The best exhibitions this week in London, from Francis Alÿs to Firelei Báez (June 27 to July 4)
With access to hundreds of museums and galleries a tube ride away, we Londoners are spoilt for choice when it comes to a fun day out. But sometimes the capital’s embarrassment of riches means it’s tricky to pick where to go.
Do you disappear into the National Gallery for an afternoon, pop by some of the independent galleries in Marylebone, explore East London’s exciting offerings, or wander around the Tate?
Look no further every week: here’s our pick of five extraordinary exhibitions to see in London right now.
Lorna Robertson
The works of Glasgow-based Lorna Robertson are swirling, dream-like paintings that sit between abstraction and figuration. Here, in her first solo show in London, Robertson presents a new body of work that plays with ideas around memory, the readability of an image, and fantastical narratives.
Alison Jacques, June 28 to August 3; alisonjacques.com
Francis Alÿs: Ricochets
Interdisciplinary Belgian artist Francis Alÿs, still perhaps best known for pushing an ice block through Mexico City in 1997, presents a new immersive exhibition celebrating play. Since 1999 Alÿs has been documenting children across the globe having fun. Now in a series of multi-screen film installations, his first major UK show since 2010, he presents some of his joyful recordings.
Barbican, June 27 to September 1; barbican.org.uk
Al Held: About Space
This survey of paintings from trailblazing American artist Al Held, who died in 2005 aged 76, spans an extraordinary five-decade career. Although varied, the works have a through-line: they tend to be colourful, abstract and used geometric shapes to explore versions of space – depth, illusion and infinity.
White Cube Bermondsey, June 27 to September 1; whitecube.com
Firelei Báez: Sueño de la Madrugada (A Midnight’s Dream)
Dominican Republic-born, New York City-based artist Firelei Báez’s first solo exhibition in the UK is a series of installations, paintings and sculptures which ask questions about ecology, power and resistance. “My works are propositions, meant to create alternate pasts and potential futures, questioning history and culture,” said Báez.
South London Gallery, June 28 to September 8; southlondongallery.org
Serpentine Pavilion: Archipelagic Void
A London tradition, every year a different celebrated architect who has never built a structure in England before, designs the Serpentine’s summer pavilion. And every year, Londoners flock to Hyde Park to hang out in the new space and compare it to previous iterations. This year’s architect is South Korea’s Minsuk Cho with his practice Mass Studies. Together they have made a star-shaped pavilion, which the Standard described as having “a welcome conviction in its architectural noir”.
Hyde Park, to October 27; serpentinegalleries.org
