With temperatures dropping and days drawing in, where better to seek some respite from the cold than in one of the UK art exhibitions happening this November.
We’ve compiled our monthly list of outstanding and unmissable art exhibitions around the UK. Warm yourself up with the great photography, Surrealist masterpieces and the work of pioneering women artists at the best art exhibitions in the UK this November.
Lygia Clark and Sonia Boyce – Whitechapel Gallery, London
On now until 12th January 2025
Sonia Boyce, Exquisite Tension, 2006. © Sonia Boyce
Head to Whitechapel Gallery to check out not one, but two, exhibitions from two incredible female artists. Sonia Boyce is presenting An Awkward Relation in dialogue with experimental Brazilian artist, Lygia Clark’s The I and The You. Both shows explore themes of influence, communication and synergy across generational and international divides.
Each exhibition brings together the artist’s most pivotal works, with both artists exploring the complex relationship that exists between artists and audiences. In line with Clark’s participatory practice, visitors will be encouraged to, ‘engage, touch and experience artworks in their surroundings in new and unscripted ways.’
Hew Locke: What Have We Here - British Museum
On now until 8th February 2025
Hew Locke, The Watchers at the British Museum 2024 . Photograph © Richard Cannon
In his latest exhibition, What Have We Here, Guyanese-British artist, Hew Locke is turning his colourful lens on the British Museum. This ground-breaking new show explores Britain’s Imperial power and our history of colonialism via the objects in the museum’s collection.
Promising a fresh perspective on the museum’s history, Locke’s show sets out to explore, ‘the messy and complex ways that museums are implicated in these histories.’ This bold exhibition is sure to open up overdue discussion around questions of history, ownership and identity.
The 80s Photographing Britain – Tate Britain, London
21st November – 5th May 2025
Paul Trevor – Outside Police Station, Bethnal Green Road, London, 1978. Courtesy of Paul Trevor
The 1980s were one of the most critical decades in the history of the United Kingdom, with these turbulent Thatcher years mired by race uprisings, section 28, the AIDS pandemic, gentrification and the miner’s strike.
The 80s Photographing Britain brings together the work of a diverse community of photographers, collectives and publications, demonstrating how photography was used during this key decade as a powerful tool for social change, political activism and artistic expression.
Forbidden Territories: 100 Years of Surreal Landscapes - Hepworth Wakefield
23rd November – 27th April 2025
René Magritte, La Condition Humaine, 1935. © ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London
If you’ve ever longed to step inside the surreal landscapes of Salvador Dali, or into the dreams of Leonora Carrington then Forbidden Territories is an opportunity that can’t be missed.
Hepworth Wakefield’s latest exhibition celebrates 100 Years of Surrealism with an exploration of the fantastical settings of key Surrealist works. The show brings visitors pivotal works from the names that pioneered the movement back in the 1920s, including Dali, Lee Miller and Max Ernst. The show also incorporates the work of leading contemporary artists still working within the legacy of Surrealism today.
The Jameel Prize 7 – Victoria and Albert Museum, London
On now until 21st April 2025news
Ajlan Gharem, Paradise Has Many Gates - Daytime, 2015, C-type photographic print on dibond (c) Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
Now in its 7th year, the 2024 Jameel Prize is an exceptional showcase of contemporary art and design inspired by Islamic culture, art and ideas. This year’s competition focuses on moving image and digital new media works, including film, video, installations and emerging technologies. Finalists have been selected by an esteemed international panel of artists and designers, and you can catch their pioneering submissions at the V&A until April 2025.
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