And, after a year starved of visual stimulation, what better time to surround yourself with sculpture, photography, or even performance art? We’ve curated a list of exhibitions in London (and a bit further afield) that you shouldn’t miss this year.
What's on in art in London?
Claudia Andujar
The Yanomami Struggle
The Barbican, London
Exhibition on daily 10am-7pm (last entry 6pm)
The exhibition spotlights the works of Claudia Andujar and her collaboration with the Yanomami, one of Brazil’s largest indigenous peoples, who she has spent her life documenting and defending. Experience over Over 200 photographs, an audio-visual installation and a series of drawings by the Yanomami that have been brought together for the exhibition. At a time when the Yanomami’s territory is threatened and their way of life at risk, due to ongoing illegal mining and the spread of Covid-19, this work takes on enhanced significance.
If You're Into Interiors
Charlotte Perriand
The Modern Life
The Design Museum, London
On Now - 05 September 2021
Discover the works of one of the giants of 20th century design, a free spirit who championed good design for all and was often overshadowed by her famous male collaborators. Step inside recreations of some of her most famous interiors, including the apartment designed for the Salon d’Automne in 1929, and enjoy some of her furniture up close, such as the iconic Chaise Longue Basculante and the Fauteuil Pivotant.
For Fashion Aficionados
Beautiful People
The Boutique in 1960s Counterculture
Fashion and Textile Museum, London
1 October 2021 – 28 February 2022
Exhibition opens Tues-Sat, 11am - 6pm
In the mid-1960s, a handful of Chelsea boutiques sparked a fashion revolution. Freed and fuelled by creative exploration and experimentation, they began selling radical clothing to the counterculture youth. Beautiful People explores fabulous and rare examples from these era-defining stores and designers, exhibiting clothes worn by the likes of the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and Jimi Hendrix.
Immersive, But Not For Instagram
Ryoji Ikeda
180 The Strand
May 20 - August 1 2021
In an immersive installation, the Japanese artist (here with his biggest ever European show) has filled the labyrinthine brutalist spaces of this former office block with eye-searing, brain-liquifying, ear-shredding light and sound installations. The expansive solo exhibition includes never-before-seen works and invites viewers to fully immerse themselves in Ikeda's dynamic digital universe.
A Career Of Six Decades
James Barnor
Accra/London - A Retrospective
Serpentine North Gallery
May 19-Oct 22
Exhibiting the work of British-Ghanaian photographer James Barnor, whose career spans six decades, two continents and numerous photographic genres. In one exhibition alone, discover a nation on the cusp of independence, look into London in the early 1960's, before returning to Ghana in the 1970's through photojournalism, editorial commissions and a wider social commentary.
A Bit Further-A-Field
Take a short train ride out of London, and you’ll still find exhibitions that you shouldn’t miss.
Tokyo: Art & Photography
Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
29 July 2021 – 3 January 2022
Exhibition on daily 10am-5pm
This major exhibition explores Japan's capital city through the vibrant arts it has generated over 400 years. Discover Tokyo's history, from its beginnings as the headquarters of the Tokugawa shoguns in the early 1600s to the sprawling modern metropolis and dynamic centre of art, photography and design it is today.
Rebecca Louise Law
Seasons
Compton Verney, Stratford-upon-avon
Tue 18 May - Mon 30 Aug
Exhibition on 10.30am - 16.30pm
Journey through the changing seasons in a stunning installation of preserved foliage and flowers hanging from the ceilings of Compton Verney.
Approximately 250,000 flowers are suspended on copper wires above you head, the hanging displays explore the circular pattern of life and the beauty in nature – a walk through the exhibition take you through the evolving seasons of a year.
