Missing London’s Gallery Scene? 8 Virtual Exhibitions To Check Out This Month

Dream Machine, Fluorescent Smogg 

Perhaps the coolest online exhibition around, Fluorescent Smogg showcases Dream Machine, a virtual utopia brought from dystopia. It’s a space where virtual reality is transposed onto your screen. 

Fluorescent Smogg curated the online exhibition as it ‘signals the end of a truly unprecedented year’ and the show hopes to break down the complexities of the year in a ‘metaphysical landscape – and re-examines the fundamental nature of reality and expression in a changing world’. 

Enable the sound and explore the various works on display from a roster of artists who work with 2D and 3D mediums, and demonstrate utopia in a world that feels far from it right now.

Picasso and Paper, Royal Academy of Arts 

We all know Picasso for his obscure surrealist painting, but his work stems further than meets the eye. In the Royal Academy of Arts’ Picasso and Paper exhibition, the works explore how he tore, burnt, cut and even made three-dimensional figures out of paper, so you know a far cry from his ‘Guernica’ masterpiece. 

From printmaking to wallpapering, explore Picasso’s masterpieces in the Royal Academy of Arts’ latest exhibition online in their virtual video tour. The forty-minute tour explores over 300 works spanning Picasso’s 80-year artistic career.

Terry O’Neill’s ‘Every Picture Tells A Story’, Maddox Gallery 

Explore the works of the creative mastermind of the late Terry O’Neill, the legendary British photographer renowned for his work documenting celebs and fashion back in the 1960s. 

Last summer Maddox Gallery showcased some of his finest work, curating a rare and iconic collection illustrating his vibrant career. You can now explore this collection virtually on their website, from shots with David Bowie to Frank Sinatra, Audrey Hepburn to Muhammad Ali. If one takes your fancy, you can enquire too.

Summer Exhibition 2020, Royal Academy of Arts

Royal Academy of Arts’ iconic Summer Exhibition dates back over 250 years.

252 years ago a group of artists set up an annual exhibition to support artists and architects by showcasing art of the moment to the nation, and every year since the Summer Exhibition has run throughout the summer season, except this year.

With lockdown and government regulations in place in summer 2020, the Royal Academy of Arts postponed their annual retrospective, but you can now explore the collection at home virtually, even if it is now out of season. Pop it up on your TV and see new works from Tracey Emin, Rebecca Horn, Julian Schnabel, Anselm Kiefer, Gillian Wearing and Ai Weiwei.

Expect to fall in love with some pieces and utterly hate others, but that’s always been the beauty of art.

Andy Warhol, Tate Modern 

While Tate Modern remains closed, you can still get your pop art fix courtesy of the Andy Warhol online curator’s tour and exhibition.

As you click from piece to piece, you’ll catch works of art that have never been seen before in the UK, and you’ll even  have the chance to peruse 25 creations from his Ladies and Gentlemen series that are being shown for the first time in 30 years!

Your virtual tour will begin with a short interview with the curators of the retrospective, Gregor Muir and Fiontán Moran as they delve deep into his LGBTQI identity, immigration story and recurring themes throughout his work, before finding yourself gliding through 12 rooms of Warhol’s career and life as it unfolds.

Leila Alaoui: Rite of Passage, Somerset House

While Somerset House remains closed, uncover the new online exhibition dedicated to the work of the late French-Moroccan photographer, artist and activist Leila Alaoui. 

Join writer and curator Ekow Eshun as he takes you on a tour of the vast collection exploring Alaoui’s documentation process, from setting up a travelling mobile studio to photograph the people of Morocco, to documenting a community displaced by conflict in a Syrian refugee camp.

Hardeep Sahota: Bhangra Lexicon, YSP

Missing London’s glorious light displays? You can now get your light display fix courtesy of YSP’s virtual exhibition ‘Bhangra Lexicon’ by Hardeep Sahota. 

Explore Hardeep Sohota’s Bhangra Lexicon, the world’s first ‘visual dictionary’ of movements found within this artform. Bhangra is a dance and music form which originates from the farming community in Punjab, executed during the spring harvest festival of Vaisakhi. In this exhibition courtesy of YSP, explore Sohota’s documentation of the over 300 dance movements and gestures from Bhangra and its sub-genres. It’s vibrant, colourful and truly mesmerising.

Paparazzi Dogs, The Royal Exchange 

You can get your culture fix in person on your daily walk thanks to The Royal Exchange’s new outdoor exhibition, Paparazzi Dogs. 

The historic building usually known for its luxury brands celebrates its 450th anniversary this year and to kick off the year-long celebrations is an exhibition of Paparazzi Dogs, a series of sculptures by critically acclaimed contemporary artists Gillie and Marc. 

Installed in front of The Royal Exchange, the Paparazzi Dogs installation has become a huge global phenomenon, with the likes of Snoop Dogg eagerly posing with the ‘Pap Dogs’. The display includes hybrid dogmen, all who wear suits and each armed with a camera in a bronze sculpture. Created to give everyone their ‘15 minutes’ of fame, head down this weekend and take a snap with the famous Dogs. 

It’s the first time the display has been shown in the UK and it will be in place until the end of Summer.