Art exhibitions opening in London in July 2024

July brings an exciting lineup of art exhibitions to London, from a dedicated showcase on Barbie to the debut exhibition of artist Minoru Nomata, alongside shows by Joy Labinjo and Peter Kennard. Additionally, several art degree shows are set to open. Here is our pick of art exhibitions opening in London in July.

Click here to discover art exhibitions that opened in London in June.

Lonnie Holley: All Rendered Truth

'Without Skin', 2023 Fire hoses, wooden chairs, and nails,Lonnie Holley. Courtesy the artist. Image courtesy of Edel Assanti. Photo: Tom Carter.

#FLODown: Camden Art Centre presents a significant solo exhibition by Lonnie Holley, an American artist and musician born in Birmingham, Alabama in 1950. The show features new works created during a UK residency earlier this year, alongside previously unseen sculptures from his time at The Mahler and LeWitt Studios in Spoleto, Italy in 2023. Known for his influential role in both Black Art from the southern United States and international contemporary art, Holley imbues discarded objects with new meaning and dignity, drawing from his childhood experiences in Alabama. His art, rooted in Americana and informed by his personal journey through poverty, civil rights, and cultural upheaval, reflects universal themes of resilience and renewal.

Date: 5 July - 15 September 2024. Location: Camden Art Centre, Arkwright Rd, London NW3 6DG. Price: Free. camdenartcentre.org.

 Barbie Exhibition

1985 Day to Night Barbie. Photo by Mattel, Inc.

#FLODown: A significant exhibition on Barbie™ will open at the Design Museum in July, coinciding with the doll's 65th anniversary in 2024. Curated by Danielle Thom and in collaboration with Mattel Inc., the exhibition will showcase Barbie's design evolution and cultural impact since Ruth Handler created her in 1959. With exclusive access to the Barbie archives in California, the exhibition will explore various design elements, including fashion, architecture, furniture, and vehicles.

Date: 5 July 2024 - 23 February 2025. Location: The Design Museum. 224-238 Kensington High St, London W8 6AG. Price: adult from £14.38. Children aged 6 to 15 from £7.19. Under 6s go free. Book now.

Herbert Smith Freehills Portrait Award 2024

Double Portrait of Clara, 2021 by Michael Slusakowicz © Michael Slusakowicz.

#FLODown: The Herbert Smith Freehills Portrait Award returns to the National Portrait Gallery in July celebrating outstanding contemporary portrait painting. Open to artists aged eighteen and over, this prestigious competition has garnered over 40,000 entries from 100+ countries since its inception 40 years ago. The accompanying exhibition has been viewed by over 6 million visitors, highlighting its global impact and significance in the art world.

Date: 11 July - 27 October 2024. Location: National Portrait Gallery, St. Martin's Pl, London WC2H 0HE. Price: Free. npg.org.uk.

Joy Labinjo: We Are Briefly Gorgeous

Joy Labinjo, Untitled (2024) © the artist. Courtesy Tiwani Contemporary, London. Photo: Deniz Guzel.

#FLODown: For Southwark Park Galleries’ 40th anniversary programme, British-Nigerian painter Joy Labinjo will present a new body of work celebrating the local community in her largest London institutional exhibition to date. Inspired by scenes from Southwark Park and Bermondsey, her paintings depict how people spend time in these areas. Using a mix of personal and found imagery, Labinjo’s works evoke a sense of familiarity, inviting a diverse audience to connect with them.

Date: 6 July - 29 September 2024. Location: Southwark Park Galleries. 1 Park Approach, Southwark Park, London, SE16 2UA. Price: Free. southwarkparkgalleries.org.

Minoru Nomata: Continuum

Perspective-24, 2001, Minoru Nomata.

#FLODown: Opening at White Cube Mason’s Yard, Minoru Nomata’s debut solo exhibition in London features new works expanding on his ‘Continuum’ series. The exhibition showcases solitary architectural structures rising from low horizon lines, shifting focus from astral to subaqueous themes with depictions of icebergs, frozen waterfalls, and glaciers interacting with manmade mechanical elements. Nomata explores the tension between human endeavour and the sublime forces of nature, a recurring theme in his work.

Date: 10 July – 24 August 2024. Location: White Cube Mason’s Yard, 25 – 26 Mason's Yard, London SW1Y 6BU. Price: Free. whitecube.com.

 

Eliza Kentridge: Tethering

Eliza Kentridge. Photograph by Eliot Gelberg Wilson.

#FLODown: Tethering focuses on the role of embroidery in South African-British artist and poet Eliza Kentridge’s work, highlighting themes of family and domestic rituals. The exhibition features a large installation of quilted teabags with intricate embroideries and smaller embroidered napkins, reflecting intimate, everyday moments. Kentridge, based in Wivenhoe, UK, draws from her personal history, blending visual art with poetry inspired by family connections.

Date: 11 July – 9 August 2024. Location: Cecilia Brunson Projects, 3G Royal Oak Yard, Bermondsey Street, London SE1 3GE. Price: Free. ceciliabrunsonprojects.com.

Ablade Glover: Inner Worlds, Outer Journeys

Ablade Glover, Red People in Red, 2012, Oil on canvas, 122 x 152.5 cm. Credit: © Ablade Glover. Collection of John Zeisel & Jacqueline Vischer. Courtesy the Artist and October Gallery, London. Photo © Jonathan Greet.

#FLODown: In celebration of his 90th birthday, October Gallery presents a solo exhibition featuring new paintings by Professor Ablade Glover. This milestone event marks Glover's enduring legacy since his pioneering debut in 1982 as the first sub-Saharan African artist showcased at the gallery. Titled Inner Worlds, Outer Journeys, the exhibition traces Glover's profound artistic evolution, highlighting his mastery of oil-on-canvas and unique fusion of abstraction with vibrant depictions of everyday life in Accra. His work not only celebrates Ghana's visual richness but also reaffirms the enduring importance of oil painting in contemporary African art, reflecting his lifelong dedication as an artist, educator, and curator.

Date: 4 July - 3 August 2024. Location: October Gallery, 24 Old Gloucester St, London WC1N 3AL. Price: Free. octobergallery.co.uk.

Peter Kennard: Archive of Dissent

Peter Kennard, Thatcher Unmasked, 1986, Photomontage – Gelatin silver prints with ink on card, A:POLITICAL collection, Courtesy the artist.

#FLODown: The Archive of Dissent at Whitechapel Gallery presents Kennard's five-decade career across three former library galleries. Known for iconic resistance images from the Vietnam War to current issues, his photomontages challenge norms in a printed materials archive. Inspired by John Heartfield, Kennard's work explores power dynamics amidst societal fractures. Installations like Boardroom and Double Exposure reinterpret photomontage with light and projection, alongside The People’s University of the East End, honouring the space's protest tradition.

Date: 23 July - 19 January 2025. Location: Whitechapel Gallery, 77-82 Whitechapel High St, London E1 7QX. Price: Free. whitechapelgallery.org

Postgraduate Fine Art Shows 2024

Ben Pimlott Building at Goldsmiths, University of London, featuring a spaghetti-like scribble (sometimes called the squiggle) sculpture, designed by award-winning architect Will Alsop. Photo by MTotoe.

#FLODown: Degree shows continue in July with the Postgraduate Fine Arts show, which will take place at Camberwell and Chelsea from 1 - 6 July 2024.

Click here for more art degree shows in London this summer.

Lottie Cole: A Commonplace Collection of Paintings 

Lottie Cole, T.S. Eliot – Four Quartets, 2023, oil on canvas, 100x120cm.

#FLODown: Lottie Cole's solo exhibition, A Commonplace Collection of Paintings, explores themes of time and personal experience through 30 watercolour and oil works. Drawing from her own life, including motherhood and personal transitions, Cole captures fleeting moments of change. The exhibition also highlights under-recognised women artists and expands its focus to include poetry and reading. Recently elected to the Royal Watercolour Society, Cole's artworks offer a visual "scrapbook" of thoughts intended to evoke deep emotional responses from its viewers.

Date: 3 July – 9 August 2024. Location: Long & Ryle, 4 John Islip Street, London, SW1P 4PX. Price: Free.

Late June openings

Firelei Báez: Sueño de la Madrugada (A Midnight’s Dream)

Firelei Báez, Fruta Fina, Fruta Estrana (Lee Monument), 2022. Oil and acrylic on archival printed canvas. Courtesy of the artist and Hauser & Wirth, New York.

#FLODown: Firelei Báez, a Dominican American artist, is showcasing her inaugural solo exhibition in the UK at the South London Gallery, curated by New Curators. Firelei Báez's exhibition, Sueño de la Madrugada (A Midnight’s Dream), explores folklore, gender, power, ecology, and resilience through a focus on the Ciguapa, a mythological figure from Dominican folklore. Her immersive installations and vibrant paintings challenge conventional narratives of identity and history while addressing climate change and migration experiences.

Date: 28 June – 8 September 2024. Location: South London Gallery,65 Peckham Rd, London SE5 8UH. Price: Free. southlondongallery.org. 

In the Eye of the Storm: Modernism in Ukraine, 1900–1930s

Oleksandr Bohomazov, Sharpening the Saws, 1927, oil on canvas, 138 x 155 cm, National Art Museum of Ukraine.

#FLODown: In the Eye of the Storm: Modernism in Ukraine, 1900–1930s will explore Ukrainian modern art through approximately 70 artworks by artists like Alexander Archipenko and Kazymyr Malevych, along with lesser-known figures such as Mykhailo Boichuk and Oleksandr Bohomazov. The exhibition, set against Ukraine's complex geopolitical backdrop, features themes of Cubo-Futurism, theatre design, avant-garde synthesis by the Kultur Lige, and the impact of Soviet rule. It aims to highlight the development of a distinct Ukrainian artistic identity within European modernism, shedding light on an often overlooked chapter in art history.

Date: 29 June – 13 October 2024. Location: Royal Academy of Arts. Price: from £17. Concessions available. Book now.

Anthony McCall: Solid Light

Anthony McCall, Eye Film Museum exhibition (installation view) 2014. Photo: Hans Wilschut, courtesy Sprüth Magers.

#FLODown: An exhibition featuring the works of Anthony McCall is set to open at the Tate Modern. McCall's installations utilise beams of light projected into mist, forming dynamic three-dimensional shapes that transform with viewer interaction. By merging sculpture, cinema, drawing, and performance, McCall redefines artistic boundaries, highlighted by his groundbreaking piece Line Describing a Cone in 1973. Additionally, keep an eye out for Tate Lates, featuring a takeover by award-winning musician Celeste. Click here for more.

Date: 27 June 2024 – 27 April 2025. Location: Tate Modern, Bankside, London SE1 9TG. Price: £10.Concession available. Book now.

BLEK LE RAT: War & Peace

‘Stallion of Sacrifice (Red’), Blek le Rat, 2024.

#FLODown: Woodbury House has launched Blek le Rat's latest solo exhibition, War & Peace, featuring 50 new paintings and prints. The exhibition explores Blek's relationship with conflict, shaped by his post-war French upbringing and his father's wartime experiences. Inspired by Tolstoy's novel, the works delve into themes of security versus instability and life versus death. A highlight is the Stallion of Sacrifice series, depicting a Persian warrior on horseback, symbolising the universal soldier. With over 40 years of experience in urban landscapes, Blek's artistic process navigates changing environments, reflecting the unpredictability of war and life.

Date: 19 June - 31 July 2024. Location: Woodbury House, 29 Sackville St, London W1S 3DX. Price: Free. woodburyhouseart.com.