Autumn may bring cooler temperatures, but it will also bring a hot list of brand-new exhibitions to enjoy in London before the end of the year. From several UK debut exhibitions by artists including Lap-See Lam, Letizia Battaglia, and Haegue Yang, to the world’s first exhibition exploring cultural and political change in India, and a new Infinity Mirror Room by Yayoi Kusama. Here is our pick of art exhibitions to look out for in London this autumn.

Haegue Yang: Leap Year

#FLODown: The Hayward Gallery will host Leap Year by Haegue Yang in October, featuring the artist's first major UK survey. Yang's innovative work spans installations and sculptures that explore cross-cultural influences, modernism, and personal narratives. The exhibition will debut three new commissions alongside her iconic Venetian blind pieces and immersive sonic sculptures, offering a compelling exploration of everyday objects and spiritual themes through Yang's unique artistic lens.

Date: 9 October 2024 –⁠ 5 January 2025. Location: Hayward Gallery, Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XX.Price: from £19, Free for Members & under-12s. Book now.

Yayoi Kusama

#FLODown: Yayoi Kusama's fourteenth solo exhibition at Victoria Miro gallery unveils a new Infinity Mirror Room alongside a fresh series of paintings titled Every Day I Pray for Love. These intimate paintings, rich in intricate detail and vibrant colours, extend her iconic exploration of line and form, evoking both microscopic and expansive worlds. The exhibition also showcases new sculptures displayed within the gallery and on the canalside terrace, marking 26 years since Kusama's debut solo show with Victoria Miro in 1998.

Date: 25 September -2 November 2024. Date: Victoria Miro, 16 Wharf Rd, London, N1 7RW. Price: Tickets will be released on Monday 2 September 2024. Entry is free and booking is essential. Book now.

Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum: It Will End in Tears

#FLODown: Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum's upcoming commission at The Curve will feature a diverse array of drawings, paintings, and installations, exploring themes of home, hybrid identities, and unity. Inspired by her experiences across Africa, South Asia, and North America, Sunstrum collaborates with Remco Osório Lobato to create an installation that transports visitors to an imagined rural life of a twentieth-century colonial outpost, loosely based on her grandmother's hometown in Botswana.

Date: 18 September 2024 – 5 January 2025. Location: The Curve, Barbican Centre, Silk Street, London,EC2Y 8DS. Price: Free. barbican.org.uk.

Bruno Zhu

#FLODown: Opening at Chisenhale Gallery in November, Bruno Zhu's exhibition explores desire, identity, and ideology through fashion, publishing, and scenography. His installations invite viewers to rethink agency, authorship, and power, featuring purpose-built rooms that blend public and private realms. A co-edited reader will accompany the exhibition.

Date: 22 November 2024 – 2 February 2025. Location: 64 Chisenhale Rd, Old Ford, London E3 5RG. Price: Free. chisenhale.org.uk.

 Hew Locke: what have we here?

#FLODown: The British Museum will host a major new exhibition by Guyanese-British artist Hew Locke this autumn. Following a two-year curatorial collaboration, the exhibition will explore British imperial power and cultural heritage, highlighting treasures and lesser-known objects from Africa, India, and the Caribbean. Featuring over 150 objects, including newly commissioned sculptures, the exhibition will encourage visitors to engage with nuanced and often contentious historical debates. This marks Locke's first artist-curated museum show.

Date: 17 October 2024 – 9 February 2025. Location: The Joseph Hotung Great Court Gallery, The British Museum, Great Russell St, London WC1B 3DG. Price: Adults from £12, Members and under-16s free. britishmuseum.org.

Geumhyung Jeong: Under Construction

#FLODown: The Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) will present Geumhyung Jeong's exhibition Under Construction, highlighting her distinctive blend of choreography and technology. Featuring new installations of sculpture and video, the exhibition explores the dynamic between humans and machines through animatronic figures and Jeong's own body. It includes autonomous sculptures and videos capturing interactions between Jeong and her creations, with live performances scheduled for October 8th, 9th, and November 13th, along with a performative lecture on November 15th.

Date: 25 September  – 8 December 2024. Location: Institute of Contemporary Arts, The Mall, St. James's, London SW1Y 5AH. Price: from £6. Free on Tuesdays. Book now.

 Nicola L. 

#FLODown: This exhibition presents Nicola L.'s pioneering artistic practice, encompassing sculpture, performance, painting, collage, and film. For the first time in the UK and Europe, visitors will experience her provocative Pénétrables sculptures, interactive textile works, and documentation of impactful performances like The Blue Cape and Red Coat. Her oversized furniture sculptures and feminist-themed series, such as 'The Femme Fatale,' underscore her exploration of equality and societal roles. The exhibition also highlights her influential work in moving image, including feature films and documentaries, showcasing Nicola L.'s profound impact across various artistic disciplines.

Date: 4 October  - 29 December 2024. Location: Camden Art Centre, Arkwright Rd, London NW3 6DG. Price: Free. camdenartcentre.org.

Mike Kelley: Ghost and Spirit

#FLODown: The UK's first major exhibition of American artist Mike Kelley showcases his imaginative and provocative creations spanning from the late 1970s to 2012. Kelley's diverse body of work includes drawing, collage, performance, found objects, and video, highlighted by his groundbreaking 'craft' sculptures and multimedia installations like Day Is Done. Drawing from popular culture, literature, and philosophy, Kelley explores the interplay between societal roles, historical truths, and fictional personas from media. A decade after his death, Kelley's profound reflections on identity and memory remain impactful and relevant.

Date: 2 October 2024 – 9 March 2025.Location: Tate Modern, Bankside
London SE1 9TG. Price: £18 / free for members, Concessions available. tate.org.uk.

Michael Craig-Martin

#FLODown: The Royal Academy of Arts will host the UK's largest exhibition dedicated to British artist Michael Craig-Martin. Known for his significant contributions to conceptual art, Craig-Martin's body of work spans sculpture, installation, drawing, painting, and prints. His pieces blend elements of pop, minimalism, and conceptualism, transforming everyday objects with bold colours and simple lines. The exhibition will explore his influence on contemporary art and education, addressing the crisis in art education in the UK.

Date: 21 September - 10 December 2024. Location: Royal Academy of Arts,Burlington House, Piccadilly, London W1J 0BD. Price: £22- £24.50. Book. now.

Monet and London: Views of the Thames

#FLODown: Monet and London: Views of the Thames will feature Claude Monet's lesser-known 'Thames series,' painted during his London stays from 1899 to 1901. These Impressionist masterpieces depict iconic London landmarks like Charing Cross Bridge and the Houses of Parliament with evocative atmosphere and vibrant colour. Originally planned for a 1905 London exhibition, this collection will finally be shown in the UK for the first time, offering a unique glimpse into Monet's artistic vision from this period.

Date: 27 September 2024 – 19 January 2025. Location: The Courtauld Gallery, Somerset House, Strand, London WC2R 0RN. Price: from £16. Book now.

Letizia Battaglia

#FLODown: The Photographer's Gallery will host Letizia Battaglia's first major exhibition, showcasing her acclaimed photography and photojournalism. Battaglia gained renown for her powerful documentation of the Sicilian Mafia from the 1970s to the early 1990s, capturing scenes of daily terror and organised crime that often made headlines. Her 40-year career spanned a wide range of subjects, including murder victims, religious festivals, societal contrasts of wealth and poverty, and the beauty and decay of Palermo and its surroundings. Her work offers both a broad and intimate portrayal of this iconic Sicilian city.

Date: 9 October 2024 – 23 February 2025. Location: The Photographers' Gallery, 16-18 Ramillies St, London W1F 7LW. thephotographersgallery.org.uk.

Lap-See Lam

#FLODown: Marking Lap-See Lam's UK debut, this exhibition at Studio Voltaire follows her presentation at the 60th Biennale di Venezia in 2024. Inspired by the 'Sea Palace', a haunted funhouse once a floating Chinese restaurant, Lam delves into cultural heritage and diasporic identity. The showcase includes a new film intertwining the restaurant's history with Cantonese Opera themes, alongside a large-scale bamboo scaffolding installation.

Date: 18 September –15 December 2024. Location: Studio Voltaire,1A Nelsons Row, London SW4 7JR. Price: Free. studiovoltaire.org. 

The World of Tim Burton

#FLODown: Tim Burton, known for his whimsical style, has shaped celebrated films for four decades. The upcoming exhibition at London's Design Museum offers a deep dive into his creative universe, showcasing his work as an illustrator, painter, photographer, and author. Curated by Jenny He with Burton's collaboration, this retrospective delves into his personal archive, featuring drawings, paintings, photographs, and more. Closing its global tour, this exclusive showcase marks its sole presentation in Britain.

Date: 25 October 2024 — 21 April 2025. Location: Design Museum. 224-238 Kensington High St, London W8 6AG.  Price: TBC.  designmuseum.org.

Jameel Prize 7

#FLODown: The 2024 Jameel Prize, now in its seventh edition, will showcase contemporary artworks and designs inspired by Islamic art, culture, and ideas. Selected by an international jury, artists and designers will present moving images and new media such as film, video, installations, and emerging technologies. The finalists' works will be exhibited at V&A South Kensington, open to the public before the £25,000 prize winner is announced. Established in 2009, the Jameel Prize celebrates creativity at the intersection of Islamic tradition and modern art, presented in collaboration with the V&A and Art Jameel.

Date: 30 November 2024 – 16 March 2025. Location: Victoria and Albert Museum,Cromwell Rd, London SW7 2RL. Price: Free. vam.ac.uk.

The Imaginary Institution of India: Art 1975-1998 

#FLODown: The Barbican Art Gallery presents a groundbreaking exhibition exploring India's transformative cultural and political era through the works of 30 visionary artists. Spanning nearly 150 pieces across painting, sculpture, photography, installation, and film, this landmark group show dissects the pivotal moments of the late 20th century and captures the intimate, everyday moments that defined this period. A specially curated film season, Rewriting the Rules: Pioneering Indian Cinema after 1970, will run concurrently with the exhibition.

Date: 5 October 2024 – 5 January 2025. Location: Barbican Art Gallery,
Barbican Centre, Silk Street, London, EC2Y 8DS. Price: TBC. barbican.org.uk.

Tracey Emin: I followed you to the end

#FLODown: Coinciding with Frieze London, White Cube will host a significant solo exhibition by Tracey Emin at their Bermondsey gallery. The expansive showcase encompasses new paintings, works on paper, and a monumental bronze sculpture. 

Date: 19 September – 10 November 2024. Location: White Cube Bermondsey, 144 – 152 Bermondsey Street, London SE1 3TQ. Price: Free. whitecube.com.

 Electric Dreams

#FLODown: Electric Dreams at Tate Modern will explore how artists used machines and algorithms to create mesmerising art from the 1950s to the early 1990s. Spanning op art to the dawn of the internet, it showcases optical, kinetic, programmed, and digital innovations. The exhibition features psychedelic installations from the 1950s, experiments with early digital tech in the 1970s and 80s, and offers a glimpse into artists' visions of future visual expression.

Date: 28 November 2024 – 1 June 2025. Location:  Tate Modern, Bankside, London SE1 9TG. Price: £22 / Free for Members. Concessions available. Book now.

Francis Bacon: Human Presence

#FLODown: An exhibition dedicated to Francis Bacon will open at the National Portrait Gallery, showcasing works from the 1950s onwards. It will explore Bacon’s deep connection to portraiture and his challenge to traditional definitions of the genre. Featuring pieces from private and public collections, the exhibition highlights Bacon’s responses to earlier artists, large-scale paintings of lost lovers, and self-portraits. Sitters include Lucian Freud, Isabel Rawsthorne, Peter Lacy, and George Dyer, revealing Bacon’s life story.

Date: 10 October 2024 - 19 January 2025. Location: National  Portrait Gallery , St. Martin's Pl, London WC2H 0HE. Price: £23 / 25.50 with donation.  npg.org.uk.

Nairy Baghramian: Jumbled Alphabet

#FLODown: The South London Gallery will host a new exhibition by Nairy Baghramian, marking her first major solo show in London in fourteen years amidst growing international acclaim. Baghramian’s conceptually rigorous sculptures challenge perceptions of self, space, and objects, using diverse techniques and materials to explore the spatial, architectural, social, and political contexts of contemporary art. Her works, which blend geometric shapes, organic matter, and industrial processes, subtly examine the intersections between art and fields like interior design, dance, and theatre. The exhibition will feature sculptures from her "Misfits" series and collaborative works with other artists in the Fire Station galleries.

Date: 27 September 2024 - 12 January 2025. Location: South London Gallery, 65 Peckham Rd, London SE5 8UH. Price: Free. southlondongallery.org.

Van Gogh: Poets and Lovers

#FLODown: The National Gallery is hosting its first-ever exhibition dedicated to Vincent Van Gogh, titled Van Gogh: Poets and Lovers, to mark its 200th anniversary. The exhibition will showcase over 50 works from various collections, highlighting Van Gogh's imaginative transformations and his poetic and romantic themes. The display focuses on his time in Arles and Saint-Rémy, exploring how he turned places into idealised spaces in his art. It will also delve into his series painting approach and use of contrasts. The exhibition will include major paintings from the National Gallery's collection, including Sunflowers and Van Gogh’s Chair.

Date: 14 September 2024 - 19 January 2025. Location: The National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, London WC2N 5DN. nationalgallery.co.uk.

William Morris & Art from the Islamic World

#FLODown: The William Morris Gallery will present an exhibition on the impact of Islamic art on William Morris, a leading figure in the Arts and Crafts Movement. Featuring over 60 works, the show will include Morris’s designs and Islamic textiles, ceramics, and manuscripts from major UK collections. Highlights include rare Turkish and Iranian textiles, and a 17th-century Ottoman velvet hanging used as Morris’s coffin pall. The exhibition will also explore Morris’s role in promoting Islamic art in Britain and his daughter May Morris’s contributions to the collection.

Date: 9 November 2024 to 9 March 2025. Location: William Morris Gallery, Forest Road London, E17 4PP. wmgallery.org.uk.