Art shows to leave the house for in November 2024

Provocative French-Algerian artist, known for her playful and politically charged explorations of identity and the human body. Nicola L. worked across disciplines, from sculpture to performance, often questioning the boundaries between art and functionality. Her ‘functional sculptures’ invite us to reconsider how art interacts with the body and the everyday. Getting her flowers in a solo exhibition in London, Nicola L. delves into her feminist and countercultural legacy, celebrating an artist who used humour and surrealism to challenge societal norms.

I Am The Last Woman Object runs from 4 October – 29 December 2024 at Camden Art Centre, London, UK

Underground examines the subversive world of underground cinema, exploring avant-garde and countercultural movements that went against the mainstream. Featuring works that question societal conventions and push the boundaries of storytelling, Underground is a melting pot of radical politics, rebellion, and experimental techniques. With films that explore marginalised voices and revolutionary ideas, it’s a celebration of cinema’s power to disrupt.

Underground runs from 13 October 2024 – 5 January 2025 at Eye Filmmuseum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Honouring the creativity, activism, and joy of Black LGBTQIA+ communities in Britain, Making A Rukus, curated by Topher Campbell, showcases archival materials, contemporary artworks, and new commissions that celebrate the work of pioneers in the Black queer community since the 1970s. It’s a vivid reminder of the radical history and ongoing contributions of Black queer creatives to the cultural landscape that are still, in this big age of 2024, often erased or forgotten.

Making a Rukus! runs from 11 October 2024 to 19 January 2025 at Somerset House, London, UK

A deeply intimate exhibition of Rotimi Fani-Kayode’s photographs, exploring themes of race, sexuality, and spirituality, as well as debuting never-before-seen works that speak to Fani-Kayode’s radical vision of Black queer identity. From 1983 until his death in 1989, the artist’s studio in Brixton acted as a sanctuary for Black queer self-expression, where he staged portraits capturing the complexities of desire, longing, and self-expression in a world that often marginalised his and his community’s experiences.

The Studio – Staging Desire runs from 31 October 2024 to 22 March 2025 at Autograph, Rivington Place, London, UK

This group show examines how artists have explored the human body as both a site of vulnerability and power. From painting to video art, the exhibition includes works by iconic figures such as Cindy Sherman and Francis Bacon, all of whom examine the body’s role in personal and political expression.

Vital Signs: Artists and the Body runs from 3 November 2024 to 22 February 2025 at MoMA, NYC, USA

Double Bacon this month, whose work also appears in Vital Signs at MoMA. This solo show brings together some of Francis Bacon’s most haunting portraits, focusing on his lifelong fascination with the human body in states of vulnerability and anguish. Known for his raw and visceral depictions of existential struggle, Bacon’s work still resonates deeply across generations despite his death three decades ago, offering a stark meditation on the fragility and resilience of human life.

Human Presence runs from 10 October 2024 to 19 January 2025 at the National Portrait Gallery, London, UK

1980s Britain was a decade marked by social and political upheaval. A new group show at London’s Tate Britain captures this spirit through the lens of photographers such as Martin Parr and Tish Murtha to explore themes of class, identity and rebellion.

The 80s: Photographing Britain runs 21 November 2024 to May 2025 at Tate Britain, London, UK

An evocative exploration of vulnerability, grief, and mythology, centring on the tragic figure of Marsyas from Greek mythology, who was punished by the god Apollo. Marlene Dumas’ signature expressive style, known for exploring intense emotional states, creates a powerful meditation on suffering and loss.

Mourning Marsyas runs from 20 September 2024 to 16 November 2024 at Frith Street Gallery, London, UK

In full transparency, I’ve co-curated a photography exhibition alongside Daphne Chouliaraki Milner and Jamie Allan Shaw for Thursday’s Child. We also worked with an expert panel, including Gem Fletcher, Delali Ayivi, Richmond Orlando Mensah, and Lillian Wilkie to shortlist the exhibiting photographers, each selected from the Thursday's Child community. Titled Holding Space, the exhibition brings five rising photographers – Ana Flores, Kirk Lisaj, Raajadharshini Kalaivanan, Sophie Stafford, Tirtha Lawati – together to share a constellation of each of their works. Each photographer explores frameworks of support which foster resilience and connection across the world, from Cusco, Peru, to Tamil Nadu, India, and Leeds, UK.

Holding Space runs from 21 November 21 2024 – 16 January 2025 at 1014, London, UK

Having taken home the Camden Art Centre Emerging Artist Prize in 2023 for his plastic-wrapped carriage at Ginny on Frederick’s booth at Frieze last year, Jack O’Brien’s prize, a solo show, has arrived. O’Brien’s works explore rhythmic patterns and linguistic structures, merging themes of music, language, and bodily presence. His sculptures, wrapped in flesh-like membranes, evoke tension and imbrication, creating a strong connection to the body. His use of materials and form also challenges traditional notions of architecture and space, offering a complex interplay of desire, restraint, and physicality in the gallery’s confines.

For The Reward, O’Brien debuts a spatial intervention of two suspended steel staircases – a nod to those seen in south London previous to its mass redevelopment, where O’Brien is based. The staircases are also wrapped in skin-like fabric akin to building hoardings. Paired with a light installation to disrupt the gallery’s spatial dynamics, the installation invites viewers to engage with the work beyond its physical form.

The Reward runs from 4 October – 29 December 2024 at Camden Arts Centre, London, UK

In an exhibition programmed by artist Tai Shani, artist and creative producer A–Z (Anne Duffau), a selection of artists including Ajamu X, Mark Lecker, Rene Matić, Rosie Hastings & Hannah Quinlan, R.I.P Jermain, Sin Wai Kin, and more, pose a ‘joyous celebration’ in tribute to The Horse Hopsital’s radical legacy in subculture, underground movements and DIY culture. The exhibition will also feature a range of artefacts and rare fashion pieces courtesy of the Contemporary Wardrobe Collection.

How To Destroy Angels runs from 8 – 30 November 2024 at The Horse Hospital, London

Forty leading Black women and non-binary artists transforming British art today feature in Conversations, a major exhibition and the first of its kind to be held in a national art gallery in the UK. From sculpture to sound and installation, most of which date from the last ten years, this show aims to give a platform for conversations taking place and questions being raised in contemporary culture and society, particularly in the wake of the violent pogroms in the UK this past summer.

Conversations runs from 19 October 2024 – 9 March 2025 at Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, UK

British artist Lily Bunney’s first solo exhibition, presented in two parts by Guts Gallery and miłość, celebrates friendship, closeness, and mutual support by paying homage to Bunney’s personal relationships. Through pointillist watercolour paintings and gem art, Bunney re-contextualises digital images of girls peeing on cars and scenes of friendship, exploring themes of queer community and tactile intimacy. The exhibition portrays moments from a single night out, blending large-scale key events with smaller works providing context.

Girls Peeing on Cars runs from 25 October – 19 November 2024 at GUTS, London, UK