London Exhibitions Closing in October

A guide to art exhibitions closing in London in October, helping you find museum shows and gallery exhibitions to see before they finish. Updated monthly.

Showing 16 exhibitions

Like Music in the BloodEnded
Thaddaeus Ropac London

Like Music in the Blood

Ended Oct 1

Mixed MediaTextilesInstallationPaintingSculptureContemporary Art

Eight artists explore the body through omission, displacement and abstraction

Emma ReyesEnded
White Cube Mason's Yard

Emma Reyes

Ended Oct 3

PaintingExpressionism

Solo survey of Colombian self-taught painter Emma Reyes (1919–2003)

Krzysztof Grzybacz: HaruspexEnded
Pace Gallery London

Krzysztof Grzybacz: Haruspex

Ended Oct 3

PaintingContemporary Art

Eight new paintings peel back skin, textile and landscape

NIGO: From Japan with LoveEnded
Design Museum

NIGO: From Japan with Love

Ended Oct 4

CeramicsTextilesDesign

First UK retrospective of NIGO — streetwear pioneer, KENZO director and cultural polymath

Portrait of a City: A Century of American PhotographyEnded
Dulwich Picture Gallery

Portrait of a City: A Century of American Photography

Ended Oct 4

Photography

A century of American urban life through 34 photographers, from Stieglitz and Lange to Arbus and Davidson.

4.3/5 from 3 ratings

"Ultimately, there's a slightly overwhelming quality to this exhibition: the walls are covered in potted biographies, in who's who of US photography, many of them represented by just one or two images. It's telling so many stories at once. But that means that everyone who visits will find something to delight in, as they pull out faces from a crowd of varied, jostling, unsettling perspectives on American life."

TimeOut
Hepworth and Nicholson: The Hampstead Studio PhotographsEnded
Courtauld Gallery

Hepworth and Nicholson: The Hampstead Studio Photographs

Ended Oct 4

PhotographyBarbara Hepworth

Paul Laib’s 1930s photographs of a shared Hampstead studio

Experiencing Together: Daphne Moncrieff Cousins 1946 - 2025Ended
Burgh House

Experiencing Together: Daphne Moncrieff Cousins 1946 - 2025

Ended Oct 4

FreePainting

Four decades of paintings built on colour harmony and tonal subtlety

Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer Portrait Award 2026Ends today
National Portrait Gallery

Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer Portrait Award 2026

Until Oct 7

Painting

44th edition of the UK's most prestigious contemporary portrait painting prize

Peter Beard: The Long Practice of ChangeEnds in 3 days
Contemporary Ceramics

Peter Beard: The Long Practice of Change

Until Oct 10

CeramicsContemporary Art

New porcelain work born from two ceramic residencies in China

Anish KapoorEnds in 11 days
Hayward Gallery

Anish Kapoor

Until Oct 18

InstallationSculptureContemporary ArtAnish Kapoor

Kapoor fills the Hayward Gallery with mirror sculptures, Vantablack works and three new monumental installations

4/5 from 6 ratings

"In an era when art often seems content with small, dry efforts, Kapoor soaks the Hayward in the blood and guts of his unfettered imagination."

The Guardian
Kyotographie: Kawada Kikuji x Iwane AiEnds in 11 days
Japan House London

Kyotographie: Kawada Kikuji x Iwane Ai

Until Oct 18

FreePhotographyContemporary Art

Two generations of Japanese photography, from postwar history to diaspora life

5/5 from 1 rating

"These were revolutionary photographs at the time – and they still feel new in their search to express the inexpressible. The dimly lit, subterranean gallery keeps you cocooned in this elegiac, brooding atmosphere. Kawada is drawn to images that trace the extremities of the Earth, the visible outer edges of our existence – the sky, the horizon, water, burning suns and scorching fires."

The Guardian
FOCUS Asian Contemporary Art: Cultural DialogueComing Soon
Saatchi Gallery

FOCUS Asian Contemporary Art: Cultural Dialogue

Starting Oct 15

Mixed MediaContemporary Art

A global art fair of artists from across Asia and the Asian diaspora

Musquiqui Chihying: A Life of NavigationEnds in 11 days
Hayward Gallery

Musquiqui Chihying: A Life of Navigation

Until Oct 18

FreeVideo & Moving ImageInstallationContemporary Art

Four works of humour and critique on urban life and technology

4/5 from 1 rating

"Across the four works, Chihying's humour keeps some pretty knotty ideas about labour, consumerism and technology from getting bogged down in theory. However, it is a small show. Some would say too small."

TimeOut
Richard Dadd: Beyond Bedlam
Royal Academy

Richard Dadd: Beyond Bedlam

Until Oct 25

Drawing & Works on PaperPainting

Dadd's intricate Victorian fairy paintings made during 42 years in Bethlem and Broadmoor

4.2/5 from 6 ratings · 7 reviews total

"Famously he was a painter of fairies, yet he was far from being away with the fairies"

The Arts Desk
Louis Fratino
David Zwirner London

Louis Fratino

Until Oct 31

Painting

New paintings expanding Fratino's intimate, queer-centered figuration

Daichi Takagi: Suchness
David Zwirner London

Daichi Takagi: Suchness

Until Oct 31

Painting

New paintings blurring figuration and abstraction through everyday motifs.

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