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Once Upon a Time in London

Jun 12, 2025 - Aug 17, 2025

Once Upon a Time in London is a group exhibition celebrating London, its artists and institutions. Featuring commissioned works from contemporary artists as well as major loans drawing from the rich history, diversity and cultural scene of London.

The exhibition will survey how the city has evolved but remains a constant beating heart of ground- breaking art. Beginning after WWII, featuring violent, psychologically twisted paintings from modern British masters Francis Bacon, Frank Auerbach and Lucian Freud to the golden years of the RCA where America's influence grows internationally, David Hockney paints a vision of Arizona as pop culture arrives on British shores. In more recent times, the exhibition explores London in the 90s. A generation of graduate artists who didn’t ask for permission, hosting exhibitions of cutting edge conceptual art in abandoned shops and London buildings, embodying the punk spirit of the city. Damien Hirst's medicine cabinets turn art into a science experiment, painkillers and antidepressants creating artificial emotional responses, or a portrait from Jenny Saville’s graduation show exploring the female figure from entirely new perspectives. More recently works by Lynette Yiadom Boakye brings a new viewpoint to the figurative painting tradition or even more recently Jade Fadoujitimi brings a new energy to abstract painting.



Once Upon a Time in London is a group exhibition celebrating London, its artists and institutions. Featuring commissioned works from contemporary artists as well as major loans drawing from the rich history, diversity and cultural scene of London.

The exhibition will survey how the city has evolved but remains a constant beating heart of ground- breaking art. Beginning after WWII, featuring violent, psychologically twisted paintings from modern British masters Francis Bacon, Frank Auerbach and Lucian Freud to the golden years of the RCA where America's influence grows internationally, David Hockney paints a vision of Arizona as pop culture arrives on British shores. In more recent times, the exhibition explores London in the 90s. A generation of graduate artists who didn’t ask for permission, hosting exhibitions of cutting edge conceptual art in abandoned shops and London buildings, embodying the punk spirit of the city. Damien Hirst's medicine cabinets turn art into a science experiment, painkillers and antidepressants creating artificial emotional responses, or a portrait from Jenny Saville’s graduation show exploring the female figure from entirely new perspectives. More recently works by Lynette Yiadom Boakye brings a new viewpoint to the figurative painting tradition or even more recently Jade Fadoujitimi brings a new energy to abstract painting.



Contact details

14 Bury Street St. James's - London, UK SW1Y 6AL

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