There’s a very specific kind of high you get from walking into a gallery and seeing something just before it hits the group chat. A painting that feels like a private revolution. An old master that suddenly looks like it belongs on a runway. London’s art scene this April is serving exactly that energy: glossy openings, clever curation, and just enough subversion to keep things interesting. Whether you're brushing up for cocktail conversation or you just want something moody for your Instagram story, here’s what’s worth seeing now. Jonathan Lyndon Chase: Downpour Sadie Coles 8 April - 24 May At Sadie Coles HQ, Jonathan Lyndon Chase presents Downpour, a new body of work in which the umbrella becomes both shield and stage. In these paintings, the umbrella offers refuge to figures caught in rainstorms and cloudbursts, veiling them in moments of transformation. Rain becomes a force of grief and renewal—eroding boundaries between inside and out. The umbrella, a fragment of the domestic, becomes a movable sanctuary, collapsing the distance between personal space and public weather. Lyndon Chase often works within the interior—bedrooms, back alleys, private rooms—spaces that hold both protection and risk. In Downpour, the interior folds outward. Figures peer from behind curtains or gaze past the edges of their safe zones. Some embrace solitude, others lean into shared intimacy. Charged with tension and coded desire, these paintings linger in the soft edge between invitation and withdrawal. Lightning bolts, lush foliage, and swollen raindrops animate their world, where glances are both guarded and giving, and moments of closeness are heightened by their exposure. Lou Zhenggang Almine Rech April 22 — May 24 Lou Zhenggang isn’t exactly a household name in London—yet—but her paintings have long been objects of obsession for collectors from Beijing to Tokyo. Now, she’s stepping into the Western spotlight with Shizen , her debut solo show at Almine Rech, co-curated by Simon de Pury (because of course it is). The title translates roughly to “nature” and “spontaneity,” which is a gentle way of introducing an artist who’s spent decades defiantly doing her own thing, largely off the grid. Born in 1966 in Heilongjiang and trained in classical calligraphy before most of us were learning to tie our shoes, Lou was hailed as a prodigy before she hit her twenties. She moved to Japan, flirted briefly with New York, and then—plot twist—disappeared into near-total seclusion by the sea in Sagami Bay. No social media. No studio visits. Just her, the waves, and an obsessive, poetic evolution into a kind of abstraction that’s difficult to pin down, which is exactly the point. The 21 works in Shizen , all made between 2018 and 2023, thrum with a quiet intensity: ink-swirled gestures and layered washes that feel at once ancient and startlingly modern. There are echoes of calligraphy, of Twombly, of Zao Wou-Ki—but really, it’s all Lou. This is an artist uninterested in trend cycles or institutional approval, and maybe that’s why her paintings are so arresting. They’re meditations on motion and stillness, mastery and unlearning. And if you’re lucky enough to see them in person, you’ll understand why the art world’s most discerning are already paying close attention. Pierre Knop, Fireflies Under Fever Sky Pilar Corrias, Conduit Street 4 April – 10 May Pierre Knop’s first solo outing at Pilar Corrias is not here to be quiet. Fireflies Under Fever Sky , on view through May 10, is part dreamscape, part anxiety spiral—if Claude Lorrain had a meltdown while bingeing Tarkovsky stills, it might look something like this. Knop paints landscapes that feel vaguely familiar, like somewhere you passed through once on holiday or in a half-remembered dream. There are blue-black forests, blood-orange skies, and glowing meadows that look slightly radioactive. And still—it's all quite beautiful, in that weird, disconcerting way. Knop doesn’t so much “paint from life” as he raids the attic of his mind: old travel snaps, slivers of art history, a whiff of 19th-century Romanticism, and yes, maybe a Bonnard moodboard or two. It’s a mash-up that shouldn't work, but it does. And he doesn’t stop at oil paint. Pastel, ink, and pencil muscle in too, giving the surface a kind of fevered texture—as if the canvas itself is a little restless. These aren’t just scenic views; they’re stage sets for something about to happen. Or maybe it already did. There's always the sense that you're arriving a moment too late or catching the tail end of a secret ritual. The tension is the point. Knop plays with nostalgia, but he never lets it land. Instead, he keeps the viewer suspended—somewhere between wonder and unease—which, if you think about it, is kind of the mood of 2025. Wellington’s Dutch Masterpieces Apsley House 2 April – Christmas It turns out the man who defeated Napoleon also had an eye for a perfectly executed genre painting. This spring, Apsley House gives its Piccadilly Drawing Room a significant glow-up, rehanging the Duke of Wellington’s personal trove of Dutch masterpieces—because why not pair battlefield glory with 17th-century domestic interiors? On view from April through Christmas, the exhibition brings together 21 works by the likes of Nicolaes Maes, Pieter de Hooch, and Jan Steen. It’s a strong reminder that Wellington wasn’t just an accomplished general but also a man who knew his Maes from his Metsu. Post-Waterloo, while the rest of Europe recovered, Wellington was busy shopping for art in Paris—via a savvy agent named Chevalier Féréol de Bonnemaison, because even military heroes need a good art dealer. The rehang is more than just pretty pictures in gilt frames. These Dutch paintings—brimming with moral subtext, razor-sharp detail, and a very Instagrammable sense of lighting—offer insight into what Wellington valued off the battlefield: precision, discipline, and maybe the occasional cheeky domestic scene. Curated by Dr. Teresa Posada Kubissa and guided by the research of Dr. Olivia Fryman, the exhibition repositions the Duke not just as a statesman, but as a tastemaker. It’s a rare chance to see the softer (read: subtler, shrewder) side of a national icon—through a painterly lens of eavesdropping maids, egg dances, and musical flirtations. Maeve Gilmore Alison Jacques 21 March – 3 May Maeve Gilmore was once a name that fluttered under the radar of British art history—until recently. Following her first institutional show at Studio Voltaire in 2022, this now-forgotten figure is finally being seen for the artist she truly was, beyond her famous connection to Mervyn Peake. Alison Jacques’s exhibition offers a much-needed deep dive into Gilmore’s work, spanning nearly four decades and showcasing a rich collection of paintings, works on paper, and photographs of the hand-painted murals she created for her Chelsea home. Gilmore’s art is a study in contrasts—joyful moments of childhood play and domesticity teetering against an undercurrent of something darker, more complex. Her depictions of her children’s gymnastic feats and playful games hint at an intimacy both tender and unsettling. Yet, beneath this playful exterior was a woman deeply immersed in the act of balancing motherhood and artistic ambition. Trained in sculpture, her work was influenced by her experiences navigating the rise of fascism in Europe, as well as the avant-garde scenes that would inspire her modernist leanings. Gilmore’s paintings, full of surrealist imagery and emotional depth, capture everyday life—family portraits, still lifes, and domestic scenes—as a direct extension of her own personal world. For her, the act of painting was as much about life as it was about art. As she put it, her “mainspring has always been the heart, not the head,” making her work a beautifully unified blend of the personal and the artistic. A Place for Modernism Pilar Corrias Savile Row Until 10 May The term "modernism" can often feel like a neatly packaged historical chapter, neatly closed and sealed away, but A Place for Modernism at Pilar Corrias dares to upend that narrative. This exhibition brings together five artists from the East Coast—Carrie Moyer, Arlene Shechet, Dan Walsh, Josiah McElheny, and Hasani Sahlehe—who demonstrate that modernism isn’t a dusty relic; it’s an active, ever-evolving conversation, responding to today’s political and aesthetic questions with vitality and urgency. Carrie Moyer’s work opens the door to a reimagined modernism, with pieces like H.M.S. Permafrost (2024) and Spores, Orbs & Flagella (2023) mixing vivid colours and abstraction to explore themes of ecological decline and natural beauty. But it’s not all heavy-handed seriousness. Moyer’s vibrant, glitter-filled approach adds a playful layer to the rigid confines of high modernism, using the language of abstraction to carve out space for queer and female voices. Arlene Shechet’s sculptural works, like There Then Now and Again (2024), bring texture and dynamic form to modernism, fusing the monumental with the intimate. Meanwhile, Dan Walsh’s Release (2023) and Extent (2024) play with the timeless and futuristic, using geometric shapes to invoke both clarity and motion. Josiah McElheny’s Chromatic Modernism (Blue, Yellow, Red) (2008) flips modernism on its head, playing with colour and form to suggest new interpretations. Hasani Sahlehe’s My Paint (2025) takes us into a virtual, ever-evolving space of colour blocks that seem to float, shift, and transform the viewer’s perception of space itself. Together, these artists remind us that modernism is far from over—it's very much alive, speaking to us in contemporary terms, challenging our expectations and offering new ways to experience the world around us. Grayson Perry: Delusions of Grandeur Wallace Collection 28 March – 26 October Grayson Perry’s Delusions of Grandeur is the largest contemporary exhibition ever staged at the Wallace Collection, and it’s nothing short of a brilliant collision of history and modernity. On display from March 28 to October 26, 2025, Perry brings his signature mix of wit and wisdom to the museum’s iconic collection of art, blending his ceramics, tapestries, and works on paper with masterpieces from the past. At the heart of this show are recurring themes that have marked Perry’s career: gender, identity, and the tension between femininity and masculinity, with the sumptuous, delicate femininity of French Rococo art juxtaposed against the robust, unapologetic masculinity of arms and armour. Perry delves into the nature of craftsmanship, inviting viewers to consider the evolution of artistry in an increasingly digital world. His inclusion of outsider artists, like Aloïse Corbaz and Madge Gill, gives the exhibition an unexpected, yet deeply personal, edge. The show culminates in the creation of Shirley Smith, a fictional persona who believes she is the rightful heir to the Wallace Collection’s treasures, exploring art, mental health, and the complicated narratives art often evokes. Delusions of Grandeur is, in many ways, Perry’s meditation on the act of creation itself—a reflection on the tensions between domesticity, authenticity, and the perfectionism that often accompanies collecting. As Perry says, “Creating exhibitions with museums has always been a joy for me,” and Xavier Bray, the Director of the Wallace Collection, notes that this collaboration is a thrilling opportunity to share Perry’s distinct vision with the public. Fiona Banner aka The Vanity Press Frith Street Gallery 21 March–3 May In her latest exhibition, Fiona Banner, aka The Vanity Press, confronts the contradictory forces of language, conflict, and gender. With works in drawing, sculpture, and moving images, she unpacks the word “disarm,” considering the fragile balance between destruction, naivety, and hope. Set against vast, emotional landscapes in her recent films, Banner probes the vulnerability inherent in peace, and the paradox of violence—and where those two forces meet. The exhibition begins with time, the anti-hero (2025), a striking piece featuring a mannequin’s arm inked with the word “DISARM,” which functions as a clock, its singular hour hand quietly marking the passage of time. This simple yet profound piece subtly critiques the glorified stories of heroism and conflict, and draws from the motif of the mannequin arm in Banner’s earlier work DISARM (portrait) (2023). Banner’s fluid approach to language is also seen in Mortal Coil (2025), a publication you can rip off and take away, embodying the instability of words. Her graphite drawings, framed in metal from a Tornado ZE728, further explore language’s capacity to shift and evolve, inviting us to question the ways in which language can both bind and liberate. Much Ado About AI 55 Curtain Street, EC2A 3PT 23–27 April Opening on Shakespeare Day (April 23), Much Ado About AI is a bold fusion of cutting-edge generative AI technology and Shakespeare’s timeless works. Set in the heart of Shoreditch, near the original Curtain Theatre, this immersive exhibition reimagines the Bard’s iconic characters and Elizabethan London through the lens of modern AI. From Romeo and Juliet to A Midsummer Night’s Dream, this visionary experience takes Shakespeare into the future, blending magic and machine intelligence in a way we’ve never seen before. Matthew Maxwell, the award-winning creative director behind the show, brings his experience with GENAI to the stage, treating AI as both muse and co-creator. As Maxwell shares, "Walking to work in Shoreditch, I realised I was retracing Shakespeare’s steps. I wanted to resurrect 15th-century London through the transformative lens of AI." The result is Something Rich and Strange—an ambitious body of work that pushes the boundaries between art, literature, and technology. Maxwell, a graduate of Oxford University and current PhD student at Middlesex, has previously earned accolades such as a Cannes Gold Cyber Lion and a BAFTA nomination. Much Ado About AI runs from April 23 to 27—don’t miss this futuristic twist on a timeless classic. You Make Me Feel Southwark Park Galleries 5 April – 29 June Curated by A—Z (Anne Duffau), You Make Me Feel is a stirring exploration of diaries, self-narratives, and the intimate expressions of identity in a digital age. The exhibition brings together multidisciplinary artists Jeanie Crystal, Zein Majali, and Emily Pope to explore how we document, remember, and perform who we are—ranging from handwritten notes and online posts to music and inner monologues. Presented as “a chunk of emotions” and “a note to your future self,” the show is both deeply personal and powerfully political. The latest iteration of You Make Me Feel includes film works by the artists, along with newly commissioned lightbox prints that enhance the exhibition’s moody, cinematic atmosphere. The works refuse to be pigeonholed, blurring the lines between the personal and the political, while embracing affect as a form of resistance. Originally shown at PAF Olomouc and XY Gallery in the Czech Republic, the show now comes to London in association with the 23rd edition of PAF – Festival of Film Animation and Contemporary Art. Supported by Arts Council England, You Make Me Feel is a bold reminder of the ever-evolving ways we share our inner worlds.