Art exhibitions opening at Whitechapel Gallery in 2025

Whitechapel Gallery’s 2025 programme offers an exciting range of exhibitions, celebrating innovative artistic visions and addressing vital social themes. Highlights include a major retrospective of Joy Gregory’s groundbreaking photographic work and the dynamic live performances of The London Open Live. The year also features powerful surveys of Donald Rodney and Hamad Butt, alongside a special celebration marking 15 years of Duchamp & Sons, Whitechapel’s acclaimed youth collective. Below is a guide to the exhibitions opening at Whitechapel Gallery in 2025.

Donald Rodney: Visceral Canker

Donald Rodney, In Retrospect, Installation view at iniva, London, 2008. Photo: Thierry Bal.

A comprehensive survey of late British multimedia artist Donald Rodney’s influential work. The exhibition showcases Rodney’s innovative use of materials to confront themes such as racial identity, chronic illness, and colonialism, featuring iconic works like The House that Jack Builtand Autoicon.

Date: 12 February – 4 May 2025. More details.

15 Years of Duchamp & Sons

Duchamp & Sons, Filming Alone Together performance with Seth Pimlott, 2018. Photo: Renee Odjidja.

This free exhibition celebrates the 15th anniversary of Whitechapel Gallery’s youth collective, Duchamp & Sons. The display, co-curated by young people and artist Holly Graham, reflects on their collaborative artistic projects and their evolving impact on arts education and representation.

Date: 5 February – 5 May 2025. More details.

Hamad Butt: Apprehensions

Hamad Butt, Fly-Piece, from the series “Transmission”, 1990 reconstructed in 2024. Wall-mounted wood and glass vitrine, gold paint, paper, live flies. Research and development conducted by bio-artist Anna Dumitriu and microbiologist John Paul. Courtesy of the IMMA Collectors Circle and Jamal Butt.

The first major survey of Hamad Butt, exploring his sculptural installations that delve into themes of desire, death, and racial difference. Works like Transmission and Familiars invite audiences into spaces of fear and precarity, drawing analogies to disease and environmental crises.

Date: 4 June – 7 September 2025.

The London Open Live

Pauline Boudry and Renate Lorenz, Performance of Les Gayrillères, 2022. As part of Moving Bodies, Moving Images at Whitechapel Gallery. Performers: Julie Cunningham and Harry Alexander. Photo: Hannah Burton.

This year’s edition of Whitechapel’s triennial focuses on live art. Featuring performances that reflect on life in London, this free programme celebrates artistic expression and intimacy, offering a platform for emerging and established artists to engage audiences.

Date: 4 June – 7 September 2025. More details.

Joy Gregory: Catching Flies with Honey

Joy Gregory The Drawing Room (Little or no breeze) 2021 Archival digital print on fine art paper 84.1 59.4cm.

A major retrospective of photographer Joy Gregory, showcasing over 100 works from her four-decade career. Gregory’s politically nuanced practice explores themes of identity, race, and gender through photography, video, and textiles.

Date: 8 October 2025 – 11 January 2026.

Candice Lin

Candice Lin, Pigs and Poison (2022). Installation view, Spike Island, Bristol. Courtesy the artist and François Ghebaly, Los Angeles. Photograph by Max McClure.

Renowned for her multi sensory installations, LA-based artist Candice Lin will present Whitechapel Gallery’s annual commission. The exhibition will interrogate marginalised histories and colonial legacies, bringing these narratives to life through evocative materials and interactive installations.

Date: 8 October 2025 – 11 January 2026.