London Gallery Weekend 2026: 10 must-see shows

London hosts hundreds of world-class galleries and thousands of exhibitions, yet high rents and a difficult economy have forced many spaces to close — the Tiwani Contemporary recently announced it will shut. Even so, London Gallery Weekend, now in its sixth year, brings the city's biggest and brightest galleries together for a free, citywide programme of talks, performances, poetry and late openings.

The events are spread across the city, covering everything from South American photography to German conceptualism, and taking place in grand, spa-like galleries as well as tiny experimental project spaces. Visitors can follow routes devised by cultural figures such as Kelly Lee Owens and Erdem Moralıoğlu to help navigate the dozens of participating shows.

Highlights include Hauser & Wirth’s mini-retrospective of Francis Picabia, which tracks his movement from landscapes to later abstractions, and Anne Imhof’s gothic, body-focused work at Sprüth Magers, featuring scratchy paintings, a morose film and an installation of crowd barriers.

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