The 10 Best London Art Exhibitions Opening in September 2024

After a long, art-less August – a month when all the gallerists in the city take four weeks off to recuperate from the arduous business of putting some paintings on a wall – September is promising to be a genuine cultural bonanza.

London’s art galleries are kicking off the autumn season in style, with exhibitions of painters young and old, sculptures big and small, and conceptual installations smart and immersive. Let’s go. 

Ten London art exhibitions to see in September 2024

Lewis Hammond: ‘Glass House’ at The Perimeter

With dreamy, penumbral images filled with demons and surreal, macabre imagery, Hammond has slowly been making a name for himself as one of the best young British painters around. Taking over this private museum in a Bloomsbury mews, this will be his biggest show in the UK to date.

Lewis Hammond: ‘Glass House’ is at The Perimeter, Sep 13-Dec 20. Free. More details here.

Van Gogh: ‘Poets and Lovers’

If you pronounce it like an American, it’s time to Van Gogh crazy and if you pronounce it like the Dutch, then you’re going to need some Van Gogh syrup, because everyone’s going to absolutely lose it for Vincent this autumn. The National Gallery is going big on one of art history’s megastars, and they are not holding back. ‘Starry Night’? Got it. ‘The Yellow House’? It’s in here. Big hits, big ticket prices: welcome to 2024’s biggest blockbuster exhibition. 

‘Van Gogh: Poets and Lovers’ is at the National Gallery, Sep 14 2024-Jan 19 2025. More details here.

Frieze Sculpture at Regent’s Park

Once again this October, Regent’s Park will play host to Frieze art fair and its calmer, more mature sibling Frieze Masters. But before the hordes of facelifted art fiends descend on London, Frieze will be filling the park with its annual free display of outdoor sculptures. This year’s line up includes work by Leonora Carrington, Theaster Gates, Zanele Muholi and Yoshitomo Nara.

Frieze Sculpture is at Regent’s Park, Sep 18. Free. More details here. 

‘Hard Graft: Work, Health and Rights’ at the Wellcome Collection

Working hard? Or hardly working? This exhibition explores the physical, mental and societal impact of labour and the drudgery of toil. It will be the Wellcome’s usual combination of science, history and art, with a specific focus on the impact of work on the most marginalised people in society.

‘Hard Graft: Work, Health and Rights’ is at the Wellcome Collection, Sep 19-Apr 27 2025. Free. More details here. 

Tracey Emin: ‘I Followed You To The End’ at White Cube Bermondsey

Returning to White Cube to follow up her brilliant 2019 solo show, Tracey Emin is bringing yet more paintings, drawings, bronzes and angst to the south London mega-gallery. Her personal, painful, tender approach to depicting everyday emotions is always raw, always in your face, and always affecting. 

Tracey Emin: ‘I Followed You To The End’ is at White Cube Bermondsey, Sep 19-Nov 10. Free. More details here. 

Michael Craig-Martin at the Royal Academy of Art

British art wouldn’t be what it is today without the influence of Sir Michael Craig-Martin. The pioneering conceptualist has taught some of the most important artists this country has produced in the past five decades, and now he’s getting celebrated on his own terms. Expect cups of water that are actually oak trees and more colourful images of everyday objects than you could ever wish to see. 

Michael Craig-Martin is at the Royal Academy of Art, Sep 21-Dec 10. More details here. 

The Turner Prize at Tate Britain 

The Turner Prize is returning once again to London (every other year it goes to a different city, last year it was at the Towner Gallery in Eastbourne), bringing with it its annual celebration of the best artists in the country. This year’s shortlisted artists are Pio Abad, Claudette Johnson, Jasleen Kaur and Delaine Le Bas. The Turner Prize has lost almost all of its old ability shock, and even a lot of its ability to annoy, but it’s always an interesting snapshot of art in the UK.

The Turner Prize 2024 is at Tate Britain, Sep 26-Feb 16 2025. More details here. 

Geumhyung Jeong: ‘Under Construction’ at the ICA 

Uncomfortably, uncannily human robots fill Geumheung Jeong’s world. The Korean artist dances with the animatronic figures, interacts and communicates with them. The result is an uncomfortably emotional exploration of consumerism, technology and desire. Can’t wait. 

Geumhyung Jeong: ‘Under Construction’ is at the ICA, Sep 25. £6. More details here.

‘Monet and London. Views of the Thames’ at the Courtauld Gallery

Claude Monet loved foggy old London. Between 1899 and 1901, the pioneering French artist came to the city three times, painting stunning, incandescent visions of views across the Thames. And now, for the first time, they’re going to be shown here when 21 paintings of Charing Cross Bridge, Waterloo Bridge and Houses of Parliament will go on show at the Courtauld Gallery, just a few hundred metres from the Savoy where many of the works were painted.

‘Monet and London. Views of the Thames’ is at the Courtauld Gallery, Sep 27-Jan 19 2025. £10. More details here. 

Dexter Dalwood: ‘English Paintings’ at Lisson Gallery

Absence makes the heart grow fonder, or at least more curious. And now that leading British painter Dexter Dalwood has moved permanently to Mexico, he’s looking back this way and trying to understand and unravel what English painting can be. These new works take in the whole history of English art, from landscape and horse paintings to the pop art and the Bloomsbury Group.  

Dexter Dalwood: ‘English Paintings’ is at Lisson Gallery from Sep 27. Free. More details here. 

Want more? Here are the top 10 shows you can see right now. 

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