London’s cultural season begins with a sharper focus this September. Major shows include Stan Douglas at Victoria Miro, Dirty Looks at the Barbican, Kerry James Marshall’s landmark survey at the Royal Academy, and Lee Miller’s retrospective at Tate Britain. Alongside these, Cai Guo-Qiang at White Cube and Hugh Hayden at Lisson Gallery expand the city’s international reach, while Queeriosities and new student platforms highlight grassroots energy. Together, they signal a city balancing material honesty, archives, and community-driven curation.

This summer, London’s galleries present three unmissable exhibitions. Alien Shores at White Cube reimagines landscape through surreal, speculative visions. As the earth trembles at Pippy Houldsworth Gallery showcases abstraction as a vessel of resilience. At Beaconsfield, Manifesto for Sustainable Experimentation celebrates 30 years of radical art-making. Together, these shows reveal a city alive with creative inquiry.