34 Of The Best London Art Exhibitions To See In May 2026

To Be Seen is one of the most exciting photography exhibitions in London right now – and for good reason, bringing together three decades of photographic portraits by Catherine Opie. The American artist has worked with the NPG’s Curator of Photographs Clare Freestone on the show, together curating more than 80 images including Opie’s first major work, Being and Having (1991), her portraits of LGBTQ+ friends inspired by court painter Hans Holbein. When hung all together, we see how Opie has chronicled the ebb and flow of human culture so succinctly in a practice that spans studio portraiture to documentary images.

Opie questions representations of home, intimacy and family, politics, identity and power structures, turning her lens on everyone and everything from queer communities, mentors and collaborators to children, surfers, high school footballers, political crowds and herself in her continued desire to make the invisible visible. 

Although the exhibition is displayed across a trio of rooms, there are a number of decisive interventions within seven of the other gallery spaces, too. It’s hard to believe that this is the first ever major museum show of Opie’s work in the UK but it’s been worth the wait and is definitely an unmissable cultural event in London this season. 

£19.50 / £21.50 with donation; free for members
St Martin’s Place, Westminster, London WC2H 0HE
npg.org.uk