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

Over his seven-decade career, David Hockney was deeply fascinated with art history. He drewinspiration from a wide range...
22/06/2026

Over his seven-decade career, David Hockney was deeply fascinated with art history. He drew
inspiration from a wide range of sources including Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s ‘The Tower of
Babel’ and ancient Chinese scroll paintings.

Here, the artist turned to a closer source: his own abstract screenprint ‘Above and Beyond’
(1993), shown resting on a red and white checkered tablecloth.

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[1-4] David Hockney, ‘Abstraction Resting on a Red and White Checkered Tablecloth’ (detail),
2025. Acrylic on canvas, 91.4 x 121.9 cm © David Hockney. Photo: Prudence Cuming
[5] David Hockney, ‘Above and Beyond’, 1993. Screen print, 62.23 x 85.09 cm. Edition of 68 ©
David Hockney / Gemini G.E.L. Photo: National Gallery of Australia, Canberra

An interrogation of how divorce is rebranded as a luxury lifestyle and self-optimisation project, shaped by race and cla...
21/06/2026

An interrogation of how divorce is rebranded as a luxury lifestyle and self-optimisation project, shaped by race and class.

Read ‘Divorce!’ 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

Serpentine Pavilion 2026: ‘a serpentine’ by LANZAVisit for free until 25 October 2026.
20/06/2026

Serpentine Pavilion 2026: ‘a serpentine’ by LANZA

Visit for free until 25 October 2026.

19/06/2026

Architects Isabel Abascal and Alessandro Arienzo of go on a walk around their Serpentine Pavilion with Artistic Director .

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Official Timepiece

17/06/2026

Cecily Brown () takes us on a tour of her exhibition ‘Picture Making’ in our new film, out now on YouTube!

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Film by and .petrillo

New art in the park has arrived! Experience Jesús Rafael Soto’s interactive artwork ‘Pénétrable BBL Jaune’ outside Serpe...
16/06/2026

New art in the park has arrived! Experience Jesús Rafael Soto’s interactive artwork ‘Pénétrable BBL Jaune’ outside Serpentine South this summer.

The sculpture consists of 4,000 PVC strands suspended from a rectangular steel framework. The tubes create a moiré effect, where its vertical lines flicker when viewed from afar.

Soto, a pioneer of kinetic art, considered the audience an integral part of the work. You’re invited to walk through and push against the yellow tubes, subtly changing the immersive environment through presence and play.

“We exist in the world like fish in water: not detached from matter-energy; INSIDE, not IN FRONT OF; no longer viewers, but participants.” – Jesús Rafael Soto

On view until 25 October 2026.

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‘Pénétrable BBL Jaune’ is made possible by Britannia Financial Group, and special thanks to Art in the Park Lead Supporter, Kenneth C. Griffin and Griffin Catalyst, and Major Supporter, Don Quixote Foundation.

Image: Jesús Rafael Soto, ‘Pénétrable BBL Jaune’ (1999; 2023 Edition). © Jesús Rafael Soto / ADAGP, Paris 2026. Courtesy Atelier Soto, Paris. Photo: George Darrell

With profound sadness, we honour the memory of David Hockney.David Hockney OM CH RA (b. 9 July 1937, Bradford, West York...
12/06/2026

With profound sadness, we honour the memory of David Hockney.

David Hockney OM CH RA (b. 9 July 1937, Bradford, West Yorkshire, UK - d. 11 June 2026, London) is considered one of the most influential and defining figures in contemporary art.

His seven-decade career and prolific oeuvre was characterised by his multi-media approach in image making, an intellectual inquiry into the nature of depiction and perspective, and a sustained commitment to celebrating and portraying the world around him.

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Photo: Jean-Pierre Gonçalves de Lima © David Hockney

Brick by brick! Back in February, LANZA reviewed the test build of the Serpentine Pavilion 2026 at Stage One Creative Se...
11/06/2026

Brick by brick! Back in February, LANZA reviewed the test build of the Serpentine Pavilion 2026 at Stage One Creative Services.

See the final result at Serpentine South until 25 October 2026.

What would an alternative to today’s bureaucratic and pharmaceutical approaches to psychic suffering look like? examines...
10/06/2026

What would an alternative to today’s bureaucratic and pharmaceutical approaches to psychic suffering look like?

examines mid-20th century institutional psychotherapy through the work of François Tosquelles at the Saint-Alban asylum.

Read ‘Sous les Asiles, la Plage’ 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

Now open! Serpentine Pavilion 2026: ‘a serpentine’ by The Mexico City-based studio named their structure after its centr...
06/06/2026

Now open! Serpentine Pavilion 2026: ‘a serpentine’ by

The Mexico City-based studio named their structure after its central feature, a serpentine, or crinkle-crankle, wall. The undulating wall flows across the lawn, leaving an open space to the south and a covered space that curves around the tree canopy to the north.

‘a serpentine’ is the first Pavilion to use brick as its primary material. The medium celebrates the English garden tradition and establishes a conversation with the existing brick façade of the Serpentine South Gallery, which was originally built as a tea pavilion.

Brick columns are spaced rhythmically to form the Pavilion’s permeable walls, and a translucent roof allows light and air to flow through the space. Together, these details soften the boundary between enclosure and openness.

Free entry
Serpentine South
6 June – 25 October 2026

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Special thanks to our Headline Partner for their 12th consecutive year of support
We are thrilled to announce as the Official Timepiece of the Serpentine Pavilion
Major Support is provided by
Technical Advisors
Construction by

Photos:

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

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