The best art exhibitions to see in London and beyond in 2026

It’s easy to see why Beatriz González, the subject of this sombre new retrospective, is often linked with Pop art. In her paintings, the Colombian artist, who died at the age of 93 in January, favoured flat, graphic shapes, shrill colours and serial imagery. Like Andy Warhol, with whom she shared several subjects, she was inspired by the mass media. Little, though, about her work is frivolous or light, and the Barbican’s show is a lament for victims of the violence that scarred her homeland during the second half of the 20th century. If this is Latin American Pop, it’s Pop with pathos – and, although this isn’t an easy exhibition, it is powerful and affecting.

Barbican Art Gallery, London EC2 (barbican.org.uk) until May 10