Amongst the many cultural offerings across our capital, the free art exhibitions in London are definitely worth bookmarking. Many of the city’s must-see art shows don’t have an admission charge, meaning you can admire the latest work by David Hockney or Gilbert & George, deep-dive into the world of modern shrines or marvel at Paula Rego’s drawings – all without paying a thing. There’s no shortage of free museums and art galleries in London – here’s our guide to where to see free art in London and the best free exhibitions in London this summer.
Free ART Exhibitions in London
Serpentine North Gallery
Until 23 August
A Year in Normandie and Some Other Thoughts about Painting is David Hockney’s inaugural show at Serpentine – and is a free exhibition in London that you’ll want to bookmark. The exhibition showcases a series of new paintings, alongside the celebrated British artist’s monumental 96-metre frieze A Year in Normandie (2020 – 2021), which goes on display in the capital for the very first time, opening a dialogue with the surrounding nature of Kensington Gardens. Hockney has long held a fascination with Normandy, where he has a house (read about his iPad drawings inspired by his French garden here).
The fresh body of work comprises five still lifes, alongside five portraits that depict members of Hockney’s close circle including his family and carers. The paintings all share the same frontal composition, as well as a recurring motif of a gingham tablecloth, and have been created by Hockney to encourage the viewer to slow down and take note of the simple joys that can be found in the everyday. One of the finest examples of free art in London, do note that you will need to book a time slot in advance.
West Carriage Drive, Kensington Gardens, London W2 2AR
serpentinegalleries.org
Design Museum
Until January 2027
Simone Brewster is the spotlight of this year’s PLATFORM, the Design Museum’s free annual display series showcasing the world of a designer or a studio, who are making an impact on contemporary design discourse. This is the London-based contemporary designer’s first museum show, with her work displayed on level 1 to present the evolution of her practice.
Varying in scale and discipline, from jewellery and furniture to sculpted forms and public architecture, the monographic display will help us to better understand Brewster’s range. We’ll also learn where she looks for inspiration, from palaeolithic fertility deities to African Diasporic traditions, and why she is one of the most significant cultural change-makers of today. This is one of the most interesting exhibitions in London to see this spring; read about the other not-to-miss shows in the capital here.
224-238 Kensington High Street, Kensington, London W8 6AG
designmuseum.org
Somerset House
21 May – 9 August
Idolising cultural icons has become a 21st century form of worship. Somerset House’s Holy Pop! looks at the contemporary way we honour heroes, celebrities and cult icons, shining a light on the world of modern shrines in a fast-moving digital world. The exhibition, curated by Tory Turk, is set across three rooms, bringing together an eclectic mix of art, memorabilia, letters, photographs and interactive installations to delve into how this adulation shapes our identities and sense of belonging.
The exhibition opens with an examination of the deeply personal nature of devotion, looking at the act of communal grieving, before moving onto personal shrines and how objects in our own homes hold a precious significance. Works in the show feature luminaries such as David Bowie, Princess Diana, Andy Warhol and Harry Potter’s Dobby the Elf, though a highlight – and the conclusion of the exhibition – is a piece of Nina Simone’s chewing gum. Collected by musician Warren Ellis after her final UK concert, it’s an item that may be tiny but it speaks volume about modern-day fandom and artistic devotion. Though tickets must be booked – and there are suggested prices – this is also ‘pay what you can’.
Somerset House, Strand, London, WC2R 1LA
somersethouse.org.uk
Autograph
Until 19 September
Shoreditch-based photography gallery and visual arts organisation Autograph looks behind the lens of Nhu Xuan Hua with Of Walking on Fire. For this, her first UK solo exhibition and one of the most exciting photography exhibitions to see in London right now, the French Vietnamese artist takes the limitations of language as her starting point, exploring how stories are communicated (or indeed withheld) across generations. Working at the intersection of art and fashion photography, issues of communication are central to Hua’s work, and it is evident how Hua’s own past has an impact on her work.
Born and raised in Paris to parents who fled to Europe following the Vietnam War, she grew up feeling distant from her Vietnamese heritage. This absence of a shared language within her household – exacerbated by the fact that her father is oral-deaf – has profoundly influenced Hua’ s artistic practice. In the exhibition, we’ll see how she draws on early family photographs, using digital manipulation to soften and dissolve the subjects “creating images that hover between recognition and erasure”. Through this oeuvre, which is displayed amongst ornaments, trinkets, flowers and vases that are inspired by Vietnamese temples, she invites us to consider how diasporic memory can splinter, blur and eventually slip from our consciousness altogether.
Rivington Place, Shoreditch, London EC2A 3BA
autograph.org.uk
Whitechapel Gallery
Until 14 June
This year marks Whitechapel Gallery’s 125th anniversary – and the east London cultural hub is marking it with a programme that represents a range of perspectives, from local to global, with a focus on women-identifying artists and artists of colour. Until mid-June, the gallery spotlights African-American visual artist and educator Senga Nengudi, a key figure in the avant-garde Black art scenes in LA and New York during the 1960s and 70s.
In Senga Nengudi: Performance Works 1972 – 1982, the first solo presentation of Nengudi in a public gallery in London, we see her photographic works, archival materials and films of key performance pieces, including original photographs of her seminal work, R.S.V.P. (1976), as well as a film of a later performance of the piece. All help us to better understand how Nengudi was at the intersection of a movement that was defined by radical experimentation, collective practices and social commentary – and her ongoing fascination in how external forces affect the movement and form of objects.
77 – 82 Whitechapel High Street, Whitechapel London E1 7QX
whitechapelgallery.org
Southbank Centre
Until 21 June
2026 not only sees Southbank Centre celebrate its 75th anniversary, but it also marks around 50 years since London’s skateboarders first adopted the concrete ledges, ramps, and pillars under the Queen Elizabeth Hall as their own. Indeed the Undercroft Skate Space, as it has since become known, is widely seen as the birthplace of British skateboarding, home to a community of skateboarders that spans five generations.
Skate 50 is a celebration of the urban playground and the events, figures and moments that shaped it into becoming not only the beating heart of the city’s skateboard culture but also a cornerstone of creative expression. From archive footage to contemporary interpretations of the space today, including a series of documentary-style films, many made in collaboration with the skater community, all tell the story of this storied corner of London. A cultural event you won’t want to miss this month, do note that you will need a ticket but it’s ‘pay what you can’. Skateboarders go free!
Belvedere Road, Waterloo, London SE1 8XX
southbankcentre.co.uk
The Gilbert & George Centre
From 1 May
Worlds and Windows at The Gilbert & George Centre in Spitalfields pays tribute to Gilbert and George’s dear friend George Compton, who lived at a care home run by the homelessness charity St Mungo’s and would travel daily to visit the duo in their Spitalfields home and studio. The show features works featuring the trio, in homage to a friendship that endured more than 30 years, displayed alongside a selection of the artists’ postcard art. “The most famous Crompton in history is, not surprisingly, the author of the Just William books (Richmal Crompton),” they say of the show. “The other Crompton, our George, was a little bit like the character in the book. Naughty but nice. He’s living on in the pictures.”
This is the fourth exhibition to take place at the museum, which is dedicated to the artistic output of the duo – real names: Gilbert Prousch and George Passmore – who have been working together since the 1960s. They opened the space in 2023, both as a major part of their legacy, but also as a way of making art accessible to all (read more about the Centre here). “We always wanted to do an art for all,” Gilbert told The Glossary exclusively at the opening. “Now everyone can have a look at it, if they want to.” In keeping with this spirit, the centre, which is funded by the couple and registered as a charity, is free to visit, though donations are welcome.
5a Heneage Street, Spitalfields, London E1 5LJ
gilbertandgeorgecentre.org
Camden Art Centre
Opens 10 April
Camden Art Centre, a free-to-visit space that aims to connect people to their own creativity through exhibitions, residencies, events and learning programmes, presents a survey of Donald Locke. The Guyanese-British artist worked in a variety of media over five decades, from the late 1960s until his death in 2010.
And yet, as the Art Centre says, despite his pivotal role in 20th century sculpture in particular and his contributions as a post-war artist of the Windrush Generation, Locke’s work has remained relatively under-recognised, not least in the UK. That’s all set to change with this deep-dive, which presents over 80 worlds from early ‘biomorphic’ ceramics evoking human and natural forms and sculptures to works from the Plantation Series (c.1972–76); large-scale paintings that incorporate ceramic, metal and wood elements; as well as examples of his later work made in Atlanta, influenced by the assemblage traditions of the American South.
Arkwright Road, Camden, London NW3 6DG
camdenartcentre.org
White Cube Bermondsey
Until 31 May
White Cube Bermondsey devotes its entire gallery space to Katharina Grosse, with a major exhibition of her works – I Set Out, I Walked Fast. The title of her debut solo show is drawn from Charlotte Brontë’s novel Jane Eyre, which the German artist felt embodied a sense of urgency and an impulse to continually move forwards, resisting expectations and embracing unpredictability.
This is reflected in the exhibition, which encompasses the arc of her practice. In addition to a series of new canvases and a painted bronze work, at the centre of the show is an immersive painting which Grosse created in situ, as is her wont. The German artist, who lives and works in Berlin and New Zealand/Aotearoa, has long seen the world as a site for painting, transforming every manner of surface with an industrial spray gun, using colour “as a force to activate space, heighten perception, and reconfigure our relationships to the environment and one another.”
144-152 Bermondsey Street, Bermondsey, London SE1 3TQ
whitecube.com
Victoria Miro
Until 23 May
Since the 1950s, Lisbon-born, London-based Dame Paula Rego (1935–2022) paved a seminal path in the art world, not least for her extraordinary figurative paintings. Victoria Miro gallery, which is owned by one of London’s leading female gallerists, brings a fresh perspective with Story Line, which celebrates the renowned Portuguese-British artist’s drawings and works on paper – in fact, it’s the most comprehensive display of her drawings to date.
When you see the works, which span Rego’s entire career, hung together in the Islington gallery, it invites the viewer to look at them in a new light, facilitating an understanding of how her use of line evolved from pen and ink to pastel, conté, charcoal and pencil, and how it was driven by her wide-ranging references, her imaginative power and her unique approach to storytelling through art.
16 Wharf Road, Islington, London N1 7RW
victoria-miro.com
The National Gallery
Until 31 May
If anyone could paint a horse, it was George Stubbs. In the 1750s, the self-trained British artist spent nearly two years in a remote barn in Lincolnshire, hidden away, devoting his time to studying and drawing the anatomy of horses. The resulting canvases were amongst the most accurate ever to be painted (to this day), capturing the animals in incredible detail.
One of the many unmissable events taking place across the capital this month is Stubbs: Portrait of a Horse, the National Gallery’s deep-dive into the self-trained painter. First we see ‘Scrub’ a monumental painting of a rearing bay horse – notably without a rider – painted around 1762. While in an adjoining room another huge painting – this time of Scrub’s Whistlejacket – is on display. Painted around the same time, these are two of the first life-size portraits to depict horses without a human presence in British history, changing the spirit of equine art forever.With 2026 marking the Lunar Year of the Horse, there’s no better time to celebrate these majestic creatures – and if the spirit of the horse speaks to your sense of style, read here to discover the finest horse-inspired jewellery bringing unbridled charm this season.
St. Martin’s Place, Charing Cross, London WC2H 0HE
nationalgallery.org.uk
Tate Britain
Ongoing
This is an opportunity to see two artworks made for the same room in Tate Britain, but almost a century apart. In 1926, Rex Whistler was commissioned to create a mural as a decoration for the refreshment room. The artist spent 18 months painting The Expedition in Pursuit of Rare Meats, a panoramic display that follows an imagined hunting expedition on a journey through European art and architectural styles.
Keith Piper’s film installation Viva Voce was commissioned by the gallery in response to the mural. Based on the Latin phrase meaning ‘word of mouth’ the film stages an imagined conversation between Whistler and a fictional academic Professor Shepherd. During the screening, Shepherd challenges Whistler about the mural’s racist narrative and imagery, inviting the viewer to not only examine historic images, but also consider the motives of those who made them and the context in which they were created.
Millbank, Pimlico, London SW1P 4RG
tate.org.uk
Serpentine South Gallery
Until 6 September
Cecily Brown is one of the most important British painters today, having studied under Maggi Hambling before attending the Slade School of Fine Art. She’s known for her vigorous brushwork and vivid colours, which shift between the abstract and the figurative, her dynamic style taking inspiration from contemporary painters like Willem de Kooning, Francis Bacon and Joan Mitchell to Old Masters like Rubens, Poussin and Goya.
Picture Making spotlights Brown’s new and recent works, many of which look to Serpentine’s location in Kensington Gardens, drawing on themes of nature and park life, with subjects including amorous couples, woodland settings and uncanny nature walks. This exhibition marks something of a homecoming for the Surrey-born artist, who has lived and worked in New York for the past three decades.
Kensington Gardens, London W2 3XA
serpentinegalleries.org
Wellcome Collection
Until 29 November
Free museum and library Wellcome Collection turns its attention to ageing in its forthcoming exhibition The Coming of Age. The show explores how the experiences of age – from adolescence to later life – are shaped by environment, culture and society; how health and social inequalities impact older age and how societies can adapt for us all to age better.
More than 120 artworks and objects, including historical artefacts and works by contemporary artists including John Coplans, Serena Korda, Suzanne Lacy, Anna Maria Maiolino, Rory Pilgrim and Paula Rego have been collated. When brought together, they ask the viewer to consider the different perspectives of ageing through art, science and popular culture, challenging assumptions about life stages and asking the question: what does greater longevity mean for us all?
183 Euston Road, Camden, London NW1 2BE
wellcomecollection.org
Japan House London
Until 10 May
Japan House, the cultural hub of Japan in Kensington, explores the beauty of everyday items with Hyakkō. Feast your eyes on more than 2,000 hand-crafted pieces in an exhibition that highlights how form and function can exquisitely co-exist, involving more than 120 artists, craftspeople and self-taught makers from across the country.
Clay, glass, wood, leather,metal and bamboo… no material has been overlooked to showcase contemporary Japanese craft aesthetics. You’ll see ceramic matcha bowls alongside metal teapots and urushi lacquerware trays – with each item quietly blending traces of the maker’s surroundings and nods to tradition with innovation and self-expression. Keep an eye open for hands-on workshops, gallery tours and specialist talks – you can also buy some of the makers’ works in the shop.
101-111 Kensington High Street, Kensington, London W8 5SA
japanhouselondon.uk
The London Archives
Until 25 February 2027
For anyone with an appetite for true crime, legal history or the stranger corners of London’s past, Londoners on Trial: Crime, Courts and the Public 1244–1924 is the exhibition to seek out this spring. Opening at The London Archives on 9 March, this show draws on the institution’s extraordinary collection to trace seven centuries of law and disorder in the capital – from medieval courts to the modern era – asking how a growing, unruly city was governed, and who it chose to make an example of.
The cast of characters alone makes it worth the visit: Moll Cutpurse, Dick Turpin, Jack Sheppard, Oscar Wilde and Sylvia Pankhurst all feature, their cases illuminating not just legal history but the streets, homes and social fault lines of London’s past. Among the best free things to do in London, it runs until February 2027.
Main image: Martin Parr, Glenbeigh Races, County Kerry, Ireland, 1983. Copyright Martin Parr/Magnum, courtesy Rocket Gallery/The Photographers’ Gallery
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