Cork Street: a Gallery Week guide
London Gallery Weekend lands in the city from the 5th to 7th June, presenting the world's largest event of its kind, with free access to over 120 contemporary art spaces across the capital. Cork Street, the thoroughfare that helped modern art explode in London in the ‘20s and was the hub of Surrealism in the ‘30s, is at the centre of the maelstrom. Here is our essential guide to the summer shows that are part of the celebrations:
Eileen Agar, Rock 10, 1985. Courtesy Alison Jacques. © Estate of Eileen Agar. Photography Michael Brzezinski
Alison Jacques Gallery
The gallery presents a solo exhibition of the artist Eileen Agar (1899–1991), the trailblazing British-Argentine painter and object-maker who brought a singular, vibrant and playful perspective to the male-dominated Surrealist movement. The show spans several decades of her output, highlighting the artist’s radical approach to materials and her sublimely subverted perspective. The exhibition will run from 5th June to 25th July. 22 Cork Street; alisonjacques.com
Albert Gleizes, Kelly Springfield, c.1915. Photography courtesy of Alon Zakaim Fine Art
Alon Zakaim Fine Art
Turmoil and Triumph: Art Through the War Years explores how the brutal nature of war transformed artistic output from the First World War to the interwar period and the Second World War, tracing how upheaval destabilised artistic tradition while giving rise to new formal and ideological possibilities. The exhibition is on view until 17th July, 27 Cork Street; alonzakaim.com
Lisa Jahovic's The Soap Was Dry, 2025, Archival Pigment Print, (c) The Artist. Courtesy of Flowers Gallery
Flowers Gallery
British multidisciplinary artist Lisa Jahovic’s work is underpinned by an ongoing exploration of anthropomorphism, which shifts between photography, film and sculpture conveying conceptual, often poetic ideas. Soft Interruptions, is her second solo exhibition showcasing output that captures “subtle, absurd disruptions” revealing “the tension, humour and the poetic instability of everyday life”. Jahovic will also be in residence on 6th June (12pm) for an “in conversation with” event with the writer Gem Fletcher. The exhibition continues until 7th June 2026, 21 Cork Street; flowersgallery.com
Saint Peter with his Keys, Germany, or an artist of German extraction circa 1440. Photography courtesy of Sam Fogg
Sam Fogg
Art in the Service of Faith: Masterpieces from the Middle Ages brings together more than 30 masterpieces of medieval art from the fields of painting, sculpture, goldsmith’s work, stained glass and manuscript illumination, created by artisans working between the 12th and 16th centuries. These aesthetic explorations reshaped Europe through a mastery of exquisite artisanal skills. The exhibition is on view from until 10th July 2026, 15D Clifford Street; samfogg.com
Mahesh Baliga, Tailpot palm, 2026. Photography courtesy of Frieze No. 9 Cork Street
Frieze No. 9 Cork Street
Two exhibitions celebrating artistic output from India are showcased at this international gallery hub. A Singular Modernist presented by Vadehra Art Gallery (New Delhi) celebrates the work of A. Ramachandran, one of India’s most distinguished and prolific artists, known for his large-scale, highly colourful figurative paintings, mingling tradition, modernity, myth and reality within an eclectic vision.
Project 88 presents the second exhibition, Treeish, a group show curated by Prajna Desai emerging from Never was a shade, a concurrent exhibition at the gallery’s Mumbai location. The presentation centres on nature featuring works by Claire Baker, Goutam Ghosh, Mahesh Baliga, Neha Choksi, Tejal Shah and Trupti Patel. The exhibitions are on view from 4th June until 4th July, 9 Cork Street; frieze.com/no9-cork-street
Bedtime by Anna Freeman Bentley, 2024. Photography courtesy of Lehmann Maupin
Lehmann Maupin Gallery
Contemporary British painter Anna Freeman Bentley produces expressive and intricately layered depictions of architectural interiors, uniquely transforming empty spaces – from private members' clubs to junk shops and abandoned factories – into rich, psychological environments that speak to human presence, social histories and shifting aesthetic tastes. Further to this exploration, her exhibition Conduits features a suite of new and recent paintings by the artist, which explore the idea of veils and coverings as conduits of meaning. The exhibition is open from 3rd June to 14th August, 9 Cork Street; lehmannmaupin.com
Ravelle Pillay, The Shallows, 2026. Photography courtesy of Goodman Gallery and the Artist
Goodman Gallery
The South African artist Ravelle Pillay uses archival and family research and imagery to inform her figurative works. Her solo exhibition Revisitations features new paintings, in which paint becomes a medium “through which to bridge geographies, timelines and archives, alongside histories of indenture, colonialism, displacement and erasure within the artist’s own family history”. Pillay will be in conversation with the American art historian Dr. Zoé Whitley at the gallery on 6th June (3pm). Her exhibition runs from 4th June to 16th July, 26 Cork Street; goodman-gallery.com
A work which is part of the Forbidden Prayers project by artist Ahmed Umar. Copyright the artist. Courtey Holtermann Fine Art. Photography Phil Macdonald
Holtermann Fine Art
The work of critically acclaimed, multidisciplinary Sudanese-Norwegian contemporary artist and LGBTQ+ activist Ahmed Umar is the subject of the solo exhibition Glowing Phalanges - part of the artist’s ongoing project Forbidden Prayers, a body of work he has been developing since 2018. The exhibition presents a series of sculptural works in glass and mixed media, each held in acrylic casts of the artist’s right hand. It is indicative of Umar’s oeuvre, which spans sculpture, performance, textiles and ceramics, confronting his complex upbringing in Saudi Arabia and Sudan and exploring the intersections of queer identity, faith, spirituality and exile. Umar and the gallery’s founder and director Marianne Holtermann will be in conversation on 5th June. The talk starts at 6pm, with extended opening until 8pm. The exhibition will run from 5 June to 1st August, 30 Cork Street, holtermannfineart.com
Paola Pivi’s exhibition: A girl loved pearls so much she left engineering, strung them off the wall, and made art
MASSIMODECARLO
Paola Pivi’s intriguingly entitled exhibition, A girl loved pearls so much she left engineering, strung them off the wall, and made art, draws on her own experiences: starting with the beginning of the Italian multimedia artist’s career when she trained as a chemical nuclear engineer at the Politecnico di Milano. A number of coincidences led Pivi to pivot to art, when she enrolled at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera. Her scientific mind is now used for alchemy and the creation of surreal, large-scale, playful installations: from neon-feathered polar bears to flipped airplanes. The exhibition is on view until 20th June, 16 Clifford Street; massimodecarlo.com
They Will Not Take My Island II by Eleanor Ekserdjian. Photography courtesy of Messums London
Messums London
Eleanor Ekserdjian is a painter and film artist whose practice marries moving images with the urgent energy and movement of rapid mark-making. We Are Our Mountains is the first solo presentation of her work at the gallery, which explores cultural memory through landscape and examines our shifting ideas of homeland from the perspective of diaspora. The exhibition runs until 27th June, 28 Cork Street; messums.org
"Homme et femme nus" (Nude Man and Woman), painted by Pablo Picasso in 1965. Photography courtesy of Nahmad Projects + Helly Nahmad Gallery
Nahmad Projects + Helly Nahmad Gallery
It all started with a pastry. In 1920, the young Joan Miró (1893-1983) arrived in Paris carrying an ensaimada from Pablo Picasso's (1881-1973) mother in Barcelona. It was an unlikely introduction to one of the great friendships in modern art – one that would last more than 50 years. Tête à tête: Joan Miró & Pablo Picasso presents four works by each artist, celebrating their synergies – and a shared rebellious spirit. The work will be on display from 1st June to 17th July, 2 Cork Street; nahmadprojects.com; hellynahmadgallery.com
Henry Moore (1898-1986) Women Winding Wool, 1948 Signed and dated 'Moore / 48.', lower left Pencil, ink, watercolour, crayon, and coloured chalk on paper 53 x 60.5 cm (21 x 23.75 in). Courtesy Osborne Samuel
Osborne Samuel Gallery
Henry Moore's Women Winding Wool, a mixed-media drawing in pencil, ink, watercolour and wax crayon, depicts two seated female figures winding balls of wool, which was executed by the British sculptor in the aftermath of World War II. It celebrates the timeless, industrious and nurturing spirit of women, and reflects on a post-war societal focus on rebuilding the home and family life. It is one of the works presented in the exhibition Modern British Art, which is on view throughout June. 21 Cork Street; osbornesamuel.com
Jean Dubuffet, Site aléatoire avec 2 personnages 29 mars 1982 (Random Site with 2 Characters, March 29, 1982). Photography courtesy of Waddington Custot
Waddington Custot Gallery
The influential French painter and sculptor Jean Dubuffet (1901–1985) rejected traditional Western standards of beauty and high art, instead championing "Art Brut" celebrating the outlier art of self-taught individuals. Jean Dubuffet: The Last Ten Years, the gallery’s 14th solo exhibition of works by the artist, honours its longstanding relationship with Dubuffet and his Estate, which began when it hosted his first British solo show in 1972. The exhibition will run until 13th June, 11-12 Cork Street; waddingtoncustot.com
Read Again
An Assouline book devoted to the world of the American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat
