Top Gallery and Museum Exhibitions to See in London This May

Tabish Khan, the @LondonArtCritic, picks his top gallery & museum exhibitions to see in London. If you are looking for more exhibitions, check out his previous top 5.

These aren’t mirrors, and that’s not light reflecting off of them. These meticulous paintings make it seem as if they are mirrors reflecting sunlight, but it’s all an illusion. The works have been spaced out across the galleries so they match the sunlight streaming into each room. I’ve seen Ben Hunter’s work many times, and it never ceases to amaze me. Until 27th May.

These photographs have all been manipulated in the darkroom so that some elements are over-exposed, others scratched out and some chemically altered. It’s a delicate process that means even the artist doesn’t know how they’ll pan about. It creates these subtle portraits, domestic scenes and landscapes that fade as if the ghost of an image we may have once recognised. Until 30th May.

I had no idea that Hawai’i and the UK had such a close relationship going back two centuries, that is, until I visited this exhibition. It explains why there’s a Union Jack in the corner of the Hawai’ian flag. Through artefacts, textiles and statues of Gods, this fascinating show tells the story of how a Hawai’ian King and Queen paid a visit to the UK, and how well they were received, though there is an example of published cartoons that leaned into racial caricatures. This exhibition highlights the Indigenous beliefs, culture, and art of Hawai’ians, with many living today identifying as Hawai’ian rather than American. Until 25th May, ticketed.

I’ve always liked James Capper’s claw-like machines, which mix the industrial with a sense of menace. It’s a great idea to pair them with Anthony Caro’s big metal sculptures. It’s so seamless that they could be mistaken for an extension of either’s practice, and the two having met before Caro died gives them extra poignance. Until 23rd May.

This one-room display gives us a chance to see George Stubbs’ companion piece to Whistlejacket, ‘Scrub’, a racehorse whose background is painted in, though this does make it less iconic than his masterpiece in the main collection. I was drawn to his anatomical drawings, which showed how studying dissections and muscles enabled him to depict a rearing horse so accurately. Until 31st May.

All images are copyright of the respective artist and gallery / museum. Grimm photo: Stephen White. Stubbs image copyright of a private collection. Hawai’i image © The Trustees of the British Museum, Photo by MKH.