Grayson Perry, Peter Blake and Tracey Emin are among the top British artists exhibiting their work in London’s galleries this November. Become a culture vulture by visiting one of our top 10 art exhibitions in the capital
1 The Photographers 2014 at the Osborne Samueland Beetles+Huxley galleries
In a collaborative exhibition between the two galleries, Osborne Samuel and Beetles + Huxley will put more than 150 important photographs on show, captured from the 19th Century to the present day. Works from Henri Cartier-Bresson, Dorothea Lange, Horst P Horst, Walker Evans, Cecil Beaton, Robert Mapplethorpe will be on display along with previously unseen self portraits from the secretive American street photograph Vivian Maier, subject of the recent documentary ‘Finding Vivian Maier.’
20 November – 23 December 2014; Osborne Samuel, 23a Bruton Street, London W1J 6QG; osbornesamuel.com
Beetles+Huxley, 3-5 Swallow Street, London W1B 4DE; beetlesandhuxley.com
2 Grayson Perry: Who are You? at the National Portrait Gallery
The best dressed man in the art world is back with Who Are You?, an exhibition featuring new works created during the making of his Channel 4 series of the same name. In each episode, Perry meets with individuals to explore their sense of identity, each subject more different from the last, and channels the experience into an artwork. The NPG show features 14 portraits, including politician Chris Huhne, Northern Ireland Loyalist marchers, and an X Factor contestant – each transformed into a painting, tapestry, statue or pot.
Until 15th March 2015; St Martin’s Place, London, WC2H 0HE; npg.org.uk
3 Side Show by Peter Blake, Paul Stolper Gallery
The ‘godfather of British pop art’ will take a breather from his vibrant collage prints for Side Show, an exhibition of wood-engravings exploring his fascination with old-time circus performers. The work will be displayed for the first time together with photographs, proofs, studies and drawings from Blake’s personal archive.
27 November 2014 – 10 January 2015; 31 Museum Street WC1A 1LH; paulstolper.com
4 Tracey Emin The Last Great Adventure is You at The White Cube
The Last Great Adventure is You; Emin’s first exhibition to be shown at The White Cube in over five years features a broad spectrum of the artist’s work. On show are her bronze sculptures, paintings, large-scale embroideries and trademark neon signs, in a collection that has been described as her most ‘ambiguous’ to date.
Until 16 November 2014 White Cube Bermondsey 144-152 Bermondsey Street SE1 3TQ, whitecube.com
5 A Victorian Obsession: The Pérez Simón collection at Leighton House Museum
Mexican art collector Juan Antonio Pérez Simón shares his impressive collection of Victorian paintings with the world for the exhibition, A Victorian Obsession: The Pérez Simón Collection at Leighton House. The show includes 50 pieces in total, four of which are by Lord Leighton, returning to the house where they were painted. Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema’s magnificent The Roses of Heliogabalus, 1888, also receives its first exhibition in London since 1913. The collection will be showcased throughout the house.
14 November 2014- 29 March 2015; 12 Holland Park Road W14 8LZ; leightonhouse.co.uk
6 Rembrandt: The Late Works at The National Gallery
The National gallery’s extensive exhibition of Rembrandt’s final works explores the period between the 1650s until his death in 1669; a turbulent and painful time in the painter’s life. The Dutch painters later years were fuelled by grief following the death of his wife and three of their children, meanwhile the artist was facing bankruptcy and legal action from a former lover. ‘The Late Works’ collection explores a time of sorrow, self-reflection and experimentation for Rembrandt; it’s essential viewing for those with even the most meagre interest in the artist’s work.
Runs until 15 January 2015, Trafalgar Square, WC2N 5DN; nationalgallery.org.uk
7 Digital Soane
In March 2014, the bust of Sir John Soane was 3D scanned and digitally shattered. The fragmented pieces were then used as the starting point for a new object created by RCA Jewellery & Metal graduates through the programme’s ‘Thinking Digital’ initiative. The winners of ‘The Digital Soane’ project have now been announced, and their modified and creative interpretations of the original 3D bust will be exhibited at Sir John Soane’s museum until the 24 November.
No. 12 Breakfast Room; 12 Lincoln’s Inn Fields, London WC2A 3BP; soane.org
8 Micscapes: An exhibition of crystalline photography by Tim Oliver at The Tabernacle
Tim Oliver’s photography brings us into an abstract world created by the crystallisation of everyday (and not so everyday) substances. Body fluids, Epsom salts, ketamine and citric acid are all captured on camera through a polarising microscope. The result is both beautiful and unsettling.
2-7 December 2014; 34-35 Powis Square, W11 2AY; tabernaclew11.com
9 Egon Schiele: The Radical Nude at the Courtauld Gallery
Austrian artist Egon Schiele lived in the shadow of his more palatable mentor, Klimt for the better part of his life; but his controversial work helped change the art world’s perception of the modern male and female nude. An extraordinary draughtsman and painter, his creations transform the human body – capturing the grotesqueness and the beauty of our ever-changing form.
Until the 18 January 2015, Somerset House, Strand, WC2R 0RN; courtauld.ac.uk
10 From the Forest to the Sea: Emily Carr in British Columbia
Dulwich Picture Gallery will present the first major solo exhibition in Europe dedicated to Canadian artist Emily Carr (1871-1945). Featuring her paintings of the aboriginal settlements she encountered and her formidable landscapes and seascapes, it’s a stunning look into her world.
From 1 November until the 18 March, Gallery Road SE21 7AD, dulwichpicturegallery.org.uk
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