After the hectic insanity of October, art’s busiest month, November offers gallery goers a chance to slow down and take things at a more sensible pace. Instead of rushing from gallery to gallery saying ‘no, this is bollocks’ at a 100mph, in November you can be a bit more leisurely, you can really take your time to look at the art before deciding that ‘no, this is bollocks’.
November has some big hitters at some big institutions, like Picasso at the British Museum and almost all of the Ninja Turtles at the RA, as well as some small gems at places like Pace and White Cube. With this breadth of options on offer, not all of it can be bollocks.
Seven London art exhibitions we can’t wait to see in November 2024
‘Picasso: Printmaker’ at the British Museum
In a bid to prove that you absolutely can’t have too much Picasso, the British Museum is putting on London’s umpteenth recent exhibition of the Spanish master’s work. This time, the focus is on Pablo’s prints, and there’s a lot to choose from, because he made over 2,400 prints over the course of his career, taking in everything from the stark misery of the early Blue Period through his cubist experimentation and his later more freeform mark-making. This show will feature his earliest works from 1904 all the way to pieces from his 1968 series of 347 prints called ‘The 347 Suite’, a body of work filled with Pablo’s etchings, drypoint and aquatints ruminating and looking back at his life and legacy.
‘Picasso: Printmaker’ is at the British Museum from Nov 7. More details here.
‘Michelangelo, Leonardo, Raphael’ at the Royal Academy of Art
With their big Autumn exhibition, the Royal Academy’s almost gone full Ninja Turtle. Only Donatello is missing as they take a look at the work of three giants of the Renaissance – Michelangelo, Leonardo and Raphael – and how for a brief time they weren’t just contemporaries, but rivals. Here’s hoping 2025 sees them doing a show about April O’Neil and her impact on the development of early conceptual installation art.
‘Michelangelo, Leonardo, Raphael’ is at the Royal Academy of Art, Nov 9-Feb 16 2025. More details here.
Hank Willis Thomas: ‘Kinship of the Soul’ at Pace Gallery
Hank Willis Thomas has found a way to tell two stories at once. By using ‘retroreflective’ material, normally used for street signs, the American artist can put two images into one canvas. His work here tells dual tales of historical protests and the global fights for liberation, all while exposing lost narratives. He’s become one of America’s most important political artists in recent years, and this will be his biggest show in the UK to date.
Hank Willis Thomas: ‘Kinship of the Soul’ is at Pace Gallery, Nov 20-Dec 21. Free. More details here.
‘The 80s: Photographing Britain’ at Tate Britain
The 1980s was a decade of massive social upheaval around the world, but especially in the UK. It was also an era which coincided with the mass proliferation of personal cameras. That means that photographers were there to capture the chaos. This show explores how long before they were just used for taking pictures of your dinner, cameras were used for artistic exploration and as a tool for social change and political activism.
‘The 80s: Photographing Britain’ is at Tate Britain, Nov 21-May 5 2025. More details here.
Jeff Wall at White Cube
If you’re looking for ultra-cinematic, high-drama, super-detailed photography, Jeff Wall is your guy. The Canadian photographer has been at the forefront of filmic, cinematographic, posed photography for decades now, and this show at White Cube down in Bermondsey will include hits from throughout his career.
Jeff Wall is at White Cube Bermondsey, Nov 22-Jan 12 2025. Free. More details here.
House of Voltaire: ‘Greatest Hits’
It’s not an exhibition, but it is arty: South London art stalwarts Studio Voltaire are reviving their always popular pop up shop again this year, this time at Thomas Dane Gallery in St James’s. If you’ve ever wanted a tea towel by a Turner Prize winner, a conceptual baseball cap or a towel by an expressionist painter, this is the place for you. Big artists doing little gifts, perfect.
House of Voltaire is at Thomas Dane Gallery, Nov 27-Dec 10. Free. More details here.
‘Electric Dreams: Art and Technology Before the Internet’ at Tate Modern
In a post-Photoshop age, it’s hard to imagine how they made digital art before computers were good, cheap and widely available. But make it they did, and the Tate is celebrating those early innovators of optical, kinetic, programmed and digital art. There’ll also be the chance to try out pre-internet tech in each room, so you can what it was like to send memes via fax machine.
‘Electric Dreams: Art and Technology Before the Internet’ is at Tate Modern, Nov 28-Jun 1 2025. £22. More details here.
Want more? Here are the top ten art exhibitions in London.
Stay in the loop: sign up to our free Time Out London newsletter for the best of the city, straight to your inbox.
