From poetic introspection to playful immersion, London’s galleries offer a season of renewal through five compelling exhibitions.
As May unfolds in London, the city slips into lighter clothes, longer days, and a season of cultural renewal. Alongside the rising temperatures, galleries across the capital are offering a wave of compelling exhibitions, each one a window into the artistic preoccupations of our time. From the introspective to the exuberant, these are five exhibitions to see in London in May 2025—each a distinct expression of artistic inquiry in the spring light.
At Upsilon Gallery in Marylebone, ‘Sentire: You Are the April Sky’ brings together six international female artists in a poetic meditation on perception, identity and feeling. Curated by Evangeline Li and on view through the end of the month, the show is anchored in the Italian word sentire—to feel—as framed by the late poet Alda Merini. The work of Ava Grauls, Diane Chappalley, Epona Smith, Evie Mae Jacobs, Guan Guan and Hannah Lim drifts between abstraction and figuration, tracing the nuances of femininity, intuition and embodiment. It’s an exhibition that lingers in the quiet space between gesture and sensation.
Further west on Savile Row, Hauser & Wirth presents ‘No Time for Despair’, the debut London exhibition of Michaela Yearwood-Dan. Expansive in both form and feeling, the show features vibrant new paintings, intricately glazed ceramic sculptures, and an 11-metre-long landscape that dominates one gallery wall. A sound piece, created in collaboration with composer Alex Gruz, deepens the immersive atmosphere. The title of the show nods to Toni Morrison’s urgent 2004 essay, a call for artists to speak through the noise of crisis. Yearwood-Dan responds with work that is lush, lyrical and resolutely hopeful. It’s a standout among our exhibitions to see in London for its boldness and emotional generosity.
In Camden, the newly established Camden Arts Projects opens its doors with a major installation by Turner Prize-winner Martin Creed. Titled ‘Work No. 3891: Half the air in a given space’, the piece does exactly what it promises: it fills the gallery with hundreds of balloons, occupying half the room’s air volume. The result is a participatory environment that invites visitors to wade through colour and space, suspended between absurdity and delight. The exhibition, curated by Hala Matar, marks a buoyant beginning for the not-for-profit space’s programming.
At Bowman Sculpture in St James’s, Joanna Allen’s ‘Subconscious Playground’ is a psychological excavation in three dimensions. Her debut solo exhibition draws on surrealist traditions while offering a distinctly contemporary take on the human psyche. Through a series of evocative sculptural forms, Allen constructs an alternate reality—strange, dark and playfully unfamiliar. The show coincides with the centenary of André Breton’s Surrealist Manifesto, making it a timely reminder of the unconscious as fertile ground for artistic inquiry.
South-west in Chelsea, Canadian artist Greg Deda offers a more meditative provocation with ‘Vision & Value’ at Chelsea Fine Art Gallery. The exhibition considers the dual role of art as both cultural artefact and commodity, and includes Deda’s most recent works—quietly expressive pieces that explore materiality and meaning. With a focus on collectors and investors alike, the gallery sets the scene for an atmosphere that balances reflection with exchange. It stands apart for its engagement with the intersection of emotion and economics.
Whether drawn to the cerebral, the celebratory or the surreal, these five exhibitions to see in London in May 2025 offer a snapshot of a city—and an art world—in full bloom.
Sentire: You Are the April Sky
Upsilon Gallery, London is delighted to announce Sentire: You Are the April Sky, an exhibition celebrating the work of six extraordinary international female artists curated by Evangeline Li, which will run from 16 April – 31 May. The exhibition revolves around the concept of an ephemeral moment; a fleeting second that encapsulates the essence of the feminine experience.
Artworks by Ava Grauls, Diane Chappalley, Epona Smith, Evie Mae Jacobs, Guan Guan and Hannah Lim shift between abstraction and figuration, exploring the delicate balance between intuition, corporeality, perception, and identity.
At the heart of this exhibition is the word ‘sentire’ (to feel), as defined by Italian writer and poet Alda Merini – a direct and deeply intimate experience of existence, often in contrast to the external world, yet inseparably connected to it. Lin Huiyin’s poetry, “You Are the April Sky in This World,” speaks of the woman as a force of renewal, warmth, and intuition – further echoing the concept of Upsilon’s Spring exhibition.
Sentire: You Are the April Sky
16th April, 2025 – 31st May, 2025
Upsilon Gallery
64 Grosvenor Street
London W1K 3JH
Michaela Yearwood-Dan: No Time for Despair
Through paintings, sculpture, site-specific murals and installations, Michaela Yearwood-Dan endeavors to build spaces of community, abundance and joy. Yearwood-Dan’s debut exhibition with Hauser & Wirth will take place in London, featuring new paintings ranging from monumental to intimate in scale, including an expansive 11m-long panelled landscape painting, alongside richly adorned ceramic sculptures and benches. The lyrical quality of the paintings will be complemented by a new sound piece made in collaboration with the composer Alex Gruz, a reflection on the analogous experience of art and music alike.
The title of the show, ‘No Time for Despair,’ is a call to action, referencing an article written by Toni Morrison for The Nation, which states, ‘In times of dread, artists must never choose to remain silent.’
Michaela Yearwood-Dan: No Time for Despair
14th May, 2025– 2nd August, 2025
Hauser & Wirth London
23 Savile Row
London W1S 2ET
Martin Creed: EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE ALRIGHT
Camden Arts Projects, a brand-new not-for-profit creative space dedicated to showcasing
the works of both established and emerging artists and filmmakers, will launch at 176 Prince
of Wales Road, Camden in London with a major exhibition by Turner Prize-winning artist
Martin Creed, from 9 May.
Curated by Hala Matar, the inaugural exhibition features Creed’s interactive installation Work No. 3891 Half the air in a given space (2025), where half of the air in the room is contained within hundreds of balloons. Filling the gallery and transforming it into a sensory-filled environment, the artwork invites visitors to step inside, move through and physically engage with the work in a playful and tactile way.
Martin Creed: EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE ALRIGHT
9th May, 2025 – 29th June, 2025
Camden Arts Projects
176 Prince of Wales Road
London
NW5 3PT
Camden Arts Projects, a brand-new not-for-profit creative space dedicated to showcasing
the works of both established and emerging artists and filmmakers, will launch at 176 Prince
of Wales Road, Camden in London with a major exhibition by Turner Prize-winning artist
Martin Creed, from 9 May.
Curated by Hala Matar, the inaugural exhibition features Creed’s interactive installation Work No. 3891 Half the air in a given space (2025), where half of the air in the room is contained within hundreds of balloons. Filling the gallery and transforming it into a sensory-filled environment, the artwork invites visitors to step inside, move through and physically engage with the work in a playful and tactile way.
Joanna Allen: Subconscious Playground
Bowman Sculpture Gallery is pleased to announce Subconscious Playground, the inaugural solo exhibition by emerging British contemporary sculptor Joanna Allen. The exhibition will run from 1st to 30th May, 2025, at the gallery’s Mayfair location: 6 Duke Street, St James’s, London.
Subconscious Playground is an exploration of human psychology, offering an alternative reality that strips away the illusion of normalcy to reveal a more complex, sometimes dark, yet playful perspective on the subconscious. Joanna Allen’s exhibition is particularly timely, arriving shortly after the Centenary of Surrealism in 2024, a hundred years since André Breton penned the Manifeste du Surréalisme.
Joanna Allen: Subconscious Playground
1st May, 2025 – 30th May, 2025
Bowman Sculpture
Gallery 6
Duke Street
St James’s
London
Greg Deda: Vision & Value
Chelsea Fine Art Gallery is pleased to announce Vision & Value, a new exhibition of works by Canadian artist Greg Deda. The showcase offers visitors a rare opportunity to experience Deda’s most recent collection—an evocative exploration of artistic vision and the cultural and material worth of fine art.
The evening will bring together collectors, art enthusiasts, and investors alike, uniting those who value the emotional resonance of fine art with its growing prominence as an asset class. Whether a seasoned collector or someone newly engaging with art as investment, guests can expect an atmosphere of elegance, cultural exchange, and exclusivity.
Greg Deda: Vision & Value
Opens on the 14th May, 2025
Chelsea Fine Art Gallery
The Other House South Kensington
15-17 Harrington Gardens
London SW7 4JJ
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