Serpentine Galleries

Serpentine Galleries Art and ideas for a changing world. The Serpentine is one of London’s best-loved galleries for modern and contemporary art. Guide dogs are permitted.
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They attract up to 800,000 visitors in any one year and admission is free. In the grounds of the Galleries is a permanent work by artist and poet Ian Hamilton Finlay, dedicated to the Serpentine’s former Patron Diana, Princess of Wales. The work comprises eight benches, a tree-plaque, and a carved stone circle at the Gallery’s entrance. In September 2013, Serpentine Galleries opened its new space,

the Serpentine North Gallery. This innovative arts venue for the 21st century is housed in the Grade II-listed building formerly known as The Magazine, situated in Kensington Gardens. In 2016 the Serpentine Pavilion programme expanded to include four Summer Houses in a group show of architecture in the built form. The Serpentine, in association with Bloomberg Philanthropies, has also opened the Build Your Own Pavilion Challenge, a competition for 8-14 year olds to design and enter their Pavilion models. For more information http://buildyourownpavilion.serpentinegalleries.org/

Getting here

Serpentine South Gallery
Nearest tube stations: Lancaster Gate, Knightsbridge or South Kensington Main bus routes: 9, 10, 52, 94, 148

Serpentine North Gallery
Nearest tube stations: Lancaster Gate or Marble Arch Main bus routes: 148, 274, 390 94

Group visits
The Serpentine welcomes school, university and community groups to the Galleries on Tuesday through Sunday for self-led visits. All groups must book in advance with the visitor experience team. For further information regarding planning a group visit, please visit our group visits page. Parking for vehicles and bicycles
There is metered car parking in Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park. There is dedicated cycle parking within the grounds of the Serpentine North Gallery. There are Santander Cycles hire stations on West Carriage Drive near the Serpentine North Gallery and on The Ring near the Serpentine South Gallery. Dogs
Dogs are not permitted inside the Serpentine Galleries or The Magazine restaurant. There are several dog rings and a water bowl outside the Serpentine South Gallery for short visits. Accessibility
We have full disability access and facilities. Facilities – toilets/baby changing room
The Serpentine Galleries have full disability access and facilities. There is a baby changing room located at each Gallery. Refreshments
Benugo runs a cafe at the Serpentine Pavilion. There is a selection of teas, coffees, sandwiches and cakes available daily 10am-6pm from June until October. The Magazine restaurant at the Serpentine North Gallery offers visitors a selection of snack items, teas, coffees, cocktails and wine. Opening times vary on a daily basis. For more information visit: https://www.benugo.com/restaurants/magazine

Cecily Brown’s () monoprint ‘Untitled (the 5 senses)’ is a unique work created by applying watercolour crayon onto a woo...
02/06/2026

Cecily Brown’s () monoprint ‘Untitled (the 5 senses)’ is a unique work created by applying watercolour crayon onto a wooden surface then transferring it onto paper to create a mirror image. The resulting print retains the wood grain texture, a clue to the process.

You can find ‘Untitled (the 5 senses)’ in ‘Picture Making’ at Serpentine South until 6 September 2026.

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Images: Cecily Brown, ‘Untitled (the 5 senses)’, 2024. Courtesy of the artist and Two Palms, NY. © Cecily Brown

This portrait of Jack Ransome, the optometrist who makes David Hockney’s glasses, is part of a series of five paintings ...
01/06/2026

This portrait of Jack Ransome, the optometrist who makes David Hockney’s glasses, is part of a series of five paintings that depict those closest to the artist: friends, family and carers.

Hockney painted each sitter in person. The works reveal a deep familiarity with the individuals and an ongoing dialogue between artist and subject.

See the five portraits in ‘A Year in Normandie and Some Other Thoughts about Painting’ at Serpentine North until 23 August 2026.

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[1-4] David Hockney, ‘Jack Ransome Resting on an Orange and White Checkered Tablecloth’ (detail), 2025. Acrylic on canvas, 91.4 x 121.9 cm © David Hockney. Photo: Prudence Cuming
[5] © David Hockney. Photo: Jean-Pierre Gonçalves de Lima

“Put your phone down, look with both eyes.”— David HockneyVisit ‘David Hockney: A Year in Normandie and Some Other Thoug...
31/05/2026

“Put your phone down, look with both eyes.”
— David Hockney

Visit ‘David Hockney: A Year in Normandie and Some Other Thoughts about Painting’ at Serpentine North until 23 August 2026.

An exploration of ‘AI psychosis’ and the increasing prevalence of emotional attachment to Large Language Models.Alex Qui...
28/05/2026

An exploration of ‘AI psychosis’ and the increasing prevalence of emotional attachment to Large Language Models.

Alex Quicho () examines the rise of AGI or ‘Artificial Girl Intelligence’, in which attentive, compliant AI personas meet human needs for devotion.

Read ‘Refinement’ for free on our website or purchase a print copy of Serpentine Reader, Issue 02 from our online shop.

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Visuals by .studio and

21/05/2026

David Hockney has produced five new portraits for his exhibition ‘A Year in Normandie and Some Other Thoughts about Painting’. Hear from Curator at Large Claude Adjil about who the sitters are and what connects the works.

On view at Serpentine North until 23 August 2026.
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Film by and .

Cecily Brown’s () ‘Froggy would a-wooing go’ adapts its title from a nursery rhyme in which a frog goes out on the town ...
20/05/2026

Cecily Brown’s () ‘Froggy would a-wooing go’ adapts its title from a nursery rhyme in which a frog goes out on the town to court a mouse.

References to nursery rhymes and fairy tales run through the artist’s exhibition ‘Picture Making’, touching on her early memories of growing up in the English countryside and her interest in the darker undercurrents of children’s stories.

A tiny figure, whom Brown likens to Thumbelina, appears amongst the brushstrokes at the centre of the painting. Spot her in image four or find her in person at Serpentine South until 6 September 2026.

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Serpentine’s 2026 summer programme is made possible by Kenneth C. Griffin

Images: Cecily Brown, ‘Froggy would a-wooing go’, 2024–25. Photos: Genevieve Hanson. © Cecily Brown

A consideration of every animal-related story in The New York Times over the course of a year, revealing humanity’s tran...
13/05/2026

A consideration of every animal-related story in The New York Times over the course of a year, revealing humanity’s transactional relationship with nature.

Read ‘The Year in Animals’ by for free on our website or purchase a print copy of Serpentine Reader, Issue 02 from our online shop.

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Visuals by .studio

Gozo Yoshimasu has been awarded the inaugural Serpentine x FLAG Art Foundation Prize!Yoshimasu’s distinctive practice co...
12/05/2026

Gozo Yoshimasu has been awarded the inaugural Serpentine x FLAG Art Foundation Prize!

Yoshimasu’s distinctive practice combines poetry with performance, audio recordings, photography and his own moving-image form known as ‘gozoCiné’. He emerged from Tokyo’s interdisciplinary avant-garde in the 1960s.

Written in his characteristic compact scrawl, Yoshimasu’s manuscripts often feature spontaneous applications of mark making, paint, collage elements and fragments from other texts, functioning as both records of an original performance and scores for future interpretation.

He will stage a solo exhibition that debuts at Serpentine North in autumn 2027, followed by a reimagined presentation for The FLAG Art Foundation in New York in spring 2028.

“Upon receiving this great news,” the artist said, “a line from one of my poems came to mind: ‘Although I am a shadow of a passenger on this planet, my soul is always absorbed in play.’”

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[1] Photo: Masashi Asada
[2-3] Gozo Yoshimasu, ‘新怪物君 (New Dear Monster)’, 2022. © Gozo Yoshimasu. Courtesy Take Ninagawa, Tokyo

David Hockney created five still life paintings for his exhibition at Serpentine North. Each work shows an abstract comp...
11/05/2026

David Hockney created five still life paintings for his exhibition at Serpentine North. Each work shows an abstract composition sitting on a gingham tablecloth, embodying the artist’s belief that “everything on a flat surface is an abstraction”.

The five still lifes explore different painting styles. Here, Hockney replicates a squeegee technique: using the edge of a flexible plastic sheet to smear paint across a surface.

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[1] David Hockney: ‘A Year in Normandie and Some Other Thoughts about Painting’, installation view, Serpentine North, 2026 © David Hockney. Photo: George Darrell
[2-5] David Hockney, ‘Abstraction Resting on a Grey and White Checkered Tablecloth’ (detail), 2025. Acrylic on canvas, 36 x 48 in. © David Hockney.

07/05/2026

“When you draw from life, you’re drawing from memory.” – David Hockney

Hear more from the artist and the curators of ‘A Year in Normandie and Some Other Thoughts about Painting’ in our film, out now on YouTube.

See the exhibition at Serpentine North until 23 August 2026. Free to visit.

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Film by and .

Images and video of David Hockney in his studio by Jean-Pierre Gonçalves de Lima. © David Hockney

Address

West Carriage Drive
London
W23XA

Opening Hours

Tuesday 10am - 6pm
Wednesday 10am - 6pm
Thursday 10am - 6pm
Friday 10am - 6pm
Saturday 10am - 6pm
Sunday 10am - 6pm

Telephone

+442074026075

Website

https://linktr.ee/serpentinegalleriesuk

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