This month immerse yourself in a plethora of London art exhibitions to see across the city right now. Urs Fischer’s new works go on display at Gagosian in the Burlington Arcade, while Matthias Weischer presents his first solo show in London in over 20 years. Jaime Welsh presents 'Convalescent', whereby he is drawn to the shores of Lake Geneva and the troubled history of Villa Karma, a leprosarium and site of psychological trauma. The Turner Prize-nominated artist David Shrigley, known for his deadpan, self-deprecating work, presents an exhibition of old rope, intended as a commentary on the contemporary art market and the nature of artistic value.From group shows to career retrospectives, plan your next visit with our frequently updated guide to the month’s best offerings.
Heading across the pond? Here are the best New York art exhibitions to see this month.
London art exhibitions: what to see in December 2025
Urs Fischer
Gagosian Burlington Arcade until 10 January 2026
New works by Urs Fischer go on display, including paintings and small sculptures alongside houses, a new video, an accompanying artist’s book, and a selection of objects and apparel. The four paintings have a graphic cartoonlike style, with flat colours and black outlines. The presentation coincides with Fischer’s collaboration with the Connaught Hotel, London, to design their annual Christmas tree
The Shape of Things
Workplace until 17 January 2026
Artist Ki Yoong
The Shape of Things is a group exhibition including work by Malcolm Bradley, Bob Law, William McKeown, Lizzie Munn, Salvatore Pione, and Ki Yoong. The exhibition looks at material presence whereby each artist explores the material not just as a medium, but as a creative subject. It looks at how form can hold emotion.
Off Target Matthias Weischer
GRIMM until 10 January 2026
This will be Weischer’s first solo show in London in over 20 years. The artist’s paintings capture interior scenes with restaged compositions. The pastel tones capture a moment in time; the sparse furniture and signs of disrepair evoke a sense of abandonment.
Joy Gregory: Catching Flies with Honey
Whitechapel Gallery until 1 March 2026
Joy Gregory’s first major survey show at the Whitechapel Gallery takes its title from a proverb said by her mother. In every room, her words – ‘you catch more flies with honey than vinegar’ – ring true. Gregory’s honeyed photographs hold a pertinent political message that sticks. Using nineteenth-century photographic processes to explore issues such as race, gender and colonialism, Gregory’s works pack a punch, rendering them all the sweeter for it.
Writer: Hannah Hutchings-Georgiou
Zofia Rydet: Sociological Record
The Photographers’ Gallery until 22 February 2026
In 1978, Zofia Rydet embarked on a colossal task: photographing the inside of every household in Poland. What became Sociological Record would ultimately take Rydet into the 1990s, culminating in more than 20,000 images, only a fraction of which were ever printed (by the series’ end her efforts were solely focused on making sure there was a record, as opposed to sharing it). Rydet travelled by bus or relied on friends for lifts, turning up and knocking on doors unannounced. ‘The actual photographing was quite quick,’ says Clare Grafik, Head of Exhibitions at The Photographers’ Gallery in London, ‘it was the conversations she would subsequently have with the homeowners that profoundly affected the way she thought about life and work.’
Writer: Zoe Whitfield
thephotographersgallery.org.uk
Diane Arbus 'Sanctum Sanctorum'
David Zwirner London until 20 December, 2025
In London, Diane Arbus’ latest exhibition shifts the emphasis to intimacy over scale, with the opening of 'Diane Arbus: Sanctum Sanctorum,' an exhibition of 45 photographs made in private places between 1961 and 1971. The exhibition will go on to travel to Fraenkel Gallery in San Francisco in spring 2026.
Jaime Welsh 'Convalescent'
Ginny on Frederick, London until 17 December, 2025
Jaime Welsh is drawn to the shores of Lake Geneva and the troubled history of Villa Karma. Welsh’s previous work has considered the role that ideological systems and political structures play in shaping us, in poignant images which emphasise the innocence and isolation of the individual. When he came across Villa Karma, its dual role as sanctuary and site of trauma felt like a natural jumping-off point from which to explore themes of perception, surveillance and identity.
Writer Hannah Silver
Exhibition of Old Rope
Stephen Friedman Gallery until 20 December 2025
David Shrigley has unveiled a new show, ‘Exhibition of Old Rope’, featuring an enormous pile of old rope, sourced from seaports and other locations, which he has valued at £1 million. The exhibition consists of ten tonnes of discarded rope – roughly 20 miles in length – intensively cleaned and piled high in the Mayfair gallery. Shrigley spent eight months collecting it from seaports, climbing schools, tree surgeons, offshore wind farms, scaffolders and shorelines around the country. The Turner Prize-nominated artist is known for his deadpan, self-deprecating work, and the exhibition is intended as a commentary on the contemporary art market and the nature of artistic value.
Writer Anna Solomon
Monument to the Unimportant
Pace, London until 14 February 2026
In a group exhibition, ‘Monument to the Unimportant’, artists give the seemingly insignificant – from discarded clothes to weeds in cracks – a longer look. These items and more are celebrated as things of beauty in their own right, spotlighting the joy in mundanity. Artists including Henni Alftan, Genesis Belanger, Elmgreen & Dragset, Urs Fischer, Sylvie Fleury, David Hockney and Rachel Whiteread recontextualise the quotidian to create something wholly new.
Wes Anderson: The Archives
Design Museum until 26 July 2026
The pastel-tinted world of Wes Anderson is celebrated in a retrospective coming to London’s Design Museum. This is the first exhibition dedicated to the director that looks at the evolution of his films. It will showcase over 600 models, props and costumes from Anderson’s films, from his first experiments in the 1990s right up to his most recent Oscar-winning The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar. Accompanying this, the exhibition will also feature his first drafts and work-in-progress material, including small-scale models such as the 3m wide model of The Grand Budapest Hotel.
Parliament of ghosts
Ibraaz until 15 February 2026
Ibrahim Mahama’s ‘Parliament of Ghosts’ inaugurates the permanent home of Ibraaz at 93 Mortimer Street. The museum is dedicated to presenting a living archive which charts histories of empire, migration and more. Stretching over six floors in central London it offers a place to gather and be inspired. The new exhibition is focused on the social histories of Ghana. For his presentation Mahama transported timber reclaimed from the colonial railway, which provides a literal and symbolic ground for new ways of gathering.
‘Peter Doig: House of Music’
Serpentine South until 8 February 2026
Peter Doig explores the role of music, and film in his new exhibition ‘House of Music’. Diving into the idea of communal gathering and creative exchange, the gallery is transformed into a listening space, bringing together his recent paintings, coupled with sound. The music is selected by the artist ( from his personal collection of vinyl records and tapes). The showcase is inspired by a blend of personal memories from photographs, to imaged scenes, which are drawn from Doig’s years spent in Trinidad.
Unveiled Desires: Fetish & The Erotic in Surrealism, 1880
Richard Saltoun Gallery until 28 February 2026
Curated by Maudji Mendel of RAW (Rediscovering Art by Women) the two-part exhibition looks at the work of overlooked women artists of the 20th century. The exhibition is focused on Surrealism, with the Erotic playing a central role, with works focused on liberation, subversion and desire. ‘Unveiled Desires: Fetish & The Erotic in Surrealism, 1880’ dives into these artistic engagements by female and queer artists across painting, drawing, photography, and sculpture.
‘I Remember: Chantal Joffe’
Victoria Miro until 17 January 2026
Chantal Joffe presents her fourteenth solo exhibition with the gallery. Here, she paints the truth of memory, motherhood and family dynamics. The exhibition takes its title from Joe Brainard’s iconic memoir. ‘Joe Brainard’s book always makes me list for myself the things I remember and the atmosphere and time that they conjure,’ says Joffe. ‘These paintings are a sort of memoir of my childhood and of my family, an attempt at a kind of time travel. When I am making them, it’s almost as if I am existing in that past.’
‘Cecil Beaton’s Fashionable World’
National Portrait Gallery until 11 January 2026
Audrey Hepburn in costume for My Fair Lady, 1963 Cecil Beaton Archive
Oscar-winning costume designer and fashion illustrator Cecil Beaton was known for his creative scenes in 20th-century British and American media. In the first exhibition dedicated entirely to his fashion and portrait photography, explore images which capture beauty and glamour in the interwar and early post-war eras. With over 200 items from letters and sketches to fashion illustration and costume, the exhibition also features portraits from Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor and Marlon Brando; Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Margaret. His work has been recently faced with critique due to Beaton crossing personal boundaries and, through his lens, you see a more narrow minded view of beauty.
Søgelys
Thaddaeus Ropac until 20 December 2025
'Søgelys' is Eva Helene Pade’s first solo exhibition in the UK. The Danish-born, Paris-based artist explores the tension between bodies and space with a violent yet evocative energy. ’With my figurative painting, I create blurred lines or gaps that become the language for the things we can’t put into words,’ says the artist. ‘That’s what I envy so much about abstraction, it’s already working in a realm for which language does not exist.’
Wolfgang Tillmans: Build From Here
Maureen Paley until 20 December 2025
Marking the eleventh exhibition with the gallery, artist Wolfgang Tillmans has created a showcase to inaugurate the new gallery in 4 Herald St, a space which used to be the artist’s studio. Expect to see new photographic work and two recent videos, all of which look at the process of making and observation as an act of transformation.
Dana Schutz: One Big Animal
Thomas Dane Gallery until 20 December 2025
Dana Schutz’s new paintings and sculptures is inspired by the idea of one large group acting as one entity. The viewer is invited to interpret this as an organism working in unison or formation. The protagonists of her works are usually staged in unusual and obscure settings. There are hints of mythology, with political and social issues threaded within the pictorial narrative.
Blitz: the club that shaped the 80s
Design Museum until 29 March 2026
Spandau Ballet’s debut photo shoot at the Warren Street squat, 1980
The Blitz club, which launched the careers of acts such as Spandau Ballet, Visage, and Boy George, transformed London style in the 1980s. The Design Museum welcomes visitors to explore the club’s history and atmosphere through music, fashion, film and graphic design.
Dirty Looks: Desire and Decay in Fashion
The Barbican until 25 January 2026
The Barbican brings dirt and decay to the forefront in its latest exhibition on decay in fashion. The exhibition features faux-stained jeans to mud-splattered dresses, and asks the question: 'Why did fashion get dirty?' Featuring pieces from Hussein Chalayan and Alexander McQueen to Vivienne Westwood, and Maison Margiela, explore how this has impacted beauty standards, and why there has been a resurgence of dirt in young designer’s work, and the potential sustainable future of fashion.
Read our full review of 'Dirty Looks'
Marie Antoinette Style
V&A South Kensington until 22 March 2026
V&A South Kensington presents a landmark exhibition on the most mythologised queen in European history: ‘Marie Antoinette Style’. Across 250 objects, this exhibition, sponsored by Manolo Blahnik, traces the 18th-century monarch’s origins as a fashion icon, concluding in the present day with pieces from contemporary designers exemplifying her enduring legacy.
Writer: India Birgitta Jarvis
Read the full review of Marie Antoinette Style
Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley, The Delusion
Serpentine North until 18 January 2026
Berlin-based British artist and game designer Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley is keen to challenge the more solitary nature of gallery viewing, with her immersive new exhibition at The Serpentine encouraging visitors to interact – with each other.
The exhibition is a video game, offering a multiplayer experience, inviting viewers to virtually enter digital portals. Inside each one there are conversation starters, reflecting on both the digital world and its often vitriolic and dangerous real-life consequences. Players follow prompts, and are encouraged to engage in honest conversations with themselves and each other.
Read the full review of Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley’s The Delusion
Lee Miller
Tate Britain until 15 February 2026
Lee Miller, Model with lightbulb, Vogue Studio, London, England c.1943© Lee Miller Archives, England 2024
The exhibition is a retrospective on Lee Miller’s career which spanned from her participation in French surrealism to her fashion and war photography. Miller began working with cameras when she was in front of it, being one of the most sought-after models in the late 1920s. She then decided to work behind the lens capturing scenes across New York, Paris, London and Cairo. Visitors can be captivated by 250 vintage and modern prints, including those never previously displayed.
Read the full review of Lee Miller
'Cosima von Bonin: Upstairs Downstairs'
Raven Row until 14 December 2025
Since she came to prominence in Cologne in the 1990s, Cosima von Bonin has become a producer of objects that balance humour and melancholy. ‘Upstairs Downstairs’ is an exhibition featuring the artist’s early works, including a variety of objects and characters that nod to an imaginative childhood. This marks her first exhibition in London.
'Val Lee: The Presence of Solitude'
The Hayward Gallery until 11 January 2026
Taiwanese artist Val Lee marks her first solo show in the UK. The exhibition unites film, photography and costume, each reflecting the idea of isolation and solitude. Her work features disjointed and ambiguous narratives, while protagonists are unidentifiable. The result echoes a feeling of alienation, while the viewer is submerged in collective memories shaped by political systems.
The David Bowie Centre
V&A East Storehouse, permanent
Fashion, memorabilia and personal ephemera from David Bowie, now on view at the V&A East Storehouse in London, are as wondrous in their range as their creator. The pioneering musician's 90,000-item personal archive are equally accessible, and – like the artist at the heart of it – equally wondrous in their range. Bowie was an inveterate curator – you might say hoarder – of his own life, keeping every quicksilver fashion statement, every scrap of paper, every piece of memorabilia, amassing a deeply personal life-map that accompanies the Centre’s 70,000 photographs, negatives and colour transparencies. So, alongside the rejection letters are fan correspondence that he kept with equal assiduousness.
Writer Craig McLean
Read the full review of The David Bowie Centre
'Very High Frequency' by Hilary Lloyd
Studio Voltaire until 11 January 2026
English artist Hilary Lloyd’s film works defy easy classification. Lloyd likes to channel a mix of mediums and eclectic arrays of inspiration into a new way of seeing, often scattering monitors and screens around a space, forcing the viewer to move through an exhibition differently. At Studio Voltaire, she considers the life and works of playwright, television dramatist and writer Dennis Potter (b 1935–d 1994). Through a series of short films featuring the collaborators, producers and actors who were close to Potter, including Gina Bellman, Alison Steadman, Richard E Grant and Kenith Trodd, Lloyd constructs a theatrical biography of Potter’s life and enduring influence - ultimately begging the question, why Potter?
Writer Hannah Silver
Read the full review of 'Very High Frequency by Hilary Lloyd'
Christopher Wool
Gagosian until 19 December 2025
American artist Christopher Wool presents over fifty works on paper, sculptures, and prints, all rooted in abstraction. Each piece explores expansive artistic techniques varying from working on silkscreen to expressive mark making and overpainting. Wool achieves this by dragging turpentine-soaked rags over the painted surface to efface his images in a haze of gray mist.
'Noémie Goudal And yet it still moves'
Edel Assanti until 19 December 2025
Noémie Goudal, Grand Vide, film, 8min, 2024 © Noémie Goudal.
French visual artist Noémie Goudal looks at ecology and Earth sciences in her latest exhibition at Edel Assanti. Across three rooms of the gallery, her works explore geological time with an artistic twist; interpreted through film, sculpture, photography and performance. The exhibition is timely and poignant, given climate crises happening globally.
Nigerian Modernism
Tate Modern until 10 May 2026
‘Nigerian Modernism’ explores modern art in Nigeria in the mid-20th century and the artists who pioneered the movement. Visitors journey through a story of artistic works which spanned across Zaria, Ibadan, Lagos and Enugu, as well as London, Munich and Paris. The exhibition looks at multidimensional works which unites Nigerian, African and European techniques by artists working before and after the decade of national independence from British colonial rule in 1960.
1880 THAT: Christine Sun Kim and Thomas Mader
Wellcome Collection until 6 April 2026
At the Wellcome Collection creative duo Christine Sun Kim and Thomas Mader have collaborated on their latest exhibition ‘1880 THAT’ which includes film, installation and drawings to explore the communication between signed and spoken languages, and challenge a medical perspective of deafness as something to be cured. The brick motif is a recurring theme in the exhibition symbolising the building blocks of language, as well as the act of throwing bricks as a gesture of protest. The exhibition is a mix of witty design, humour and word play to uncover the complexities of meaning and (mis)understanding.
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Each mundane object tells a story at Pace’s tribute to the everydayIn a group exhibition, ‘Monument to the Unimportant’, artists give the seemingly insignificant – from discarded clothes to weeds in cracks – a longer look
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Discover The Legacy, Hong Kong’s eye-catching new condoThe Legacy, by ACPV Architects Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel, is a striking new condo tower that aims to ‘create a sense of community and solidarity among people’
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In BDSM biker romance ‘Pillion’, clothes become a medium for ‘fantasy and fetishism’Costume designer Grace Snell breaks down the leather-heavy wardrobe for the Alexander Skarsgård-starring Pillion, which traces a dom/sub relationship between a shy parking attendant and a biker
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Each mundane object tells a story at Pace’s tribute to the everyday
In a group exhibition, ‘Monument to the Unimportant’, artists give the seemingly insignificant – from discarded clothes to weeds in cracks – a longer look
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Out of office: The Wallpaper* editors’ picks of the weekThis week, the Wallpaper* team had its finger on the pulse of architecture, interiors and fashion – while also scooping the latest on the Radiohead reunion and London’s buzziest pizza
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Out of office: The Wallpaper* editors’ picks of the weekIt’s been a week of escapism: daydreams of Ghana sparked by lively local projects, glimpses of Tokyo on nostalgic film rolls, and a charming foray into the heart of Christmas as the festive season kicks off in earnest
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Wes Anderson at the Design Museum celebrates an obsessive attention to detail‘Wes Anderson: The Archives’ pays tribute to the American film director’s career – expect props and puppets aplenty in this comprehensive London retrospective
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Meet Eva Helene Pade, the emerging artist redefining figurative paintingPade’s dreamlike figures in a crowd are currently on show at Thaddaeus Ropac London; she tells us about her need ‘to capture movements especially’
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David Shrigley is quite literally asking for money for old rope (£1 million, to be precise)The Turner Prize-nominated artist has filled a London gallery with ten tonnes of discarded rope, priced at £1 million, slyly questioning the arbitrariness of artistic value
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Out of office: The Wallpaper* editors’ picks of the weekThe rain is falling, the nights are closing in, and it’s still a bit too early to get excited for Christmas, but this week, the Wallpaper* team brought warmth to the gloom with cosy interiors, good books, and a Hebridean dram
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A former leprosarium with a traumatic past makes a haunting backdrop for Jaime Welsh's photographsIn 'Convalescent,' an exhibition at Ginny on Frederick in London, Jaime Welsh is drawn to the shores of Lake Geneva and the troubled history of Villa Karma
