THE BEST FREE EXHIBITIONS IN LONDON – GET YOUR CULTURE FIX AND KEEP YOUR MONEY FOR COFFEE

Dare we say spring has sprung? And as usual, London is absolutely packed with things to do – whether that’s exhibitions, events, theatre or music.

But of course, it can all get a bit pricey. So if you want to have a great weekend seeing some of London’s best culture, but also want to save a few quid, look no further than this guide to the best art shows to see in the city, which are all absolutely free.

Chris Ofili: Requiem

In this moving commission, Turner Prize-winning British artist Chris Ofili has created a giant art work across Tate Britain’s Northern Staircase to pay tribute to the victims of the Grenfell Tower fire. The dream-like, brightly-coloured mural gives a special nod to fellow artist Khadija Saye who was killed in the 2017 tragedy.

Tate Britain, ongoing; tate.org.uk

Materials and Objects

Eleven rooms of the Tate are dedicated to this visual exploration of the varied materials that artists have used over the decades. Expect to see works such as Doris Salcedos famous metal structures, Marcel Duchamp’s toilet seat and Sarah Sze’s installations.

Tate Modern, ongoing; tate.org.uk

Doron Langberg: Night

Through a series of large-scale tableaux, Israeli-American painter Doron Langberg explores the feelings and spaces that stir after hours: he depicts nightclubs and midnight beach scenes, and in doing so asks questions about the physical and psychological freedom provided by these liminal late night spaces.

Victoria Miro, to March 28; victoria-miro.com

Gerhard Richter

Gerhard Richter’s works are always a treat: here, new and recent paintings as well as drawings from the German visual artist are on display, which continue his career-long exploration of perception and abstraction.

David Zwirner, to March 28; davidzwirner.com

Rong Bao Is Me

Multi-award-winning Chinese-born artist Rong Bao both builds sculptures out of everyday objects and creates otherworldly, inflated works. Together they become a sort of sensory playground; according to the gallery, visitors should expect to connect with their “mischievous sides”.

Saatchi Gallery, to March 31; saatchigallery.com

Kaye Donachie: I kept the memory for myself

In this series of gorgeous and ghostly portraits, Glasgow-born Kaye Donachie asks questions about perception and reality, drawing on both Virginia Woolf’s short story The Lady in the Looking Glass: A Reflection, and the work of German expressionist painter Gabriele Münter, of the Der Blaue Reiter group.

Maureen Paley, to March 31; maureenpaley.com

Duane Hanson and Damien Hirst

South Florida-based American artist Duane Hanson (1925-1996) and British YBA Hirst might not instantly jump to mind for a joint show. But Hanson’s hyperreal sculptures, which have been described as “tailor-made for the age of the selfie” have many of the same provocative, brash qualities found in Hirst’s world-famous works.

Here Gagosian makes big pharma the question: Hanson’s Medical Doctor sculpture and Hirst’s iconic Medicine Cabinets series are the answer.

Gagosian, to April 3; gagosian.com

Patricia Treib: Enfold

Patricia Treib’s colourful and elegant abstract paintings are a feast for the eyes. In Enfold, the Michigan-born, Brooklyn-based artist continues her exploration of memory and movement.

Kate MacGarry, to April 6; katemacgarry.com

Omar El Lahib

This lovely exhibition opening this week showcases the work of Lebanese artist Omar El Lahib, whose 18  large-scale figurative and abstract works depict strange, otherworldly and sometimes romantic night scenes.

Saatchi Yates, to April 10; saatchiyates.com

Rachid Koraïchi: Celestial Blue

In this solo exhibition, Algerian artist, sculptor and ceramicist Rachid Koraïchi explores symbolism, tradition, form and poetry on square canvases of exquisite indigo blue.

October Gallery, to April 13; octobergallery.co.uk

Ulla von Brandenburg: Thoughts Are Things

Paris-based German artist Ulla von Brandenburg – a 2016 Marcel Duchamp Prize finalist – presents ceramic sculptures, brightly-coloured quilts, paintings and films to create a “dreamlike, playful maze”, a vibrant vision of how “form, colour and sound intermingle”.

Pilar Corrias, to April 13; pilarcorrias.com

Barry McGlashan: The Distant Ideal

Scottish artist Barry McGlashan’s exquisite otherworldly paintings usually feature a single figure – who might be painting, looking out at the sea, leaning on a tree, or walking through hills. They are quiet, intimate and speak to the passage of time. The Distant Ideal continues this exploration.

Frestonian Gallery, to April 13; frestoniangallery.com

The Hudsons, Family Ties

Mollie Dent-Brocklehurst curates this multidisciplinary exhibition of work by three artists from the same family: sculptor Richard Hudson, and his sons Henry and Richard WM. The Hudsons use a range of materials – including clay, plasticine, scagliola, and wood – to explore nature and natural forms.

Claridge’s ArtSpace, to April 14; claridges.co.uk

Bloomberg New Contemporaries

Every year, Camden Art Centre celebrates exciting up-and-coming talent in its New Contemporaries show. This year’s show features 55 emerging artists whose wide-ranging works tackle issues including climate change, identity politics and kinship.

Camden Art Centre, to April 14; camdenartcentre.org

Turner and Bonington: Watercolours from the Wallace Collection

Travel around Europe in this one-room “small gem of an exhibition”: a display of watercolours by Richard Parkes Bonington (1802-1828) and JMW Turner (1775-1851) which are on show for the first time in 17 years.

The Wallace Collection, to April 21; wallacecollection.org

Joshua Leon: The Missing O and E

In The Missing O and E, writer, poet and artist Joshua Leon uses sculpture and sound to explore memories, heritage and Jewish life by detailing the history of his grandfather’s name. It altered over time - sometimes through choice, sometimes through fear.

Chisenhale Gallery, to April 21; chisenhale.org.uk

Ainu Stories: Contemporary Lives by the Saru River

The Ainu people are an ethnic group native to the north of Japan and its surrounding islands. In this special collaborative exhibition with the people of Biratori, Japan House presents a glimpse into their contemporary lives through a series of intimate video interviews.

Japan House, to April 21; japanhouselondon.uk

Michèle Lamy & Loree Rodkin x Rick Owens

French designer Michèle Lamy is a fixture of Paris’s fashion and art crowd. Not only is she the life partner of fashion designer Rick Owens, but over her six-decade career she has worked as a cabaret dancer, lawyer, producer, entrepreneur, artist and model. She also makes jewellery with celebrated designer Loree Rodkin, whose earrings, ring and bracelets were worn by Michelle Obama to Barack’s inaugural ball. At Carpenter’s Workshop their rings are on show alongside some of Owen’s own design pieces.

Carpenter’s Workshop, to April 26; carpentersworkshopgallery.com

Shuvinai Ashoona: When I Draw

Inuk artist Shuvinai Ashoona started drawing in the Nineties to earn money for food and cigarettes – “smoke money,” as she calls it. Now, her works have been exhibited internationally and were recently celebrated at the 2022 Venice Biennale. Combining everyday scenes of life, land and community in the Canadian Arctic with imagery associated with Inuit animism and shamanism, the pieces are illuminating, sometimes funny, and often dreamlike.

The Perimeter, to April 26; theperimeter.co.uk

Betty Parsons

By day, Betty Parsons was a visionary New York gallerist. By night, she was an abstract painter and sculptor. Here is a selection of her playful and colourful works: “I would give up my gallery in a second if the world would accept me as an artist,” she once said.

Alison Jacques, to April 27; alisonjacques.com

Wendell Castle: Suspended Disbelief

The works of sculptor Wendell Castle (1932-2018), one of the founding fathers of the American Art Furniture Movement, could be best described as ink splashes rendered in 3D. Here a range of the astonishing sculptural design pieces, created over his celebrated career, are on display.

Carpenter’s Workshop, to April 27; carpentersworkshopgallery.com

Zheng Bo: Bamboo as Method

Hong Kong based artist Zheng Bo uses film, dance and installation in their work to explore the connections between nature, biology and queer sexuality. In this large-scale commission, they have transformed Somerset House’s courtyard into a bamboo garden, creating an elegant sanctuary for contemplation and restoration.

Somerset House, to April 28; somersethouse.org.uk

Atta Kwami, Dzidzɔ kple amenuveve (Joy and Grace) 2021-22: Maria Lassnig Prize Mural

The Serpentine’s public art mural is a bright delight. One of Ghanaian painter, printmaker, historian and curator Atta Kwami’s (1956 – 2021) last ever works, the prize-winning painted construction, which is titled Joy and Grace in the West African language Ewe, is just that.

Serpentine North Garden, to April 30; serpentinegalleries.org

Accordion Fields

This group exhibition, presented across both of Lisson Gallery’s London spaces, showcases the work of eight artists who have all cultivated their practices in London over the past three decades, as the city has gone through a number of radical socio-political shifts.

Lisson Gallery, to May 4; lissongallery.com

Raqs Media Collective: Come Undone

New Delhi-based Raqs Media Collective, which is made up of artist-curator-researchers Jeebesh Bagchi, Monica Narula and Shuddhabrata Sengupta, presents a series of work centred around the shape of the knot. Expect glass knots, carpets, videos, a curated soundtrack, sculptures and engravings.

Frith Street Gallery, to May 4; frithstreetgallery.com

François Morellet

French painter and sculptor François Morellet (1926-2016), a pioneer of geometrical abstract art, explored perception, hierarchies and pre-established systems in his celebrated works. Here, a number of his signature light installations are on display.

Annely Juda Fine Art, to May 4; annelyjudafineart.co.uk

Aria Dean: Abattoir

In her first UK exhibition, American artist and writer Aria Dean explores modernity and death through the instantly recognisable and provocative architecture of an abattoir. The large animated film installation is accompanied by an immersive score (so described because it incorporates algorithmically generated sounds, field recordings and instrumentals) by Evan Zierk.

ICA, to May 5; ica.art

Acts of Resistance: Photography, Feminisms and The Art of Protest

Anti-rape demonstrations in Bangladesh, Iranian unrest after Mahsa Amini’s death, reactions to the US Supreme Court overturning of Roe vs Wade – these are just a few of the global events depicted in Acts of Resistance. The group photography exhibition, which has been organised in collaboration with the V&A, explores documentation as a tool of protest.

South London Gallery, to June 9; southlondongallery.org

Judith Bernstein: Truth And Chaos

An outspoken feminist and anti-war activist, New Jersey-born Judith Bernstein has spent her career making provocative large-scale drawings of genitalia. Her first exhibition in London in over a decade is a retrospective of 30 years of her startling, confrontational works.

Emalin, to June 15; emalin.co.uk

Art Now: Zeinab Saleh

Art Now is Tate Britain’s long-running exhibition series spotlighting rising stars in the art scene; this time, it’s Kenyan-born and London-based artist Zeinab Saleh’s turn to shine. Drawing on everyday experiences and memories, Saleh uses patterns and silhouettes in soft colours to create a feeling of otherworldliness and intimacy.

Tate Britain, to June 23; tate.org.uk

Leo Robinson: DREAM-BRIDGE-OMNIGLYPH

Bloomberg’s City of London basement is full of surprises. It not only consists of an art gallery, but it is home to parts of an ancient Roman temple and showcases a number of Roman artefacts too. Its next art commission is DREAM-BRIDGE-OMNIGLYPH, a collection of multimedia works from British artist Leo Robinson that explores ancient myths, personal identity, history, tradition and colonialism.

London Mithraeum Bloomberg SPACE, to June 29; londonmithraeum.com

Soufiane Ababri: Their mouths were full of bumblebees but it was me who was pollinated

Moroccan artist Soufiane Ababri’s first major solo UK exhibition is a tender investigation of queerness, desire and diasporic life through drawings and set design: “This atmospheric installation won’t give up all its secrets to everyone, but it’s evocative nonetheless,” said the Standard

Barbican, to June 30; barbican.org.uk

The Conservatory x Ranjani Shettar

Not that anyone really needs an excuse to visit the Barbican’s gorgeous conservatory, but the space now features five large-scale works from Indian sculptor Ranjani Shettar. The delightful sculptures, which have been inspired by nature, have been crafted by hand using materials - including wood, stainless steel, muslin - and techniques that are used in traditional Indian craftwork.

Barbican, to July 1; barbican.org.uk

Beyond The Matrix: A Sculptural Exhibition by Jodie Carey

British artist Jodie Carey’s large-scale installations extend across the giant glass foyer of this east London office, inviting viewers to contemplate the anthropocene, material memory, and the relationship between objects and their environment.

100 Bishopsgate, to September 20; brookfieldproperties.com

Art Without Heroes: Mingei

Mingei, meaning ‘the art of the people’, is an early 20th century Japanese folk-craft style which encompassed ceramics, woodwork, paper, toys, textiles, photography and film. In this wide-ranging, illuminating show, unseen pieces, museum loans and archival footage tell the story of the influential movement.

William Morris Gallery, March 23 to September 22; wmgallery.org.uk

Flaming June

Frederic Leighton’s most famous painting, the exquisite Flaming June, was originally part of the British artist’s submission to the RA’s Summer Exhibition in 1895. Now, 128 years later, it’s on show at the institution again (on loan from the Museo de Arte de Ponce in Puerto Rico), being shown alongside work from both Leighton and his contemporaries. For mega fans, there’s a curator’s talk about the iconic painting on March 15.

Royal Academy of Arts, to January 12, 2025; royalacademy.org.uk

Register now for one of the Evening Standard’s newsletters. From a daily news briefing to Homes & Property insights, plus lifestyle, going out, offers and more. For the best stories in your inbox, click here.

2023-01-16T12:02:30Z dg43tfdfdgfd