GALLERIES
London is home to a number of fantastic galleries. With new and exciting exhibitions opening all the time it is easy to get your fix of culture whilst staying at One Aldwych. Read on for our guide to what's on at London's galleries.
The Courtauld Gallery - Somerset House (2 minute walk)
The Crisis
Commission
14 March 2011 to 22 April 2012
See thought provoking major works from great contemporary artists
reacting to an issue that is sadly becoming ever more prominent in
today's society - homelessness.
World Photo London
27 April to 20 May 2012
Experience a vast collection of international contemporary
photography, spanning subjects such as current affairs, sport,
portraiture, landscape and fashion.
Mondrian || Nicholson: In
Parallel
16 February to 20 May 2012
Get into the '30s swing and discover some of Piet Mondrian and
Ben Nicholson greatest abstract works of art. On 23 February,
29 March and 10 May 2012 the gallery will be
open until 9pm. There will be live music, talks and workshops
to enjoy and, if you arrive in '30s attire before 6pm, you
will get free entry!
Mantegna to Matisse
14 June to 9 September 2012
This exhibition celebrates the art of drawing and offers a unique
opportunity to enjoy masterpieces from great Renaissance artists
such as Mantegna, Leonardo da Vinci, Rembrandt, Cézanne, Van Gogh
and Matisse.
The Delicate Mayhem Gallery (5 minute walk)
An exciting addition to the Covent Garden art scene, The Delicate Mayhem Gallery represents contemporary illustrators and artists working in social-political and architectural themes.
The National Gallery (10 minute walk)
Turner Inspired: In The Light
of Claude
14 March to 5 June 2012
Of all the Old Masters, Turner admired Claude the most, enthusing
about the quality of light in the artist's Italian landscapes. This
exhibition brings together other closely related works by Turner
and Claude.
National Portrait Gallery (10 minute walk)
Lucian Freud
Portraits
9 February to 27 May 2012
Lucian Freud Portraits spans over 70 years of the late artist's
moving, psychologically dramatic paintings, including works that
have never been seen before.
Hayward Gallery (10 minute walk)
David Shringley: Brain
Activity
1 February to 20 May 2012
See a multi-media exhibition that focuses on Glaswegian artist
David Shrigley's signature witty and wry drawings, reflecting the
absurdity of human relationships.
Jeremy Deller: Joy in
People
22 February to 13 May 2012
Jeremy Deller, the hugely influential Turner Prize-winning artist,
presents an overview of his multi-faceted work.
The Unilever Series: Tacita
Dean
11 October 2011 to 9 April 2012
Tacita Dean is a British artist, best known for her use of film,
and will be the next artist to create a commission for Tate
Modern's Turbine Hall as part of the Unilever Series.
Yayoi Kusamahe
9 February to 5 June 2012
Known for her repetitive dot patterns, Japanese contemporary artist
Yayoi Kusama's obsessive 'outsider' art is inspired by voluntarily
living in a psychiatric institution.
Alighiero Boetti
28 February to 27 May 2012
See the works of influential Italian artist Alighiero Boetti, a key
member of the radical 1960s Arte Povera group, including a never
seen before in the UK life-size bronze sculpture of the
artist.
Damien Hirst
4 April to 9 September 2012
Hirst has become one of the most influential artists of his
generation. The exhibition will include iconic sculptures including
The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living
1991, in which he suspended a shark in formaldehyde and . the
two-part installation In and Out of Love, which has not been shown
in its entirety since its creation in 1991.
Edvard Munch: The Modern
Eye
28 June to 14 October 2012
See the works of Norwegian painter Edvard Munch and see how Munch
engaged with the current affairs of the day, and how he was
inspired by scenes he had observed in the street or incidents
reported in the press or on the radio.
Royal Academy of Arts (20 minute walk)
David Hockney RA: A Bigger
Picture
21 January to 9 April 2012
Featuring vivid paintings inspired by the East Yorkshire landscape,
this is the first major exhibition of David Hockney's works.The
exhibition will also include a display of his iPad drawings and a
series of new films which will provide visitors with a spellbinding
visual journey.
Nicholas Hawksmoor: Architect
of the Imagination
4 February to 17 June 2012
This exhibition explores how the striking buildings of the
great English Baroque architect Nicholas Hawksmoor, such as Christ
Church, Spitalfields and St George, Bloomsbury, have sparked the
imaginations of generations of architects, artists and writers.
Chihuly
Until Tue Feb 28 Halcyon Gallery,
Seattle-based artist, Dale Chihuly, is widely regarded as the most
exciting and spectacular artist working in contemporary glass. He
is credited with elevating the medium from the realm of craft to
groundbreaking fine art and this is the opening show for this new
space on Bond Street.
Colour and Line: Turner's
Experiments
Until 30 April 2012
The artworks in this display of Turner's watercolours and prints
will change every six months and will explore his working methods,
techniques and experiments with colour.
Migrations
31 January to 12 August 2012
Explore how migration has shaped British art from 1500 to the
present day with works by Sargent, Mondrian, Epstein, Kauffman and
many more.
Picasso and Modern British
Art
15 February to 15 July 2012
Picasso remains the twentieth century's single most important
artistic figure, a towering genius who changed the face of modern
art. This exhibition explores his extensive legacy and influence on
British art, how this played a role in the acceptance of modern art
in Britain, alongside the fascinating story of Picasso's lifelong
connections to and affection for this country.
Barbican Art Gallery
Bauhaus: Art as
Life
3 May to 12 August 2012
Founded in Germany in 1919, the pioneering and influential Bauhaus
art school, led by Walter Gropius, aimed to bridge the gap between
art and industry by championing the idea of functional and
mass-produced craftsmanship. This exhibition explores all aspects
of its politically turbulent 14-year history.
Fashion
and Textile Museum
Catwalk To Cover: A Front Row Seat
18 November 2011 to 25 February 2012
Through a series of unusual and candid photographs from top catwalk
photographers, this exhibition gives an insight into the often
chaotic world that makes up the apparently glamorous fashion shows
we see on TV and in magazines.
Designing
Women
16 March to 16 June 2012
In the years immediately following World War II a new wave of
industrial and commercial design swept the UK. Beginning with
Lucienne Day's Calyx pattern of 1951, featured at the Festival of
Britain and moving through the 1960s and into the 1970s, this
exhibition will explore a unique British brand of modernism that
influenced the world.
Pop! Culture and Fashion
1955 to 1978
6 July to 27 October 2012
POP! explores the impact of 1950s rock-n-roll music and youth
culture on the fashion of the times. Highlights will include items
from Elton John's personal wardrobe, purple flares worn by
Donovan, the pop-art fashions of Mary Quant as well as
original pieces from Westwood and McLaren's Sex
Whitechapel Gallery
Josiah McElheny: The Past was a
Mirage I'd Left Far Behind
7 September 2011 to 20 July 2012
Sheets of reflective glass are arranged as screens to engage with
groundbreaking experimental abstract films in this unusual
exhibition which sees the transformation of the former Whitechapel
Library into a hall of mirrors.
Our Concierge team are the definitive guide to what's hot in London and would be delighted to give you the inside knowledge on where to go and what to do during your stay. Many of London's galleries are free to enjoy and our Concierge team will be happy to arrange tickets for those events that do require tickets.
Tickets to all galleries, exhibitions, theatre and the opera are subject to availability. However we will always try our best to secure your first choice or to suggest alternatives.
Contact our concierge
Tel: 020 7300 1099
Fax: 020 7300 0525
Email concierge
LONDON TIPS
Indulge your inner foodie with chargrilled gourmet sausages,
delectable pastries and fine leaf teas at The Real Food
Market.
East Piazza, Covent Garden
Every Thursday
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