The UK’s Galleries Are Reopening – Here’s What to See

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Barbican Masculinities exhibition opening dates
Masahisa Fukase, Upper row, from left to right: A, a model; Toshiteru, Sukezo, Masahisa. Middle row, from left to right: Akiko, Mitsue, Hisashi Daikoji. Bottom row, from left to right: Gaku, Kyoko, Kanako, and a memorial portrait of Miyako, 1985© Masahisa Fukase Archives

July and August sees the reopening of a number of Britain’s best galleries. Here, a list to help to plan your summer

The Barbican, London

A London hub for art, design, film and theatre, the Barbican Centre will open on July 13. The Barbican’s art gallery also announced the extension of its exhibition Masculinities: Liberation Through Photography, which brings together works by almost 60 photographers whose work addresses masculinity and its various characteristics and complexities. A Countervailing Theory, a new UK commission by Toyin Ojih Odutola which was supposed to open in March, will now launch in August.

Turner Contemporary, Margate

Margate’s seaside gallery Turner Contemporary will open on July 22. The institution opens with two exhibitions (one of which has not yet been viewed as it was due to launch in April): We Will Walk: Art and Resistance in the American South and Place, Space and Who by Barbara Walker.

Tate

Tate announced that all of its galleries – Modern and Britain in London, and its two outposts in Liverpool and St Ives – will open on July 27. At Tate Modern, the Andy Warhol exhibition has been extended into November; Tate Britain’s Aubrey Beardsley exhibition will now close in September; in St Ives, the gallery’s exhibition on Naum Gabo will run until September; and Tate Liverpool’s Mikhail Karikis show has been extended to November. 

Richard Saltoun Gallery, London

Richard Saltoun Gallery in London is currently open by appointment only. Its current exhibition, entitled Spider, focuses on the German artist Annegret Soltau – her first show at the gallery – who works in photography, performance and collage. 

Hauser & Wirth, Somerset

In the town of Bruton, Hauser & Wirth’s Somerset gallery is open, as are its beautiful gardens – the gallery asks that visitors book timed tickets ahead of arriving. Hauser & Wirth Somerset’s current exhibitions are a collection of 60 landscapes by the legendary photographer Don McCullin entitled The Stillness of Life, all in his signature rich black and white; and an exhibition on Swiss artist Not Vital

The Wallace Collection, London 

Home to myriad artworks in galleries that have long inspired artists and fashion designers alike, the Wallace Collection opens once again on July 15. The Wallace Collection’s latest exhibition, Forgotten Masters: Indian Painting for the East India Company, was due to close in April but has been extended until September.

The Royal Academy, London

The Royal Academy closed just at the tail-end of its mammoth exhibition Picasso & Paper, which gathered 300 pieces by the iconic artist to explore how he worked extensively with paper throughout his decades-long career. The institution will open on July 9, offering a final chance to see Picasso & Paper, which will now run until the beginning of August.

The Photographers’ Gallery, London

Central London’s The Photographers’ Gallery opens on July 14. The Soho gallery announced extended runs for two of its exhibitions: The Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize and Jan Svoboda: Against the Light.

Pace Gallery, London

Pace Gallery is open in London by appointment, and has continued to launch online exhibitions during lockdown. Recent online exhibitions include photography by Peter Hujar, entitled Cruising Utopia, and Loie Hollowell: Going Soft.

BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Arts, Gateshead

In Gateshead, the BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Arts will open on August 13. Forthcoming exhibitions include Pakui Hardware and Abel Rodriguez

Whitechapel Gallery, London

July 14 sees the opening of East London’s Whitechapel Gallery. The gallery has a number of exhibitions running until August and September, including Radical Figures: Painting in the New Millennium, Carlos Bunga: Something Necessary and Useful and The Return of Spirit in Painting

Serpentine Galleries, London

London’s Serpentine Galleries open on August 4, with the exhibition Cao Fei: Blueprints having been extended. From today, the Galleries have also launched an augmented reality experience of the late Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s London Mastaba, the sculpture made from stacked oil barrels which floated on the Serpentine Lake in Hyde Park in 2018. 

Alison Jacques Gallery, London

London’s Alison Jacques Gallery has opened with an exhibition on the renowned photographer Gordon Parks. The exhibition – which is the first of two shows on Parks, the second to open in September – looks at two of Parks’ photo series for Life magazine: Segregation in the South (1956) and Black Muslims (1963). 

Cob Gallery, London

North London’s Cob Gallery will open its doors again on July 16, with the exhibition Of Course You Are, a survey of the Paris-based painter Diane Dal-Pra. The gallery’s recent online exhibition, Paintings On, and With, Paper is also still available to view for a few more days, until July 11.

Hepworth Wakefield

Though its gardens have remained open throughout lockdown, the Hepworth Wakefield has not opened its doors to visitors for four months. The gallery will open on August 1, with its now-extended exhibition Bill Brandt / Henry Moore, which explores the unique working relationship between the photographer and the sculptor via more than 200 works. 

White Cube, London

The Bermondsey and Mason’s Yard outposts of White Cube opened in June with reduced hours and timed booking slots throughout the day. Both exhibitions at the London galleries continue into August: at Bermondsey, Cerith Wyn Evans’ show No realm of thought … No field of vision; and at Mason’s Yard, an exhibition of works by Peter Schuyff.

Simon Lee Gallery, London

Simon Lee Gallery – which recently launched the online group exhibition WORDS – is now open by appointment. Its next London show is due to open in September: an exhibition by Toby Ziegler entitled The sudden longing to collapse 30 years of distance