Coinciding with London Gallery Weekend 2026, Cork Street Galleries has unveiled a major new public installation by Lubaina Himid, one of Britain’s most influential contemporary artists and this year’s representative for Great Britain at the 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia.
Commissioned by Cork Street Galleries, an initiative of The Pollen Estate, Reading the Label transforms London’s historic gallery district into a site of storytelling, memory and coded communication through dress. The installation forms the 2026 edition of the Cork Street Galleries Banners Commission and opens as visitors flock to the capital for London Gallery Weekend.
The project features a selection of male figures painted by Himid over the past twelve years, displayed on banners throughout Cork Street. Through clothing, gesture and presence, the works explore the unspoken narratives that garments can carry, inviting passers-by to consider how identity, memory and meaning are communicated through what we wear.
Himid’s practice has spent more than four decades examining themes of race, history, feminism, cultural memory and identity. Through painting, installation and storytelling, she has consistently challenged dominant historical narratives while bringing overlooked Black histories and experiences into public view.
For Reading the Label, the artist turns her attention to the language of clothing itself. Located in a street long associated with bespoke tailoring, luxury fashion and contemporary art, the commission creates a dialogue between Cork Street’s commercial heritage and Himid’s ongoing interest in how objects and appearances carry social and cultural meaning.
Lubaina Himid RA CBE said:
“I am absolutely delighted to be invited to be this year’s artist for the Cork Street Galleries Banner Commission. It has given me an opportunity to open up conversations through chance encounters about memory and meaning in connection with the decisions we all make about what we wear.”
The commission arrives during a landmark year for the artist. Alongside the London installation, Himid is representing Great Britain at the Venice Biennale with a major solo exhibition at the British Pavilion, creating a rare opportunity for audiences to experience her work in both Venice and London during the same season.
Cork Street Galleries is also supporting Himid’s Venice presentation as a Supporting Partner of the British Council. The collaboration marks the first time an arts destination has supported the British Pavilion at the Venice Biennale.
Jenny Casebourne, Property Director at The Pollen Estate, said:
“We are truly honoured to welcome Lubaina Himid as the artist for the 2026 Cork Street Galleries Banners Commission. Continuing Cork Street Galleries’ broader advocacy role in the arts, we are thrilled to collaborate with the British Council as a Supporting Partner of The British Pavilion at the 61st edition of La Biennale di Venezia.
“Cork Street Galleries celebrated its centenary as a pioneering centre for the art world in London in 2025. It is a place that has championed the careers of major artists, premiering works by names including Francis Bacon, Lucian Freud and Dame Barbara Hepworth. As we enter a new century for Cork Street, we are delighted to extend this ethos beyond the street itself.”
The installation forms part of a wider programme celebrating Cork Street’s continuing role as one of London’s most important destinations for contemporary art. By bringing Himid’s work into the public realm, Reading the Label extends the street’s gallery experience beyond traditional exhibition spaces and into the everyday life of the city.
Lubaina Himid: Reading the Label, Cork Street Galleries Banners Commission 2026, Cork Street, Mayfair, London
Now open to the public corkstgalleries.com
About the artist
Lubaina Himid CBE RA (b. 1954, Zanzibar) lives and works in Preston, UK and is Emeritus Professor of Contemporary Art at the University of Lancashire. She is the winner of the 2017 Turner Prize, the 2023 Maria Lassnig Prize and the 2024 Suzanne Deal Booth | Flag Art Foundation Prize. Himid was selected to represent Great Britain at the 61st International Art Exhibition at La Biennale di Venezia. On view until November 2026, her exhibition Presenting History: Testing Translation at The British Pavilion explores the nature of belonging and how to make a home in the new place.
Himid has exhibited extensively in the UK and internationally and is represented by Hollybush Gardens, London and Greene Naftali, New York.
Recent solo exhibitions include MUDAM, Luxembourg and Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge, both with Magda Stawarska; UCCA, Beijing (all 2025); Make Do and Mend, The Contemporary Austin, Texas and The FLAG Art Foundation, New York; Barricades, Hollybush Gardens, London; Street Sellers, Greene Naftali, New York (all 2024); Plaited Time/Deep Water, Sharjah Art Foundation, UAE; What Does Love Sound Like?, Glyndebourne, Lewes (both 2023); So Many Dreams, Musée cantonal des Beaux-Arts, Lausanne; Water Has a Perfect Memory, Hollybush Gardens, London; Zanzibar, Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven (all 2022); Lubaina Himid, Tate Modern, London (2021); Spotlights, Tate Britain, London; The Grab Test, Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem; Lubaina Himid, CAPC Bordeaux; Work From Underneath, New Museum, New York (all 2019); Gifts to Kings, MRAC Languedoc Roussillon Midi-Pyrénées, Sérignan; Our Kisses are Petals, BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead (all 2018); The Truth Is Never Watertight, Badischer Kunstverein, Karlsruhe; Navigation Charts, Spike Island, Bristol; and Invisible Strategies, Modern Art Oxford (all 2017).
