London Art | 2027 programme, Kensington Gardens
The Serpentine has announced its 2027 programme, and it’s packed with major solo shows, a new public sculpture and the 26th Serpentine Pavilion. Best of all, it’s all free. Here are five highlights.
1. Pierre Alechinsky at 100 (11 February – 18 April)
The last surviving member of the influential Cobra movement gets his first major UK public solo show in more than six decades, marking his centenary year. Expect over 50 exuberant works, from rarely seen Indian ink drawings to vast paintings, at Serpentine South.
2. A Robin Hood laser labyrinth (19 March – 22 August)
Artist Matt Copson, who co-created the opera Last Days at the Royal Opera House, turns Serpentine North into a theme park-style labyrinth based on Robin Hood, with laser projections, sculpture, animatronics and sound. It sounds like a great one for families and teenagers.
3. Adrian Piper (26 May – 5 September)
The pioneering conceptual artist and philosopher has her first major UK show in over 30 years. Many works invite you to take part, from dancing along with her video Adrian Moves to Berlin to signing a binding contract with yourself in her Golden Lion-winning The Probable Trust Registry.
4. The 26th Serpentine Pavilion and a sculpture in the park
The summer architecture commission returns from 12 June to 31 October, and from spring to autumn Cristina Iglesias’s Mineral Forest in an Irregular Pentagonal Room, an open-air room of textured columns, will stand in Kensington Gardens.
5. Lisa Brice and Gozo Yoshimasu in the autumn
London-based painter Lisa Brice brings bold paintings of women in parks, bars and fight arenas to Serpentine South from 8 October, while radical Japanese poet and artist Gozo Yoshimasu has his first major UK show at Serpentine North from 24 September. And right now, you can still see Justin Caguiat: Change Ringing until 10 January.
Visit
Serpentine South and Serpentine North, Kensington Gardens, London W2
Free
Nearest stations: Lancaster Gate, South Kensington and Knightsbridge