Art After Dark is back: London's West End set to light up with a free public art show

an image of piccadilly circus with the installation

(Image credit: Art of London)

London isn’t short of great art – The National Portrait Gallery, The Courtauld, graffiti on the tubes are all just a handful of examples that the splendid city boasts. Whilst the capital’s plethora of great galleries are wonderful, they often sit on people’s London bucket lists without ever actually making it there. If this is sounding at all familiar, then the return of London’s beloved Art After Dark series will come as welcome news.

Brightening up your evenings and making your commute more cultured, the free seven-day celebration will bring art, music, and even a touch of nocturnal night life to the slightly gloomy city. Kicking off on Wednesday 3rd February, it will run until February 10th, giving the iconic West End a literal glow up.

The headline star of the Art After Dark programme is a free public art trail. This year’s featured artwork is from artist Lakwena Maciver, titled Rise and Shine. At its centre is a towering, seven-metre installation, slap bang in the middle of Piccadilly Circus, made completely of disco light boxes. It’s serving up a nostalgic dose of OG hipster 80s disco energy, and aims to inject a little of that 80s / 90s grooviness back into London’s nightlife. It’s illuminated with acid-bright visuals – but it’s not just a treat for the eyes; the installation will be blasting out a banging soundtrack made up of hip-hop, soul, and funk – perfectly on theme.

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Further art and installations are set to be unveiled across the West End for the week-long event, including some fresh looks on the enormous Piccadilly Lights and screens.

It’s not just on the streets either, with local galleries getting involved too. Replace your standard post-work pub crawl with a gallery crawl, as on Thursday 5th there will be one taking place across the West End’s finest independent and commercial galleries. You can go it alone with a self-guided tour, or book an expert guided tour from just £10.

On Friday, the National Gallery, Royal Academy of Art, and National Portrait Gallery will be joining the party, keeping their doors open until 9pm.

As well as the art taking centre stage, there will be a series of live music sessions across central, including Haymarket Hotel, Box Piccadilly, San Carlo, and Hard Rock Cafe – and not forgetting the epic afterparty hosted by drag royalty Bimini at the National Gallery.

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Hermione Blandford is the Content Editor for Shortlist’s social media which means you can usually find her scrolling through Instagram and calling it work, or stopping random people in the street and accosting them with a mini mic. She has previously worked in food and drink PR for brands including Johnnie Walker, Tanqueray, Gordon's, The Singleton, Lagavulin and Don Julio which means she is a self confessed expert in spicy margaritas and pints, regularly popping into the pub in the name of research.

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