and formative interactions with artists. The exhibition combines cultural and geographical differences that coincide with personal narratives. It invites the viewer to dream of their own aesthetic politics. Appropriately, the parallel title in Arabic poses the question: “What is the World that you Dream of?”

lissongallery.com

Kialy Tihngang ‘Icyyy Grip’ at Studio/Chapple until 29 June

The pink space with its draped, silk fabric echoes a beauty salon or a young girl’s bedroom. However, the subject of the exhibition is much darker than its bubblegum pink hues. Comprised of three parts, the project is an auto-ethnographic study into breast ironing and the artist’s personal experience with breast reduction surgery. A niche cultural practice in rural parts of her familial home country of Cameroon, girls are subjected to having their chest pounded with heated objects to stop breast development in the hopes of preventing sexual assault, unwanted attention and early pregnancy. It’s carried out by older female relatives– mothers, aunts and even grandmothers, passing down physical and psychological scars. Being born in the UK and having the autonomy to get breast reduction surgery in 2021, the procedure also made her think about the colonial photography of bare-breasted women and girls whose bodies were seen as sexualised subjects and viewed with disgust. The display includes ‘Flattening Suit’, a wearable, technological tool designed to compress the breasts, and the video ‘Visualisation’, 2025.

studiochapple.com

Richard Hunt ‘Metamorphosis – A Retrospective’ at White Cube Bermondsey until 29 June

The first major European exhibition dedicated to the Chicago sculptor Richard Hunt (1935–2023) features over 40 significant sculptures and works on paper created between the 1950s until the artist’s death in 2023. Throughout his 70-year career, he has made 160 large-scale commissioned public art pieces displayed across America and internationally, held over 170 global solo shows, and is the first African American artist to have a retrospective at The Museum of Modern Art, New York (MOMA), in 1971 at the age of 35. As one of the preeminent American sculptors of the 20th and 21st centuries, he is renowned for his instinctive and innovative work in metal, inspired by the natural world, mythical tales from ancient Greece and Rome, European Modernist art, his travels abroad, and his cultural heritage, alongside the legacy of African American civil rights heroes including Martin Luther King Jr, Jesse Owens, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, and Mary McLeod Bethune, who influenced his artistic practice. Hunt’s experimental works exhibit a hybridity of the industrial, abstract, geometric, and natural, having conceived a sculptural language that is both personal and reflective of the world around him. One of his final projects is a sculpture commissioned by Barack Obama for the Obama Presidential Center, situated on the South Side of Chicago, which is scheduled to open in 2026.

whitecube.com

'Best Self' at Brooke Benington until 28 June

This group show exhibits the works of Juno Calypso, Polly Morgan, Christopher Page, Mat Collishaw, Boo Saville, Julia Thompson and Bengt Tibet, and presents the question of how many selves we possess and whether friendship might blossom if they encountered one another. Perhaps the Best Self would applaud the bravery and courage of being makeup-free. The hidden self might even admire the public self for putting it ‘out there’. Whatever the case, it seeks to interrogate how we adopt a facade that we protect or contort to fit with societal expectations. Consider The Substance by Coralie Fargeat, where best Sue is disgusted by worst Elizabeth’s binge eating, keeping her hidden away. We live in a world that suggests the more we acquire wealth, youth and beauty, the further we can stray from decay and death. Billionaires are even exploring ways to make the fountain of eternal youth a reality.

brookebenington.com

Kayode Ojo ‘An angel is just a messenger’ at Maureen Paley until 8 June

For his first solo show with the gallery and in the UK, Kayode Ojo draws on materials from online retailers and fast fashion websites, integrating the activities of browsing, scrolling, and purchasing into his artistic process. The displayed objects demonstrate how items can elevate social status and include captions taken from original online descriptions, which employ search-optimised keywords to attract potential buyers. Contemporary e-commerce is significantly shaped by algorithmic systems. Through this exhibition's series of works, Ojo's pieces underscore the superficiality of taste and the aspirations tied to it. Accompanying the artwork are photographs from his ongoing series that capture nightlife scenes and their fleeting interactions, revealing the eroticism and extravagance inherent in those settings. The show's title is inspired by a quote from Ojo’s Evangelical Christian father that an angel is just a messenger. “And what is a contemporary artist if not a messenger?”

maureenpaley.com