Exhibition review Archives

November 12, 2026 — No Comments

Robert Ryman Barbican Review: The Real Thing

Last updated: 12 November 2026. I checked every date, price and opening time in this Robert Ryman Barbican review against the Barbican's own pages on 31 October 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.

Cool Factor: 5/5

Robert Ryman Barbican reviewExhibition / Barbican

Over sixty Ryman paintings, and far more colour than you would expect

This Robert Ryman Barbican review covers Robert Ryman: The Real Thing, which I saw at the Barbican Art Gallery on Saturday 11 October 2026. I went in a Ryman fan, curious how paintings that are mostly white could have this much impact. I came out with my mind blown, a copy of the catalogue and a plan to go back.

The show runs until 28 February 2027 and brings together over sixty works from the mid-1950s to the 2000s. It is the first significant UK exhibition of Ryman's work in over 30 years. Standard tickets cost £20.50, Art Fund members pay £11, and there are Pay What You Can slots every Thursday evening and Friday morning.

See dates and tickets at the Barbican

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

Tags: abstract painting, Barbican, Barbican Art Gallery, Exhibition review, London exhibitions, Minimalism, Robert Ryman

November 11, 2026 — No Comments

Kylie Manning: The Mudlarkers review

Last updated: 11 November 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.

Cool Factor: 2/5

Kylie Manning: The Mudlarkers reviewExhibition / Pace London

I went to see Kylie Manning: The Mudlarkers at Pace on Thursday afternoon. It was bonfire night, and also the day Regent Street switched on its Christmas lights, so it involved a fair amount of wading through crowds already milling about, waiting for the angels to light up.

This is the Brooklyn painter's first solo show in London, and Pace says she mixed Thames silt and London clay into the paint. This is where the interest began and ended for me. Having a material attitude (think Richard Long using River Avon mud) is fine, but here it seems to do the heavy lifting for a series of weak and derivative paintings that punch well above their weight. They are big sweeps of green, pink and rust that borrow the look of Turner (and that is a stretch) and the vocabulary of abstraction without the substance of either. If you want to see the kind of painting Kylie Manning aspires to make, go and look at Joan Mitchell's magnificent Iva (1973) at Tate Modern. The Mudlarkers is free until 14 November 2026.

See the exhibition at Pace

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

Tags: abstract painting, art review, Contemporary art, contemporary art London, Exhibition review, Kylie Manning, London exhibitions, Mayfair galleries, mudlarking, Pace Gallery

November 3, 2026 — No Comments

Mary Ramsden at Pilar Corrias Review: The Feeling of What Happens

Mary Ramsden's nine big abstract paintings at Pilar Corrias, Conduit Street: serious colour, a slow two-stage method and a cosmology booklet you can skip. Free until 7 November. 4/5.

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

Tags: abstract painting, art review, British art, Contemporary art, contemporary art London, Exhibition review, Mary Ramsden, Pilar Corrias

October 21, 2026 — Comments are off for this post.

Frieze Masters Review 2026: Old Masters, Queering Modernism and Alice Neel

Frieze Masters review 2026: a few visits to Regent's Park, from a 1520s royal portrait to Alice Neel and the new Queering Modernism strand. 4/5 Stone cold.

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

Tags: art fairs London, art review, Exhibition review, frieze london, frieze masters, Frieze week, London exhibitions, queer history, Regent's Park

October 14, 2026 — Comments are off for this post.

Ha Chong-Hyun at Lisson Review: Six Decades of Paint

Last updated: 27 October 2026

By Tristan · Arts, exhibitions and creative culture

Exhibition reviewLisson, Bell Street

Six decades of paint pushed through the back of the canvas.

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

Cool Factor: 4/5

Ha Chong-Hyun at Lisson is the Korean painter's first show with the gallery and his first in London since 2020. The survey covers six decades of work, spread across the ground floor and basement at 27 Bell Street. It runs until 7 November 2026, and entry is free. It is one of the big shows Lisson has on during Frieze London. I give it four out of five.

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

Tags: abstract painting, dansaekhwa, Exhibition review, Frieze week, ha chong-hyun, korean art, lisson gallery, London art exhibitions

October 9, 2026 — Comments are off for this post.

This Is Still Not a Pipe Review: Magritte at Gagosian

My This Is Still Not a Pipe review: around fifty Magrittes and 46 artists who followed him, free at Gagosian until 12 December. Cool Factor 5/5.

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

Tags: Exhibition review, free things to do London, Gagosian, Grosvenor Hill, London exhibitions, Magritte, Mayfair galleries, René Magritte, Surrealism, This Is Still Not a Pipe

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

Quentin James McCaffrey at Alison Jacques Review

Last updated: 6 October 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.

Cool Factor: 3/5

Quentin James McCaffrey's first UK solo show was on at Alison Jacques from 3 September to 3 October 2026. Comprising fifteen small oil paintings of fictitious surrealist-Magritteish interiors. The panels hold a mirror, a doorway, a bouquet or a patch of sunlight. For me it was technically amazing, but a tad cold and overly referential. That was especially true with Magritte showing up the road at Gagosian at the same time.

The McCaffrey show has now closed. However, the Gagosian Magritte show is free and runs until 12 December 2026, which means you can still go and make the comparison yourself.

Small framed night landscape high on a plum striped wall, with a pink sunbeam falling below it. Painting by Quentin James McCaffrey. — *Landscape with Sunbeam*, 2026. Oil on canvas over wood panel, 40.6 x 33 cm (16 x 13 in).

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

Tags: Alison Jacques, Cork Street, Exhibition review, Gagosian, London exhibitions, Magritte, Mayfair galleries, Painting, Quentin James McCaffrey

October 4, 2026 — Comments are off for this post.

Louis Fratino at David Zwirner Review

Last updated: 4 October 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.

Exhibition reviewMayfair

Saunas, subway cars and a lot of skin in Mayfair

Louis Fratino at Zwirner is the American painter's first solo show in London, and his first with the gallery since it began representing him. I went on a Saturday afternoon in early October to see fifteen new paintings by a painter who is very open about who he borrows from.

Cool Factor: 4/5

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

Tags: art history, art review, British art, Contemporary art, contemporary art London, David Zwirner, David Zwirner London, Exhibition review, Louis Fratino, queer history

October 2, 2026 — Comments are off for this post.

Anish Kapoor at the Hayward Gallery Review: Is It Worth £22?

Last updated: 2 October 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.

Cool Factor: 3/5

The Anish Kapoor Hayward Gallery show is his first solo exhibition there since 1998. It fills the whole building, both outdoor terraces included. I went on a Wednesday afternoon at the end of September. It starts strong, with a ballooning red inflated piece so big you can't walk round it. By the final room, though, it felt like a somewhat confused show. It comes from an artist who was once at the top of his game, and who now feels like he's slid into a late stage of dabbling in every medium.

It runs until 18 October 2026 and tickets cost £22. In the final weeks, the gallery stays open until 9pm on Wednesdays and Fridays.

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

Tags: Anish Kapoor, art review, Contemporary art, Exhibition review, Hayward Gallery, London exhibitions, sculpture, Southbank Centre

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

Enemies and Rascals review: inside Artangel’s strongroom

A sealed Victorian strongroom under Chancery Lane, forty minutes of voices in the dark, and the moment they all start shouting at once. Free until 18 October.

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

Tags: art review, Artangel, Chancery Lane, Exhibition review, free exhibitions London, King's College London, London exhibitions, Maughan Library, Pietro Torrigiano, Public Record Office, Quebec Act, Rolls Chapel, sound art, Terence Gower