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Each month, Plinth curates a selection of London’s must-see exhibitions. Whether you're a dedicated collector or simply curious about free things to do this weekend, our list ensures you won’t miss the best exhibitions London has to offer. Read on to discover where to find the artworks setting The Discourse and reshaping spaces across the capital. From bold gestures and emerging talent to timeless retrospectives, these are the cultural experiences defining London’s art scene right now.
DISARM (portrait), 2023
HD digital film, soundtrack
6.52 mins
Courtesy the artist and Frith Street Gallery, London
© Fiona Banner Studio
Fiona Banner’s new exhibition at Frith Street Gallery ‘started with the word “disarm”,’ she says. ‘I started thinking about the arm – its connection to the body. There’s something sinister but also potentially absurd about that word.’ Read the full interview
FREE: Fiona Banner aka The Vanity Press is at Frith Street Gallery until 3 May. 17–18 Golden Square, London, W1F 9JJ
Peter Hujar, John Flowers (Backstage, Palm Casino Revue), 1974 © 2025 the Peter Hujar Archive / Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY, DACS London, Pace Gallery, NY, Fraenkel Gallery, SF, Maureen Paley, London, and Mai 36 Galerie, Zurich
'Throughout Peter Hujar’s exhibition Eyes Open in the Dark, on view at Raven Row until 6th April 2025, co-curators Gary Schnieder (friend of Hujar), John Douglas Millar (Hujar’s biographer), and Alex Sainsbury (Director of Raven Row) pair images of death — the carcasses of cats, birds and the erosion of Hujar’s own body — with images of life, vitality, joy. From John Flowers laughing on the toilet in devil’s horns and plastic high-heeled mules to Richie Gallo in head-to-toe fishnet, each image is vivid proof that a life was lived.' — Elida Silvey. Read more
FREE. Peter Hujar, Eyes Open in the Dark is at Raven Row until 6 April. Raven Row, 56 Artillery Lane, London E1 7LS
Noah Davis, Single Mother with Father Out of the Picture © The Estate of Noah Davis. Courtesy The Estate of Noah Davis and David Zwirner
'Noah Davis painted like someone who saw the cracks in the world and knew how to catch the light through them. His figurative works are quiet but charged — snapshots of Black life that feel both familiar and surreal, sometimes melancholic, sometimes defiant. This UK-first survey brings together over 50 pieces that capture his restless curiosity, from tender domestic scenes to biting reflections on media and politics. As co-founder of LA’s Underground Museum, Davis wasn’t just making art — he was building spaces for it to live. This show is a reminder of how much he left behind, and how much he pushed forward.' — Sammi Gale
£18. Noah Davis is at the Barbican until 11 May 2025. Barbican Art Gallery, Silk Street, London, EC2Y 8DS
Living Now exhibition at Carpenters Workshop Gallery, London, photography by Benjamin Baccarani, courtesy of Carpenters Workshop Gallery
'Carpenters Workshop Gallery presents Living Now, a group exhibition where the relationship between materials takes centre stage. Martin Laforêt, known for integrating concrete moulds into his designs, exemplifies this approach, balancing rawness and refinement. From OTT seating to Frankenstein ceramics and hulking bronze structures, the exhibition roves to stone circles to bronze cranes, the theatrical running up against the macho industrial. It results in standout moments of high camp: the Verhoeven Twins’ Cinderella Table, with its birch plywood swirls, seems waltzed into form. With works by Rick Owens, Laforêt, and others, Living Now offers a provocative, rebellious snapshot of contemporary design.' — Sammi Gale
FREE Living Now is at Carpenters Workshop Gallery until 3 May. Ladbroke Hall, 79 Barlby Road W10 6AZ
Bea Bonafini
The Empress (Collaboration with EJR Barnes)
Wood, vinyl, chrome plated steel, pastel and mixed carpet inlay; 111 x 82 x 76 cm
Curated by Babe Station, Sorry about the mess is a group exhibition of artists and writers who are also mothers, exploring the evolving relationship between motherhood and making art. Within this context, mess becomes not just an aesthetic but a condition; an obstacle; a form of critique; a mode of play; a process of creation; an act of revolution.
FREE: Sorry about the mess is on view until 30 March at 125 Shaftesbury Avenue, London, WC2H 8AD
Cover image: Noah Davis Installation view Barbican Art Gallery 2025 c Jemima Yong Barbican Art Gallery