Art exhibitions opening in London in January 2025

January 2025 marks an exciting start to London’s art calendar, with an impressive array of new exhibitions set to open across the city. Highlights include a landmark show at the Royal Academy of Arts, showcasing over 130 works from the 1910s to the 1970s by ten pivotal Brazilian artists. First-time institutional solo exhibitions will feature Gregg Bordowitz, Jake Grewal—who will unveil an entirely new series of paintings—and Christina Kimeze at South London Gallery. Meanwhile, Victoria Miro will present a fresh look at the work of Alice Neel. New Contemporaries will also return to the Institute of Contemporary Arts, highlighting the work of 35 emerging artists. Here’s our guide to unmissable exhibitions opening in London this January.

Jake Grewal: Under The Same Sky

Jack Grewal. © Photo: Annie Tobin.

#FLODown: Jake Grewal’s first institutional exhibition in London, hosted at Studio Voltaire, will feature an entirely new body of work, including an impressive 6-metre curved panoramic canvas. Inspired by time spent in India and Cornwall’s renowned Porthmeor Studios, Grewal expands his distinctive approach to landscape painting. His work blends plein-air traditions with deeply personal introspections, where figures seamlessly merge with their natural surroundings. His compositions often capture moments of transformation in light, colour, and time. Recognised as a rising talent, this exhibition offers a compelling opportunity to experience his work in London following his 2023 solo show at Pallant House Gallery.

Date: 15 January - 13 April 2025. Location: Studio Voltaire, 1A Nelsons Row, London SW4 7JR, UK. Price: Free. studiovoltaire.org.

New Contemporaries

Danilo Zocatelli Cesco, Dear Father, I believe we found our peace (2024), Photography.

#FLODown: New Contemporaries returns to the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) in London this January, showcasing 35 outstanding emerging and early-career artists from across the UK, selected by Liz Johnson Artur, Permindar Kaur, and Amalia Pica. Addressing themes such as environmental cycles, sustainability, borders, consumerism, and digital alienation, the exhibition offers insight into the pressing concerns of this generation of artists. Participants also benefit from mentoring, talks, and workshops through the Bridget Riley Artists’ Development Programme. Following its launch in Plymouth in late 2024, this exhibition forms part of New Contemporaries’ 75th-anniversary celebrations, which include a major year-long programme of commissions, residencies, and public events. Click here for details on artists whose work will be on show.

Date: 15 January – 23 March 2025. Location: Institute of Contemporary Arts, The Mall, London SW1Y 5AH.Price: Free. ica.art.

Brasil! Brasil! The Birth of Modernism

Tarsila do Amaral, Landscape with Bridge, 1931. Oil on canvas, 39.5 x 46 cm. Private collection. Courtesy of Almeida & Dale Galeria de Arte – Photo: Sergio Guerini. © Tarsila do Amaral S/A.

#FLODown: Brasil! Brasil! The Birth of Modernism at the Royal Academy will feature over 130 works spanning the 1910s to the 1970s by ten pivotal Brazilian artists. Showcasing the rich diversity of Brazilian art, the exhibition draws from rarely seen private and public collections, with many works being shown in the UK for the first time. Highlights include pieces by Modernism pioneer Anita Malfatti, as well as influential artists such as Geraldo de Barros and da Motta e Silva. With each artist represented by at least ten works, the exhibition offers a sweeping exploration of 70 years of Brazilian art, from figuration to abstraction.

Date: 28 January - 21 April 2025. Location: Main Galleries, Royal Academy of Arts, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London W1J 0BD. Price: £23.50 - £25.50. Book now.

Christina Kimeze

© Christina Kimeze. Photo © White Cube (Thomas Lannes).

#FLODown: London-based painter Christina Kimeze's first solo show in London will open at the South London Gallery (SLG) in January 2025. Her paintings often feature solitary female figures in natural landscapes or abstract interiors, focusing on isolated architectural elements. Inspired by her friends, family, and herself, these figures explore the feeling of existing between two emotional spaces and a sense of "otherness." Drawing from her memories of Uganda and literary influences from Black, feminist 20th-century writers, Kimeze's work captures themes of remembering and identity.

Date: 31 January – 11 May 2025. Location: South London Gallery, 65 Peckham Rd, London SE5 8UH. Price: Free. southlondongallery.org.

Citra Sasmita: Into Eternal Land

Installation view of Citra Sasmita, Timur Merah Project XII: Rivers With No End, as part of After Rain, Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale, 2024 Courtesy of the Diriyah Biennale Foundation Photo: Marco Cappelletti.

#FLODown: Indonesian artist Citra Sasmita will present her first UK solo exhibition at The Curve this January, transforming the 90-metre-long gallery into a symbolic, multi-sensory journey that delves into ancestral memory, ritual, and migration. Renowned for her diverse practice encompassing painting, sculptural installation, embroidery, and scent, Sasmita revitalises the traditional Indonesian Kamasan painting technique to challenge gender hierarchies and address the colonial history of Balinese culture.

Date: 30 January – 20 April 2025. Location: The Curve, Barbican Centre, Silk Street, London, EC2Y 8DS. Price: Free. barbican.org.uk.

 

At Home: Alice Neel in the Queer World

Alice Neel, Annie Sprinkle,1982, Oil on canvas. 154.6 x 112.1 cm 60 7/8 x 44 1/8 in. © The Estate of Alice Neel. Courtesy The Estate of Alice Neel, David Zwirner and Victoria Miro.

#FLODown: Victoria Miro will present At Home: Alice Neel in the Queer World, an exhibition exploring the celebrated American painter’s lifelong commitment to depicting the human condition, with a focus on her portraits of individuals from queer communities and their wider circles. Known for her radical honesty and pursuit of “the truth,” Neel captured a diverse range of figures, including politicians, writers, performers, and activists. The exhibition highlights key works such as portraits of New York Mayor Ed Koch, poet Frank O’Hara, Beat poet Allen Ginsberg, performance artist Annie Sprinkle, and Andy Warhol. Through these portraits and related archival material, At Home offers a complex portrait of queer life in Neel’s time, reflecting her dedication to difference and inclusivity.

Date: 30 January – 8 March 2025. Location: Victoria Miro, 16 Wharf Road, London N1 7RW. Price: Free. Book now.

Tarot: Origins & Afterlives

Austin Osman Spare tarot deck (c.1906). Courtesy The Magic Circle Collection and Darren Martin. 

#FLODown: Tarot: Origins & Afterlives is the inaugural exhibition at The Warburg Institute’s new Kythera Gallery. It explores the evolution of tarot cards from a 15th-century courtly game to their role as tools of divination, artistic inspiration, and symbols of identity in modern countercultures. The exhibition highlights key moments in tarot’s history, examining its iconographic origins and transformations through the hands of artists, mystics, and writers. An extensive public program, including symposia, screenings, readings, and immersive events, will accompany the exhibition.

Date: 31 January – 30 April 2025. Location: Warburg Institute, Woburn Square, London WC1H 0AB. Price: Free. warburg.sas.ac.uk.

Jonathan Baldock: 0.1%

Jonathan Baldock 0.1% 2024 © Jason Alden.

#FLODown: Jonathan Baldock’s installation 0.1% will open in January at London Mithraeum Bloomberg SPACE. Drawing inspiration from the site’s history, home to the ruins of a Roman Temple of Mithras, the work explores myths, gods, and rituals while reflecting on themes of family, interconnection, and support structures. Featuring sculptural pieces made from natural materials, 0.1% incorporates elements of Baldock’s Kentish heritage, such as hop poles and ceramic vessels that symbolise emotions and ancient traditions. A personal relic of the artist—a clay sculpture for his mother, cast in bronze—forms a central part of the installation, offering a contrast to the male-dominated Mithras religion.

Date: 30 January - 19 July 2025. Location: London Mithraeum Bloomberg SPACE 12 Walbrook, City of London, EC4N 8AA. Price: Free. londonmithraeum.com.

Gregg Bordowitz: There: a Feeling

Gregg Bordowitz, Some Styles of Masculinity. Performance view, New Museum, New York (2018). Image credit Chloe Foussianes.

#FLODown: Camden Art Centre will host the first UK institutional solo exhibition by acclaimed American artist, writer, and AIDS activist Gregg Bordowitz this January. Titled There: a Feeling, the exhibition spans Bordowitz’s diverse practice, including video, installation, performance, poetry, and prints. Highlights include Before and After (Still In Progress) (2023), the latest in a trilogy of autobiographical documentaries exploring his evolving identity shaped by living with HIV for over 30 years. The exhibition also features site-specific works created for Camden Art Centre and notable earlier pieces, such as Portraits of People Living with HIV (1993), a series of short video portraits made for the Gay Men’s Health Crisis in New York City.

Date: 17 January - 30 March 2025. Location: Camden Art Centre, Arkwright Road, London, NW3 6DG. Price: Free. camdenartcentre.org.

Peter Hujar: Eyes Open in the Dark

Peter Hujar, Ethyl Eichelberger, 1979 © and courtesy The Peter Hujar Archive / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York and Pace Gallery.

#FLODown: Eyes Open in the Dark, a major exhibition dedicated to Peter Hujar—one of the most significant American photographers of the late 20th century—will open at Raven Row this January. A key figure in New York’s downtown cultural scene of the 1970s and 80s, this posthumous exhibition will be the first to present his complete body of work. Curated by Hujar’s friend and master printer Gary Schneider, writer and biographer John Douglas Millar, and Raven Row director Alex Sainsbury, the exhibition will focus on Hujar’s mature style. It will feature both vintage and newly prepared prints, offering fresh perspectives on his work and challenging conventional interpretations.

Date: 29 January - 6 April 2025. Location: Raven Row, 56 Artillery Lane, London E1 7LS. Price: Free. ravenrow.org.

Tanat Teeradakorn: National Opera Complex

Tanat Teeradakorn, The Rise and Fall of Absolutism, 2024. Video still from work in progress.

#FLODown: Gasworks will present the first solo exhibition in Europe by Bangkok-based multidisciplinary artist Tanat Teeradakorn. The exhibition will explore the intertwined histories of Thailand and the UK through pop culture, revolution, and monarchy. Featuring an immersive installation resembling a souvenir stand, it will showcase products symbolising resistance and refusal. A new audio-visual work will combine viral TikTok dance routines with Thai folk dance and opera, reflecting the artist’s research into cross-cultural sounds.

Date: 30 January - 30 March 2025. Location: Gasworks, 155 Vauxhall Street, London, SE11 5RH. Price: Free. gasworks.org.uk.

Fairy Story: Last Night, I Dreamt of Manderley

Image: Maeve Gilmore, View from Le Châlet, Sark, c.1947 Courtesy: Maeve Gilmore Estate and Alison Jacques, London © Maeve Gilmore Estate; photo by Michael Brzezinski.

#FLODown: Alison Jacques will present a group exhibition curated by Daniel Malarkey this January, featuring over 30 artists from five continents. Taking its title from the opening line of Daphne Du Maurier’s novel Rebecca, the exhibition reinterprets the themes of romance, magical landscapes, and imaginary beings often found in children’s stories. Rather than idealised narratives, the artists explore darker themes such as deception, defiance, betrayal, bravery, and the complexities of love and morality. Featured artists include Maggie Hambling, Patrizio Di Massimo, Theodora Allen, Anna Calleja, Ernie Barnes, Maeve Gilmore, Roger Brown, and Chidinma Nnoli.

Date: 24 January – 8 March 2025. Location: Alison Jacques, 22 Cork Street, London W1S 3NG. Price: Free. alisonjacques.com.

Matthias Groebel: Skull Fuck

Modern Art will host the first solo exhibition by German artist Matthias Groebel.

#FLODown: Modern Art will host the first solo exhibition by German artist Matthias Groebel at the gallery this January. Building on his inclusion in the group exhibition Machine Painting, this show highlights Groebel’s pioneering use of machine-assisted techniques to transform broadcast television images, personal photographs, and filmed footage into paintings. The exhibition will feature rarely seen works, including single-panel and multi-panel paintings.

Date: 17 January – 22 February 2025. Location: Modern Art, Helmet Row. 4-8 Helmet Row London EC1V 3QJ. Price: Free. modernart.net.