From 19 March, Serpentine North hands over its galleries to Matt Copson for his first major institutional solo show in the UK. An artist and director whose work moves between laser animation, sculpture, opera and film, Copson has built the exhibition around Robin Hood. Inspired by his fascination with theme park rides, it takes the form of a labyrinth, leading visitors through new laser projections, sculpture, animatronics and sound. It is on view until 22 August.
On 26 May, Serpentine South presents I’m This Space, the first major UK exhibition in over thirty years by Adrian Piper, the pioneering conceptual artist and philosopher. Tracing six decades of work across installation, performance, video and drawing, the show invites visitors to take part rather than simply look. Adrian Moves to Berlin leaves room in front of the screen for visitors to dance alongside the artist, while The Probable Trust Registry, which won Piper the Golden Lion at the 2015 Venice Biennale, asks each visitor to sign a binding contract with themselves. It is being staged in the UK for the first time and runs until 5 September.
Architecture and Art in the Park
Summer brings the 26th Serpentine Pavilion, open from 12 June to 31 October. Since Zaha Hadid designed the first structure in 2000, the commission has given many of the world’s most influential architects their first built work in the UK, and in recent years it has become a showcase for emerging talent. Each Pavilion becomes a stage for live events throughout its run.
Close to Serpentine South, Spanish artist Cristina Iglesias will unveil Mineral Forest in an Irregular Pentagonal Room, a major public sculpture on view from spring to autumn. A roofless room of densely textured columns inspired by plant and mineral forms, it has been reconfigured for Kensington Gardens with outer walls that echo the browns and greens of the surrounding trees. It joins a long line of public works shown by Serpentine in The Royal Parks, from Yayoi Kusama to Gerhard Richter.
Into the Autumn
From 24 September, Serpentine North presents Gozo Yoshimasu, one of Japan’s most radical poets and the first recipient of The FLAG Art Foundation Prize. Emerging from Tokyo’s avant garde of the 1960s, Yoshimasu pushes language into performance, painting, photography and film. Highlights include his Kaibutsu-kun (Dear Monster) series of 600 manuscripts made in response to the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. The exhibition, his first major institutional show in both the UK and the US, runs until January 2028 before travelling to New York.
The year closes at Serpentine South with London based painter Lisa Brice, from 8 October to 6 February 2028. Her paintings challenge the way women have been represented in art history, and the exhibition is arranged around four recurring settings, the park, the studio, the bar and the fight arena. New paintings made for Serpentine’s entrance and central gallery continue her exploration of women’s resistance and solidarity.
On View Now
There is plenty to see before the new programme begins. Justin Caguiat’s Change Ringing is at Serpentine South until 10 January, Amar Kanwar’s trilogy of films fills Serpentine North until 31 January, and Giuseppe Penone’s gilded bronze Albero folgorato (Thunderstruck Tree) has been extended on the plinth outside the gallery until 7 March.
With some of the most ambitious exhibitions in London only a stroll away, Serpentine makes a natural companion to an afternoon in Brompton Cross. Pair a visit to the galleries with lunch, a coffee or a browse through the neighbourhood’s boutiques for a day that brings art and style together.
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