In honour of International Women’s Day on 8 March 2025, we are highlighting some of the exceptional exhibitions currently taking place in London, celebrating the contributions of female artists across a range of disciplines. From Claudia Pagès Rabal’s Five Defence Towers at Chisenhale Gallery, which examines colonial history and national identity, to Tirzah Garwood’s retrospective at Dulwich Picture Gallery, highlighting her artistic legacy, and the duo exhibition at the Hayward Gallery featuring Linder and Mickalene Thomas, these shows offer a perspective on women’s roles in shaping the art world. Below is a guide to some of the key exhibitions celebrating female artists in London this March.

Claudia Pagès Rabal: Five Defence Towers

#FLODown: Claudia Pagès Rabal’s solo exhibition, The Night of Five Defence Towers at Chisenhale, presents a new moving image commission exploring Catalonia’s historic defence towers along the former borderlands between European forces and Al-Andalus. The work combines dialogue, dance, light, and sound to address themes of surveillance, control, national identity, and colonial erasure. Presented on a large LED screen and accompanied by lightboxes featuring tower photographs, the exhibition explores the intersection of history and belief systems.

Date: 28 February – 11 May 2025. Location: Chisenhale Gallery, 64 Chisenhale Road, London, E3 5QZ. Price: Free. More info.

Heather Agyepong: Through Motion

#FLODown: Heather Agyepong’s solo exhibition, Through Motion, offers a reflective look at the past three years of her multi-disciplinary practice, showcasing the deeply personal and therapeutic role of movement in her work. The exhibition features The Body Remembers (2022), a video performance piece debuting at Doyle Wham, where Agyepong explores self-directed movement therapy, drawing on interviews with Black British women in trauma recovery. Alongside this, her photographic series Ego Death delves into Carl Jung’s concept of ‘the Shadow,’ using movement and free expression to reveal hidden aspects of the self. Inspired by films like Moonlight and Get Out, this marks Agyepong’s first integration of pop culture into her visual work, highlighting the evolving and holistic nature of her artistic practice.

Date: 6 February - 22 March 2025. Location: Doyle Wham, Third Floor, 91a Rivington St, London EC2A 3AY. Price: Free.

Tirzah Garwood: Beyond Ravilious

#FLODown: An  exhibition dedicated to visionary artist and designer Tirzah Garwood (1908–1951). Previously known primarily as the wife of Eric Ravilious and author of Long Live Great Bardfield, Garwood was a talented fine artist and printmaker. This retrospective will feature over 80 of her captivating works, providing a comprehensive view of her artistic output. The exhibition will also include 11 pieces by Ravilious, highlighting the thematic connections and distinct artistic identities of this remarkable couple.

Date: 19 November 2024 - 26 May 2025. Location: Dulwich Picture Gallery,London SE21 7AD. Price: from £18. Concessions available. Book now.

Tirzah Garwood, Spanish Lady,1950, oil on canvas. Private collection. 

Linder: Danger Came Smiling

#FLODown: Linder’s first London retrospective is open at the Hayward Gallery, showcasing 50 years of the feminist artist’s work and exploring society’s fascination with the body and its representation. The exhibition spans her early punk-era photomontages from 1970s Manchester to new digital montage pieces, marking her continued evolution.

Date: 11 February – 5 May 2025.Location: Hayward Gallery, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Rd, London SE1 8XX. Price: from £19. Book now.

Christina Kimeze

#FLODown: London-based painter Christina Kimeze has opened her first solo show in London 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.

Mire Lee: Open Wound

#FLODown: Mire Lee’s Open Wound transforms Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall into an environment inspired by the inside of a body. The installation features hanging sculptures resembling ‘skins’ made from materials like construction mesh and steel, suspended from chains. A motorised turbine pumps a pink viscous liquid through silicone tubes, creating new skins that hang to dry. The work explores regeneration, decay, and the emotional and physical toll of navigating an unstable world.

Date: 9 October 2024 – 16 March 2025. Location: Tate Modern, Bankside, SE1 9TG. Price: Free.

Citra Sasmita: Into Eternal Land

#FLODown: Indonesian artist Citra Sasmita presents her first UK solo exhibition at The Curve, 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.

Galli: So, So, So

#FLODown: Galli’s highly anticipated first major solo exhibition in the UK offers a powerful exploration of the body, corporeality, and identity, showcasing a diverse array of works, including paintings, books, collages, and drawings. Through these pieces, Galli invites viewers to engage with her unique approach to understanding the complexities of the human form and its representation.

Date: 7 February – 24 May 2025. Location: Goldsmiths CCA, St James’, New Cross, London SE14 6AD. Price: Free. More info.

Mickalene Thomas: All About Love

#FLODown: All About Love at the Hayward Gallery explores two decades of work by renowned artist Mickalene Thomas. The exhibition features large-scale paintings, photographs, collages, and installations that celebrate Black women in repose, adorned with vibrant patterns and rhinestones. Drawing from European art history and feminist literature, Thomas reclaims space for Black and LGBTQIA+ individuals within a male-dominated artistic tradition. The exhibition also includes bespoke wallpapers and textiles reflecting Thomas’s 1970s childhood, paying tribute to the late bell hooks, and highlights themes of love, glamour, and empowerment.

Click here for our review of ‘All About Love’ by Mickalene Thomas.

Date: 11 February – 5 May 2025. Location: Hayward Gallery, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XX. Price: £19. (concessions available). Book now.

Dada Khanyisa

#FLODown: Sadie Coles HQ is showcasing new works by Dada Khanyisa, whose sculptural paintings explore social dynamics and community. Inspired by South African culture, modernist shapes, and social media, Khanyisa’s works celebrate identity and the power of shared histories.

Date: 26 February – 12 April 2025. Location: Sadie Coles HQ, Davies Street, London, W1K 3DB. More info.

The Cave in the Mind

#FLODown: The Cave in the Mind is a group exhibition curated by Marcelle Joseph, featuring the works of Melania Toma, Paula Turmina, and Atalanta Xanthe. Inspired by their visits to prehistoric caves in southwestern France, the artists respond to ancient cave art, where images of animals like bison and horses were created in altered states of consciousness. The exhibition presents contemporary works that connect past and present spiritual practices.

Date: 13 February- 29 March 2025. Location: IONE & MANN, 1st Floor, 6 Conduit St, London W1S 2XE. Price: Free.