London exhibitions Archives

October 2, 2026 — No Comments

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

October 1, 2026 — No Comments

Frieze London 2026: Tickets, Frieze Masters and What to See

Last updated: 30 September 2026. I checked every price, opening time and date in this Frieze London 2026 guide against Frieze's own ticket and visitor pages that day.

By Tristan · Arts, exhibitions and creative culture

This article contains affiliate and referral links, which are paid links. If you click one and buy or sign up, I earn a commission or referral bonus at no extra cost to you. Brands don't choose what I feature or what I say about them.

Coming into London for Frieze?

A railcard takes a third off most UK rail fares for a year, and my railcard page has the current TrainPal new-customer discount and the steps to claim it.

Get up to £25 off a railcard

Frieze Week2026 Edit

Frieze London 2026 and Frieze Masters run in The Regent's Park from Wednesday 14 to Sunday 18 October 2026. Wednesday is invitation only, so the public gets four days. Frieze London shows art made mostly since 2000. Frieze Masters shows work made before 2000, from ancient Egypt to the late 20th century, and the two tents sit about 15 minutes' walk apart at either end of the park.

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

Tags: Contemporary art, London exhibitions, Regent's Park

September 11, 2026 — Comments are off for this post.

London Design Festival 2026: What to See

London Design Festival 2026 runs 12 to 20 September. Eleven picks, what is free, what is ticketed, and the day that gets you eight.

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

Tags: Barbican, Craft x Tech, design events, design festival, Design Museum, free things to do in London, Global Design Forum, LDF 2026, london design festival, London exhibitions, Max Cooper, NIGO, Shoreditch Design Week, Simone Brewster, Somerset House, St Paul's Cathedral, Studio Saar, V&A

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

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

Bayeux Tapestry at the British Museum: How to Get Tickets

Last updated: 9 September 2026. I checked every date, price and rule in this Bayeux Tapestry British Museum ticket guide against the museum's own pages on 6 September 2026.

By Tristan · Arts, exhibitions and creative culture

The two dates that matter

Members can book 1 January to 31 March 2027 from 6 October 2026. Everyone else gets the same three months on 21 October 2026.

Check availability at the British Museum

Exhibitions2026 edit

Sold out until January, and the queue was 80,000 people long

The Bayeux Tapestry British Museum display opens on 10 September 2026 and runs to 11 July 2027, and every slot up to 31 December has already gone. So the useful question is no longer where to buy a ticket. It is how to get one at all. The next public release lands on 21 October 2026, membership no longer buys a new joiner what it buys an existing member, and the National Art Pass does something different again.

Published by Tristan in Arts & Culture, Exhibitions, London

Tags: 1066, bayeux tapestry, British Museum, exhibition tickets, London exhibitions, museum membership, national art pass, things to do in London

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

Christo Air Review: Gagosian’s Lost Cloud Lands in London

Last updated: 23 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: 4/5

Some shows you walk through. This one you stand inside. Our Christo Air review covers the moment a lost 1968 idea finally turns real, suspended just above your head in a Mayfair gallery. Christo: Air opened at Gagosian on Grosvenor Hill on 21 May 2026, and it centres on a single, glowing cloud that the artist never lived to see built. Below, we unpack what genuinely works, what falls a little short, and whether this Christo Air review lands the show among the capital's must-see exhibitions this summer.

Published by Tristan in Arts & Culture, Exhibitions, Reviews

Tags: Air Package on a Ceiling, art review, Christo, Christo Air, Exhibition review, Gagosian, London exhibitions

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 10, 2026 — Comments are off for this post.

Schiaparelli V&A Review: Fashion Becomes Art at the V&A London

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.

We went into the Schiaparelli V&A exhibition not knowing quite what to expect. We are not fashion journalists. We are curious culture-watchers who appreciate design, craftsmanship, and the occasional moment where something genuinely stops you in your tracks. Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art at the V&A delivered that moment several times over. This is our honest Schiaparelli V&A review, covering whether this blockbuster show justifies its ticket price, what the standout pieces are, and why it deserves your attention even if you have never owned a couture anything.

Cool Factor: 4/5 (Stone cold)

Cool Factor

★★★★☆

4 out of 5

Published by Tristan in Artists, Arts & Culture, Designers, London, Reviews

Tags: arts and culture, couture, Dali, Daniel Roseberry, Exhibition review, fashion, London exhibitions, Schiaparelli, Surrealism, V&A