The best exhibitions in London this summer: From Escher to Bowie to Marilyn Monroe
A star-studded summer of cultural highlights
After a spring that can politely be described as ‘temperamental’ (seriously, weather, made your ruddy mind up), there’s only one guiding principle going into the summer: get indoors.
Thankfully, London has plenty to offer anyone fleeing hostile weather conditions this summer. The UK capital isn’t all picturesque parks and buzzing beer gardens, you know.
Our beloved city is packed to the rafters with world class galleries, beautiful exhibition centres and legendary arts venues, many of which will be housing tantalising events and showcases over the warmer months.
Whether you’re looking to scratch an artistic itch, seeking a family friendly cultural visit, or eager to explore our country’s vibrant musical heritage, we’ve got something that should fit the bill – rain or shine.
Murugiah: Ever Feel Like...
- Where: Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration
- When: June 5th to August 31st
- Price: From £15
Sharmelan Murugiah is a British Sri Lankan multidisciplinary artist whose delightfully garish works are apparently inspired by a childhood spent playing Nintendo games, listening to pop punk music, and watching Saturday morning cartoons. You can see each of those influences – and no small amount of child-like wonder – on display in the illustrator’s sense-assaulting works, which have been assembled at the Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration’s inaugural solo exhibition this summer. Think Yellow Submarine by way of your favourite anime, and you’re half way there.
Anish Kapoor at the Haywood Gallery
- Where: Southbank Centre
- When: June 16 to October 18
- Price: From £22
In this industry names don’t come much starrier than Anish Kapoor, the British-Indian artist who has put his name to iconic works such as Chicago’s Cloud Gate and London’s ArcelorMittal Orbit. He returns to the Haywood Gallery some 28 years after the Southbank venue hosted his first major exhibition. Kapoor’s works (with many taken from his most iconic series) have here been positioned such that they seem to emerge from the very fabric of the building, quite literally filling out the gallery space. Expect light-bending surfaces, visceral paintings, and objects coated in Vantablack – aka the blackest substance known to man.
M.C. Escher. The Exhibition
- Where: Somerset House
- When: June 5 to September 6
- Price: From £16.50
Fans of infinite staircases rejoice – M.C. Escher is in the house! Somerset House, to be precise. The palatial Thames-adjacent venue is playing host to a major retrospective of the famous Dutch artist’s work. Expect more than 150 of his pieces (including famous works such as Day and Night, Relativity, and Hand with Reflecting Sphere) covering the artist’s work with optical illusions, landscapes, tessellations, and other impossible scenes that make your head hurt. This should be a good one for families, given the inclusion of various spatial logic-defying interactive displays.
Marilyn Monroe: A Portrait
- Where: National Portrait Gallery
- When: June 4 to September 6
- Price: From £25
In celebration of what would have been her 100th birthday, the National Portrait Gallery has teamed up with the Marilyn Monroe estate to exhibit a number of portraits from across the iconic actor’s career. You can expect to see the work of some of the greatest photographers and artists of the 20th and 21st centuries, including Andy Warhol (of course), Richard Avedon and Philippe Halsman. You’ll also be able to check out a number of Monroe’s personal effects, including film scripts and clothes.
The Music is Black: A British Story
- Where: V&A East Museum
- When: April 18 to January 3
- Price: From £22.50
The Victoria and Albert Museum (or the V&A to its friends) has just opened a new, trendier outpost in multicultural east London. Fittingly enough, its opening exhibition covers 125 years of black British music through a dazzling multi-sensory journey. As 120 music tracks are pumped into the event-supplied headphones (covering funk, 2 Tone, jungle, grime and more), you’ll be told the story of this distinct music and culture through physical artefacts such as instruments, letters, outfits, photos and artwork.
David Bowie: You're Not Alone
- Where: Lightroom
- When: April 22 to October 10
- Price: From £25
London has not gone short of David Bowie exhibitions in recent years, such is the enduring hold that the great musical artist has on the capital that spawned him. David Bowie: You're Not Alone is something a little different, however – an exhibition that seems to have been created to appeal to a younger generation who might only have witnessed the tail end of his life and career. This hour-long 360-degree film is beamed onto the vast walls of London’s Lightroom, combining interview material with thrilling live concert footage. It’s a far from comprehensive look at Bowie’s oeuvre, but boy is it visceral.
Inside Aardman: Wallace & Gromit and Friends
- Where: Young V&A
- When: February 22 to November 15
- Price: From £12.50
Inside Aardman’s run at the Young V&A is set to run for the best part of a year, but it represents the perfect stop on any summer visit to the capital with young kids. Bristol’s Aardman Animations celebrates its 50th birthday this year, and this exhibition (which is also the cheapest on this list) takes its audience behind the scenes of one of the most magical animation houses working today. Visitors will be able to view early sketches of the Oscar-winning studio’s beloved characters, alongside models, sets and storyboards from the Aardman archives.
Royal Academy Summer Exhibition 2026
- Where: Royal Academy of Arts
- When: June 16 to August 23
- Price: From £23.50
It’s not every art lover’s cup of tea, but there’s arguably no more democratic an art exercise in the capital than the annual Royal Academy Summer Exhibition. This year’s show will once again assemble a vast array of multi-disciplinary artwork from established artists, emerging talents, celebrities, and the Great British public. As such, the one thing we can safely predict is that there will be way more bad art than good on display. But that’s kind of all part of the charm with this cosily eccentric London institution. If all else fails, there’s always the in-gallery gin bar.
Looking for something different...?
Then check out our top exhibition picks from earlier in the year that are still open!
Wes Anderson: The Archives
- Where: The Design Museum
- When: Until the 26th of July
- Price: From £46
Underway right now at the Design Museum right through to mid July, this charming exhibition is the first to delve so deeply into the famously fastidious director’s personal archive.
As you’d expect, it’s a fascinatingly detailed and expertly curated hoard, made up of some 700 objects covering some three decades of Anderson’s idiosyncratic work. You’ll be able to track the obsessively constructed sets and clockwork productions of films such as The Grand Budapest Hotel, Fantastic Mr. Fox, and Isle of Dogs. There’s also a screening of Anderson’s little-seen debut short, Bottle Rocket. We've been lucky enough to attend, so if you want a taste of what's on offer, check out our thoughts.
Magical worlds: Fairy Tales
- Where: The British Library
- When: Until August 23rd
- Price: From £11.50
What better place to host a celebration of folkloric fantasy – aka fairy tales – than the hallowed British Library? This family-friendly interactive exhibition will employ books, theatre costumes, puppets, pop-ups, artwork and illustrations to take you on a magical journey through literature. You’ll apparently be able to sit down at the Three Bears' breakfast table (Goldie Locks), tell the genie your wish (Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp), and smell the wicked witch’s potions (take your pick), among other book-based activities.
In Other Worlds
- Where: Barbican Centre
- When: Until September 6th
- Price: Free
London’s beloved Barbican is currently hosting the first UK solo exhibition by Liam Young – an artist, director and BAFTA-nominated producer. As this diverse CV suggests, Young dips his toes into a wide range of media, so you can expect films, costumes, props, movie miniature models, comics, tapestries and soundscapes – all presenting a hopeful vision of the future. It sounds as if Young’s work is going to take the idea of world–building in fiction to another dimension entirely, but this is no mere flight of fancy. Each element is said to be rooted in “real technology and climate-based possibilities”. Read our full review here.
Power Up
- Where: The Science Museum
- When: Permanent
- Price: From £14
OK, so Power Up isn’t strictly speaking a new exhibition. It’s been running as a permanent member of the Science Museum’s formidable line-up since mid-2023. But it pays to remind people that it’s there, because for those with an appreciation for the history of the medium, there’s very little to touch it in this or any other city. This ‘interactive gallery’ has assembled 160 game consoles from across five decades, covering many of the greats and plenty of obscure gems in between. You can go hands-on with the exhibits, of course, and the roster is constantly being added to.
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