Tate has announced its programme for 2026, and it's going to be a blockbuster year for art in London and beyond, with a particular focus on women artists. Arguably the highlight of the 2026 exhibition calendar will be a Frida Kahlo exhibition at Tate Modern, titled ‘Frida: The Making of an Icon’, which will open on 25 June 2026 and run until early January 2027.
The exhibition will explore Kahlo’s life and legacy through more than 130 works, including her iconic self-portraits, showcasing the Mexican artist's signature vibrant style.
Frida Biting Her Necklace, 1933, by Lucienne Bloch (not in exhibition), from a 2018 photography show at Michael Hoppen Gallery, featuring portraits of Kahlo by other artists
‘Frida: The Making of an Icon’ will also exhibit rarely seen documents, photographs and memorabilia from Kahlo's archives, shedding light on the different shades of her life and character: Kahlo the political activist, the intellectual, the wife. (A 2018 exhibition
Through artworks and objects, audiences will dive deep into the life and career of Kahlo, whose folk-style art explored themes of identity, postcolonialism, gender, class and race, often incorporating autobiographical and fantastical elements. Although she died in 1954, her work wasn’t adopted by the mainstream until the 1970s; Kahlo is now a recognised and celebrated figure in art history as well as the feminist and LGBTQ+ movements. The exhibition will also touch upon the diversity of communities who claim Kahlo as their own.
Self Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird, 1940, Frida Kahlo
‘Frida: The Making of an Icon’ will also bring together art from more than 80 of the artist’s contemporaries, as well as work by artists from later generations who were inspired by Kahlo, broadening the scope of the exhibition to consider the role of women artists in the 20th century.
Tate’s 2026 programme will also include a landmark Tracey Emin retrospective, which will include the Turner Prize-nominated installation, My Bed. There will also be stagings of Argentine artist Julio Le Parc and Cuban-American artist Ana Mendieta, as well as a photography exhibition, ‘Light and Magic: The Birth of Art Photography’.
-
A first look inside the new Oxford Street Ikea. Spoiler: blue bags and meatballs are includedThe new Oxford Street Ikea opens tomorrow (1 May), giving Londoners access to the Swedish furniture brand right in the heart of the city
-
For the 2025 Eurovision theme art, Swiss design principles get a glow-upLondon-based branding agency NOT Wieden+Kennedy marries graphic design history and exuberance in its theme art for this year's song contest
-
Ten low-pro sneakers that capture footwear’s new streamlined moodSuper-flat soles, narrowed silhouettes: the low-profile sneaker is this season’s defining footwear style. Here, the Wallpaper* style team selects its favourites
-
The UK AIDS Memorial Quilt will be shown at Tate ModernThe 42-panel quilt, which commemorates those affected by HIV and AIDS, will be displayed in Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall in June 2025
-
‘Humour is foundational’: artist Ella Kruglyanskaya on painting as a ‘highly questionable’ pursuitElla Kruglyanskaya’s exhibition, ‘Shadows’ at Thomas Dane Gallery, is the first in a series of three this year, with openings in Basel and New York to follow
-
Artist Qualeasha Wood explores the digital glitch to weave stories of the Black female experienceIn ‘Malware’, her new London exhibition at Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, the American artist’s tapestries, tuftings and videos delve into the world of internet malfunction
-
Ed Atkins confronts death at Tate BritainIn his new London exhibition, the artist prods at the limits of existence through digital and physical works, including a film starring Toby Jones
-
Tom Wesselmann’s 'Up Close' and the anatomy of desireIn a new exhibition currently on show at Almine Rech in London, Tom Wesselmann challenges the limits of figurative painting
-
A portrait of the artist: Sotheby’s puts Grayson Perry in the spotlightFor more than a decade, photographer Richard Ansett has made Grayson Perry his muse. Now Sotheby’s is staging a selling exhibition of their work
-
Celia Paul's colony of ghostly apparitions haunts Victoria MiroEerie and elegiac new London exhibition ‘Celia Paul: Colony of Ghosts’ is on show at Victoria Miro until 17 April
-
Teresa Pągowska's dreamy interpretations of the female form are in London for the first time‘Shadow Self’ in Thaddaeus Ropac’s 18th-century townhouse gallery in London, presents the first UK solo exhibition of Pągowska’s work
