Tabish Khan, the @LondonArtCritic, picks his top 5 exhibitions to see in Mayfair at the beginning of this year. If you are looking for more exhibitions, check out his previous top 5.
Surreal Estates: Louis Pohl Koseda at Upsilon Gallery
You could spend hours with these fantastically detailed drawings and not identify every detail, even with the artist-provided handy guides next to each piece. They are gruesome, satirical, and thoughtful drawings that look at the horse cloning lawsuit rocking the polo industry, and a powerful piece casts its eye on greed in the City of London, with personifications of the financial instruments and markets that exist there. Coupled with paintings that depict slices of the drawings, it’s a wildly impressive exhibition. Until 31st January.
Monument to the Unimportant at Pace London
This fun show includes an oversized tie by Claes Oldenburg, Tony Martelli’s weed that appears to be growing out of the wall, Urs Fischer’s cannon that seems to float above a chair, Elmgreen and Dragset’s urinals piped together, a Wayne Thiebaud cake and deli, and a lot more. It’s a humorous, playful exhibition to start the year. Until 14th February, free.
Stacey Gillian Abe: Garden of Blue Whispers at Unit London
These are striking figurative paintings, and up close, you can see the subtle embroidery. She paints in Indigo due to its links to the suppression of the black body through forced labour and exploitation. They are powerful, memorable paintings. Until 31st January, free.
Conor Harrington: Pallium at Ben Brown Fine Arts
Poking fun at the trappings of empire, Irish painter Conor Harrington blurs the elaborate clothing, making it look like the circus it is. Including bunting and ermine cloaks, the works are abstracted to reflect the fading legacy of colonialism that still manifests in power structures today, and those who continue to support it. Until 6th February.
Seriously. at Sprüth Magers London
Seriously.
Sprüth Magers, London
November 21, 2025—January 31, 2026
Thomas Ruff flops over furniture, John Smith creates commentary on old footage of people on a stretch of road, and dozens more works in this show show how photography and film can be used as playful media. It’s a full salon hang with hundreds of works to take in across multiple floors. Until 31st January, free.
All images are copyrighted and provided courtesy of the respective artists and galleries. Pace photo: Damian Griffiths. Spruth Magers photo: Ben Westoby.
