Our curated list of Five Exhibitions To See In London In May 2024 promises art enthusiasts something to suit every taste. From legends of street art and Graffiti to feminist icon Judy Chicago and fresh faces on London’s cutting-edge art scene, there’s plenty to explore. Despite a chilly start to May, the art world in London is heating up with dynamic displays and international buzz, coinciding with significant art events like the Venice Biennale and New York’s 1-54 and TEFAF.
First up on our Five Exhibitions To See In London In May is ‘The Great Collaborator‘ at D’Stassi Art; take advantage of the opportunity to witness this groundbreaking exhibition by celebrated New York City graffiti artist Angel ‘LAII’ Ortiz. Known for his vibrant squiggles and swirls, Ortiz has teamed up with renowned street and graffiti artists, including STIK, Shepard Fairey, Mr. Doodle, Richard Hambleton, and Mark Kostabi. These creative giants are coming together for the first and only time. Ortiz has collaboratively worked with each artist, promising a showcase filled with interconnected works honouring collaboration.
Next, we head over to Judy Chicago at Serpentine North. Visit Serpentine North to see the largest solo exhibition in London by the trailblazing artist and feminist, Judy Chicago. Rising to prominence in the late 1960s, Chicago challenged the male-dominated art world with her distinctly female perspective. Her work, known for its deep commitment to craft and experimentation, spans diverse subjects and innovative materials.
Next, it’s over to ‘Softer, Softest‘ at Guts Gallery. Explore the nuances of softness in art at the Guts Gallery’s group exhibition ‘Softer, Softest’. Rejecting the rigid confines of modern machinery, this exhibition embraces the ephemeral and elusive aspects of human touch and memory, offering visitors a deeply sensory and reflective experience.
Then we take in some Cross-Disciplinary Wonders at Frieze No. 9 Cork Street in our Five Exhibitions To See In London In May 2024 by CARVALHO PARK. Newcomers CARVALHO PARK open their doors at Frieze No. 9 Cork Street, showcasing the captivating works of Kristian Touborg, Se Yoon Park, and Yulia Iosilzon. This exhibition delves into the artists’ cross-disciplinary approaches, including sculpture, painting, assemblage, and collage, exploring the mysterious beauty of the natural world.
Last but not least on our Five Exhibitions To See In London In May 2024 is ‘Emerging Artists’ at TM Gallery with 3812 Gallery. In collaboration with 3812 Gallery, TM Gallery is hosting a not-for-profit exhibition featuring the innovative works of Liu Yangwen, Wenhai Ning, and Jack Whitelock. Held in TM Gallery’s dedicated space for art lovers and collectors, this group exhibition offers insights into how the next generation of artists is reshaping the contemporary art landscape.
Make sure to mark your calendars for our five must-visit exhibitions in London this May, where art’s future stars and established icons converge to satisfy your artistic sensibilities.
Our Five Exhibitions To See In London In May 2024
1. Angel ‘LAII’ Ortiz: The Great Collaborator
This May, celebrated New York City graffiti artist Angel ‘LAII’ Ortiz, known for his expressive squiggles and swirls, opens his dynamic new exhibition ‘The Great Collaborator‘ at London’s D’Stassi Art. The exhibition brings together some of the most recognised graffiti and street art names, including STIK, Shepard Fairey, Mr. Doodle, Richard Hambleton and Mark Kostabi. These creative giants are coming together for the first and only time. Ortiz has collaboratively worked with each artist, promising a showcase filled with interconnected works honouring collaboration.
Ortiz is best known for his collaborations with notable artists such as Kenny Scharf, Richard Hambleton, STIK, ERO and many others. His partnership with Keith Haring during the 1980s was particularly transformative. Together, they created murals, sculptures, and painted trains, blending their signature styles. Ortiz’s technique and style are believed to have significantly influenced Haring’s solo practice from then onwards. The Great Collaborator exhibition continues to honour and celebrate Ortiz’s spirit of collaboration from the 1980s, featuring enigmatic new partnerships throughout the show.
Angel ‘LAII’ Ortiz: The Great Collaborator
Featuring STIK, Shepard Fairey, Mr.Doodle, Mark Kostabi and Richard Hambleton
Opens 7.00PM Friday 10th May 2024
D’STASSI ART
12 – 18 Hoxton Street
(Entrance on Drysdale St)
London, N1 6NG
2. JUDY CHICAGO: REVELATIONS
Serpentine is honoured to present Revelations, an exhibition of trailblazing artist, author, educator, cultural historian and feminist Judy Chicago (b. 1939, Chicago, USA). On view at Serpentine North from 23 May to 1 September 2024, this is the artist’s largest solo presentation in a London institution.
Chicago came to prominence in the late 1960s when she challenged the male-dominated landscape of the art world by making work that was boldly from a woman’s perspective. An artistic polymath, Chicago‘s work is defined by a commitment to craft and experimentation, either through her choice of subject matter or the method and materials she employs.
Throughout her six-decade career, Chicago has contested the absence and erasure of women in the Western cultural canon, developing a distinctive visual language that gives visibility to their experiences. To this aim, Chicago has produced both individual and collaborative projects that grappled with themes of birth and creation, the social construct of masculinity, her Jewish identity, notions of power and powerlessness, extinction, and expressed her longstanding concern for climate justice.
Judy Chicago: Revelations charts the full arc of Chicago’s career with a specific focus on drawing, highlighting rarely seen works. Several immersive, multi-media elements, including an AR app, a video recording booth, and other audio-visual components, set this show apart from previous surveys of Chicago’s work. With never-before-seen sketchbooks, films and slides, video interviews of participants from The Dinner Party (1974-79), audio recordings, and a guided tour of The Dinner Party by Chicago herself, this novel approach to exhibiting Chicago’s work makes the artist’s presence felt throughout the gallery.
Judy Chicago: Revelations
23rd May, 2024 – 1st September, 2024
Serpentine North
West Carriage Drive
London
W2 2AR
3. Softer, Softest
Guts Gallery is excited to present Softer, Softest; a group exhibition which explores the condition of softness and the ways in which it can be expressed in artistic composition.
Softer, Softest rejects the harsh, oppressive edges of modern machinery and instead celebrates the transitory, enigmatic nature of human touch and memory. Throughout the show, spectral bodies phase in and out of view; they shift, collide and eventually coa- lesce into shadowy, indistinct forms. Elsewhere, everyday objects are captured in hazy impressions; enchanting them with a cryptic, almost spiritual power. In each composition, you can almost hear the hushed breath, the strained whisper or the subdued rustling of fabric that has been captured from life and housed in the sanctum of the canvas.
Each of the works in Softer, Softest is suffused with a quiet, lyrical beauty; each like a half-forgotten memory stirred in a sleeping mind or a flicker of light glimmering behind an opaque glass. Painted textures in each piece are gossamer-like; colour spreads across surfaces like an exquisite, dreamlike web and delicate drawing marks thread to- gether intricately. Throughout the show, shapes seem to bloom and curve gently; the turn of an elbow, the bend of a wrist or the edges of a stationary object are constantly rendered in soft, restrained detail.
Softer, Softest
26th April, 2024 – 21st May, 2024
Guts Gallery
Unit 2 Sidings House,
10 Andre Street
Hackney
London
E8 2AA
4. CARVALHO PARK
CARVALHO PARK announces its inaugural participation with Frieze No. 9 Cork Street in London, simultaneously marking the gallery’s first exhibition in the United Kingdom. Featured artists include Kristian Touborg (Copenhagen), Se Yoon Park (New York and Seoul), and Yulia Iosilzon (London), represented artists by CARVALHO PARK. The presentation, which opens the evening of May 2, exemplifies the artists’ cross-disciplinary practices, engaging sculpture, painting, assemblage and collage, to speak to the strange sublimities of the natural world.
CARVALHO PARK
3rd May, 2024 – 18 May, 2024
FRIEZE NO. 9
GALLERY 3
CORK ST
LONDON
5. Liu Yangwen, Wenhai Ning, and Jack Whitelock at TM Gallery
In collaboration with 3812 Gallery, TM Gallery will present a collaborative group exhibition showcasing the work of three dynamic young artists: Liu Yangwen, Wenhai Ning, and Jack Whitelock. Held in TM Gallery’s not-for-profit space, dedicated to art lovers and collectors, this exhibition offers a glimpse into how the next generation of artists is transforming the contemporary art scene, reshaping its landscape and trajectory.
Liu Yangwen, Wenhai Ning, and Jack Whitelock at TM Gallery
26th April, 2024 until 31st May, 2024
7 Cubitt Street
London
WC1X 0LN
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