Hayward Gallery Reveals 2025 Visual Arts Programme

The Hayward Gallery has announced a bold new programme of solo exhibitions for 2025 from some of the most exciting, boundary-pushing and dynamic contemporary artists working today. 

In February 2025, Linder and Mickalene Thomas, two masters of collage redefining the female image, will take over the Hayward Gallery with two landmark survey shows. These will be followed In June by the first UK exhibition to survey the career of renowned artist Yoshitomo Nara, whose iconic paintings and sculptures of solitary figures conjure deeply felt emotional states, ranging from alienation to transcendence. To conclude the year, legendary artists Gilbert & George will present their biggest show at the Hayward Gallery to date focusing on their monumental pictures from this millennium.

Mark Ball, Artistic Director at the Southbank Centre, says: “This year of exhibitions at the Hayward Gallery showcase an extraordinary range of international perspectives alongside beloved icons of British art.  From the legacies of British punk to the influence of Japanese Kawaii the year ahead is united by artists whose work shows a fearless, often deeply political commitment to representation but always with a darkly subversive sense of humour.  It’s a perfect complement to the Southbank Centre's ongoing commitment, as the nation’s engine of creativity, to showcasing new ideas, practices and global voices.”

Ralph Rugoff, Director of the Hayward Gallery, says: “We are delighted to be presenting landmark exhibitions for artists who have continually pushed the boundaries of what a photograph, painting or sculpture can represent. 2025 is going to be one of the Hayward Gallery’s most adventurous and compelling years yet.  As always, our exhibitions reflect Southbank Centre’s commitment to presenting a diverse programme that sparks new thinking and gives audiences a truly unique and enriching artistic experience.”

The UK’s largest contemporary art organisation producing touring exhibitions, Hayward Gallery Touring will also present a dynamic and pioneering range of exhibitions launching and touring across the UK in 2025. Hayward Gallery Touring is the UK’s largest contemporary art organisation producing touring exhibitions, which are seen by up to half a million people in over 45 cities and towns each year.

Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, one of the most important figurative painters working today, will curate an exhibition of works instrumental to how she sees and thinks about the world, uniting significant voices at work today with figures from art history who work across painting, drawing, film and photography. Hayward Gallery Touring will also tour two landmark exhibitions launching in late 2024, namely Paula Rego: Visions of English Literatureand Material Worlds: Contemporary Artists and Textiles.

Two critically-acclaimed exhibitions from Hayward Gallery Touring will continue to tour across the country next year. Acts of Creation: On Art and Motherhood, curated by Hettie Judah, will open at Millennium Gallery, Sheffield, before moving onto Dundee Contemporary Arts next spring. After the End of History: British Working Class Photography 1989 - 2024, curated by Johny Pitts, will be shown at the Bonington Gallery, Nottingham, until later this year before moving onto Stills Gallery, Edinburgh. 

Brian Cass, Senior Curator of Hayward Gallery Touring, says: “Hayward Gallery Touring’s programme for 2025 offers an eclectic and exciting mix of major exhibitions that we hope will inspire audiences all across the UK. In their own way, each of these exhibitions open up new ways of seeing and thinking around art. Featuring pioneering artists who have produced some of the most exciting work of our time, and compelling group exhibitions that challenge traditional narratives and reimagine the world around us, we are excited to present a rich and dynamic programme with our exhibition partners.”

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