May 31, 2026 — Comments are off for this post.

Flare-Up Goldsmiths CCA Review: London’s First Crip Art Survey

Last updated: 31 May 2026

By Tristan · Arts, exhibitions and creative culture

This is an opinion piece. Views expressed are the author's own and do not constitute professional advice.

This article contains affiliate or referral links. If you click through and sign up I may earn a commission or referral bonus at no extra cost to you. It does not affect my editorial view.

Cool Factor: 5/5

I went to Flare-Up at Goldsmiths CCA on a hot day in late May, and I left certain it is one of the shows everyone should see this year. This Flare-Up Goldsmiths CCA review is my first-hand account of the most ambitious group show on illness, disability, neurodivergence and Deafness that a London institution has yet staged. Nineteen artists. One former Victorian bathhouse, its galleries carved out of the old water tanks and plant rooms. A premise built on the flare itself: the symptom that intensifies, the burst of light, the surge of sound.

Curated by Natasha Hoare and Mariana Lemos, Flare-Up runs from 21 May to 16 August 2026 at Goldsmiths CCA in New Cross, and entry is free throughout. What follows is what I actually saw and felt walking the galleries, a short explainer on crip art for anyone new to the term, the works that floored me, an honest account of what did not quite land, and why it still earns a full Ice cold score from me.

Published by Tristan in Art Lovers, Arts & Culture, Reviews

Tags: angela de la cruz, art, Contemporary art, crip aesthetics, crip art, derek jarman, disability art, Exhibitions, freestylers, goldsmiths cca, group exhibition, jesse darling, london, mariana lemos, reviews

May 20, 2026 — Comments are off for this post.

Henry Moore Kew Gardens: Monumental Nature Review (2026)

Last updated: 10 May 2026

By Tristan · Arts, exhibitions and creative culture

The Henry Moore Kew Gardens exhibition has finally arrived properly, and it is the show his work has always deserved. From 9 May 2026, thirty of Moore's monumental bronzes sit across Kew's 320 acres. This is the largest open-air Moore exhibition ever staged. Honestly, the sculptures look as though they grew there. So the gardens feel different because of them.

This is an opinion piece. Views expressed are the author's own and do not constitute professional advice.

This article contains affiliate or referral links. If you click through and sign up I may earn a commission or referral bonus at no extra cost to you. It does not affect my editorial view.

Cool Factor: 5/5

Published by Tristan in Art Lovers, Arts & Culture, Exhibitions, Reviews

May 19, 2026 — Comments are off for this post.

Olivia Guillot In between blinks at Glasshouse Review: 2026

Last updated: 19 May 2026

By Tristan · Arts, exhibitions and creative culture

This is an opinion piece. Views expressed are the author's own and do not constitute professional advice.

This article contains affiliate or referral links. If you click through and sign up I may earn a commission or referral bonus at no extra cost to you. It does not affect my editorial view.

This Olivia Guillot Glasshouse review covers in between blinks, the debut London solo show from a French-British painter who has spent the last year on the Tracey Emin Artist Residency in Margate. The work is loud, confident and unmistakably alive. It is also, quite plainly, the start of something rather than the finished thing. So if you want to back a young painter early, this small Soho room is a good place to begin.

Cool Factor: 4/5

Published by Tristan in Art Lovers, Arts & Culture, Exhibitions, Reviews

Tags: contemporary painting, emerging artists, exhibition reviews, Gathering, Glasshouse Projects, in between blinks, London exhibitions, Margate, Olivia Guillot, Soho galleries, TEAR, Tracey Emin Artist Residency

May 18, 2026 — Comments are off for this post.

Milly Thompson Aroma Venus Review: A Posthumous Triumph at Amanda Wilkinson Gallery

Last updated: 10 May 2026

By Tristan · Arts, exhibitions and creative culture

This is an opinion piece. Views expressed are the author's own and do not constitute professional advice. This post contains a small number of affiliate links in the related-content section at the bottom, none of which influence the review itself.

Cool Factor: 5/5 Ice cold

The Milly Thompson Aroma Venus show at Amanda Wilkinson Gallery is, hands down, the warmest, wittiest, most quietly furious thing I have walked into in London this year. It is also posthumous, so going in I was a bit nervous. I needn't have been. Aroma Venus is exactly the kind of glamorous, slippery, unapologetic exhibition Milly would have hung herself, and it left me beaming and slightly teary on Farringdon Road. If you have a free afternoon before 23 May 2026, just go.

Published by Tristan in Art Lovers, Arts & Culture, Exhibitions, Reviews

Tags: Amanda Wilkinson Gallery, Aroma Venus, art review, BANK collective, contemporary British painting, Exhibition review, female gaze, London exhibitions, Milly Thompson, opinion

May 15, 2026 — Comments are off for this post.

David Zwirner London Review: Five Minimalist Masters 2026

Last updated: 15 May 2026

By Tristan · Arts, exhibitions and creative culture

This is an opinion piece. Views expressed are the author's own and do not constitute professional advice.

Five names, one Mayfair townhouse, and a quietly precise group hang. This David Zwirner London review covers Flavin, Judd, McCracken, Ryman, Sandback, on view at 24 Grafton Street until 22 May 2026. Although the artists are familiar, the way David Zwirner has threaded them together is genuinely fresh. So if you've ever wondered what colour itself can do as a material, this is the show to see.

Cool Factor: 4/5

Published by Tristan in Art Lovers, Artists, Arts & Culture, Exhibitions, Reviews

Tags: art review, Dan Flavin, David Zwirner, David Zwirner London, Donald Judd, Exhibition review, Fred Sandback, John McCracken, London exhibitions, Mayfair galleries, Minimalism, minimalist art, Robert Ryman

April 24, 2026 — Comments are off for this post.

Cecily Brown Serpentine Review: Picture Making Is a Belated Homecoming Worth Your Afternoon

Last updated: 24 April 2026

By Tristan · Arts, exhibitions and creative culture

This is an opinion piece. Views expressed are the author's own and do not constitute professional advice.

This article contains affiliate or referral links. If you click through and sign up I may earn a commission or referral bonus at no extra cost to you. It does not affect my editorial view.

Cool Factor

★★★★☆

4 out of 5

Cecily Brown is one of the most successful British painters alive. She's shown at the Met in New York, toured retrospectives across the United States, and regularly sells paintings for millions. Yet somehow, until now, she'd never had a museum show in the city where she was born and raised. Cecily Brown Serpentine South's Picture Making is that belated homecoming. It's free, it's in Kensington Gardens, and it's worth your afternoon. Mostly.

Published by Tristan in Art Lovers, Artists, Arts & Culture, Reviews

Tags: art, Cecily Brown, Exhibitions, Free London, Kensington Gardens, london, Painting, reviews, Serpentine

April 23, 2026 — Comments are off for this post.

V&A East Museum Review: Opening Day First Look 2026

V&A East Museum Review: Opening Day First Look

Last updated: 20 April 2026

By Tristan · Arts, exhibitions and creative culture

This is an opinion piece. Views expressed are the author's own and do not constitute professional advice.

This article contains affiliate or referral links. If you click through and sign up I may earn a commission or referral bonus at no extra cost to you. It does not affect my editorial view.

Cool Factor

★★★★★

5 out of 5 · Ice cold

Our V&A East Museum review comes straight from opening day, Saturday 18 April 2026. And we came away grinning. London does not get a brand new major museum very often. So when this one arrived in Stratford, we cleared the diary and went.

A decade in the making, this is the V&A's newest outpost. Crucially, it is the final piece of the East Bank cultural district. And it lands with genuine ambition. Here are our honest first impressions of the building, the free galleries, the ticketed opening show and the cafe.

Published by Tristan in Art Lovers, Arts & Culture, Exhibitions, London, Reviews

Tags: Art Exhibitions, Black British music, London museums, O'Donnell + Tuomey, Olympic Park, reviews, Stratford, The Music is Black, V&A East, V&A East Museum, Why We Make

April 10, 2026 — Comments are off for this post.

Chiharu Shiota & Yin Xiuzhen Hayward Gallery Review 2026 – Worth It?

Last updated: 10 April 2026

By Tristan · Arts, exhibitions and creative culture

This is an opinion piece. Views expressed are the author's own and do not constitute professional advice.

This article contains affiliate or referral links. If you click through and sign up I may earn a commission or referral bonus at no extra cost to you. It does not affect my editorial view.

Our Chiharu Shiota Hayward review covers two concurrent exhibitions at the Hayward Gallery on London's Southbank: Threads of Life and Yin Xiuzhen's Heart to Heart. For £19 you get entry to both shows, and honestly, that felt like a steal. One of these exhibitions left us speechless. The other left us a little lukewarm. Together, they make for a genuinely memorable afternoon.

Cool Factor: Chiharu Shiota — 5/5 | Yin Xiuzhen — 3/5

Published by Tristan in Art Lovers, Artists, Arts & Culture, Reviews

Tags: art review, Chiharu Shiota, Contemporary art, Hayward Gallery, Heart to Heart, immersive art, London exhibitions, Southbank Centre, Threads of Life, Yin Xiuzhen

April 7, 2026 — Comments are off for this post.

Veronica Ryan Whitechapel Gallery Review 2026 – Multiple Conversations

Last updated: 11 April 2026

By Tristan · Arts, exhibitions and creative culture

This is an opinion piece. Views expressed are the author's own and do not constitute professional advice.

This article contains affiliate or referral links. If you click through and sign up I may earn a commission or referral bonus at no extra cost to you. It does not affect my editorial view.

Cool Factor

★★☆☆☆

2 out of 5

Two weeks ago I walked out of Hurvin Anderson's show at Tate Britain buzzing. It was focused, beautifully paced, and one of the best things I have seen in London this year. Then I paid £16.50 to see Veronica Ryan: Multiple Conversations at Whitechapel Gallery. I walked out feeling flat. Ryan is a Turner Prize winner with four decades of serious, compelling work behind her. So what went wrong? In short, the Veronica Ryan Whitechapel survey tries to say everything at once and ends up saying very little clearly. Here is why.

Published by Tristan in Art Lovers, Artists, Arts & Culture, Reviews

Tags: art reviews, London exhibitions, reviews, Turner Prize, Veronica Ryan, Whitechapel Gallery

April 6, 2026 — Comments are off for this post.

Hurvin Anderson at Tate Britain Review – A Landmark Exhibition

Last updated: 6 April 2026

By Tristan · Arts, exhibitions and creative culture

This is an opinion piece. Views expressed are the author's own and do not constitute professional advice.

This article contains affiliate or referral links. If you click through and sign up I may earn a commission or referral bonus at no extra cost to you. It does not affect my editorial view.

Cool Factor: 5/5

The Hurvin Anderson Tate Britain exhibition is one of the most rewarding shows to open in London in years. Bringing together more than 80 paintings that span three decades of work, this major retrospective is a proper feast for the eyes. From lush Caribbean landscapes to intimate barbershop interiors, Anderson's colour-drenched canvases pull you in and refuse to let go. It runs until 23 August 2026, and if you only see one exhibition this year, make it this one.

Published by Tristan in Art Lovers, Arts & Culture, Guides, London, Reviews

Tags: barbershop series, British painting, Caribbean art, Contemporary art, Exhibition review, Hurvin Anderson, Tate Britain