RECOMMENDED ART EXHIBITIONS TO SEE IN JUNE
- sixteen online
- Jun 4
- 4 min read
EXHIBITIONS | RECOMMENDED
LEEDS, LONDON, BIRMINGHAM
This month we have a diverse set of recommendations to fill all your art-loving, inspiration-searching needs, around the country. Catch breathtaking figurative works, historical favourites, fresh faces and contemporary craft, and don't forget to let us know what you think!
Here's our "editors pick" of four recommended art exhibitions to see this June.
16 MAY -- 5 OCTOBER
TO IMPROVISE A MOUNTAIN -- LEEDS ART GALLERY, LEEDS
If the stunningly evocative title or the work and curation by one of Britain's most renowned contemporary artists isn't enough to get you excited/wishing you lived in Leeds, then the list of featured artists here should. And if none of it does? Well, maybe stop reading and make a cup of tea or something.
This exhibition, developed by Lynette Yiadom-Boakye in collaboration with Hayward Gallery Touring, explores Yiadom-Boakye's creative process by bringing her work into conversation with an eclectic range of historical and contemporary artists. Known for her beautiful, enigmatic figurative paintings, here her characters create dialogues with works in different genres, mediums, styles and decades; speaking to the similarities, differences and inspirations between creative practices.
With works by the likes of Pierre Bonnard (I did say he's everywhere), Toyin Ojih Odutola(!), Jennifer Packer, Édouard Vuillard, David Wojnarowicz and more, the cross-pollination of ideas and processes will create an experience to get the mind fizzing, and if that's not your thing, just think of the beauty, and the talent on offer to immerse yourself in.
If you're not lucky enough to be in/around/able to get to Leeds for this, the beautiful thing about Hayward Gallery Touring is, well, it's touring. So you can have another two opportunities to catch it, at MK Gallery (Milton Keynes) or Nottingham Castle Museum & Art Gallery. Find all the info below.
2025
TATE MODERN TURNS 25 -- TATE MODERN, LONDON
Beginning in May, Tate is celebrating 25 years of the Tate Modern. I will say, right off the bat, this is a cheat, this is not an exhibition recommendation in the traditional sense, but it is a highlight of some wonderful things that Tate has put on show to mark this milestone - all for free (you should know by now, my favourite kind of exceptional art)
To mark this anniversary, some of the most iconic works from the Modern's history will return to the space to sit alongside their recent additions. Here's a little run-down of some personal standouts:
Maman - There's no fear of missing this one, the colossal beauty, the icon herself, Louise Bourgeois's formidable sculpture, will return to stalk the Turbine Hall. Created by the late French-American artist as an exploration of the "ambiguities of motherhood", she was commissioned for the gallery's opening in 2000 and will now reside back it's original home until August.
Seagram Murals - Rothko's wayward commission pieces have been on display in Tate St Ives and now return to delight/mesmerise/depress/induce tears in visitors at the Modern once again.
Eine Kleine Nachtmusik - This Dorothea Tanning work is personally just a piece I am excited to see in real life. On display at the retrospective exhibition of the artists work back in 2019 - this was pre-pandemic, different life - it's lovely to have the chance to see this work back on display. If, like me, you're a fan, the very good Tate artwork information can be found here, or if you're interested in bite-sized video learning, the sometimes-excellent Great Art Explained YouTube channel has this episode on the artist.
There's plenty more to re-discover, and some great highlighted works across their website if you can't get there in person but fancy some art history reading.
10 JUNE -- 19 OCTOBER
RACHEL JONES: GATED CANYONS -- DULWICH PICTURE GALLERY, LONDON
Gated Canyons from Rachel Jones marks the first contemporary solo show in the Dulwich Picture Gallery's main exhibition space, and is a highly anticipated exhibition from the young artist.
Known for her large-scale, bold coloured, delicious-marked, decisively intimate abstract works, Jones explores the spaces between feelings, experiences and environments in a playful, frenetic way that just screams for the pieces to be experienced up close, in real life. Playing in her signature oil stick and oil pastel, she creates larger-than-life pieces with recurring motifs of mouths and expressions, pushing these new works into exciting areas with colour and gesture.
There's not much to say about this exhibition that isn't just said better in the artist's own words, so check out this video here.
before running excitedly along and booking some tickets below.
25 JUNE -- 7 SEPTEMBER
THREAD THE LOOM -- IKON, BIRMINGHAM
Another exciting group exhibition at Ikon in Birmingham begins this month, this one celebrating the art of weaving. This exhibition positions the loom as a metaphor for community, storytelling and intergenerational knowledge, threading the motif of the carrier bag through the pieces as a vessel for journeying story and history to be held and carried.
Featuring works by contemporary textile artists Raisa Kabir, Alis Oldfield, Bharti Parmar, Dinah Prentice and Su Richardson alongside works created in the space through a series of "micro-residencies". These residencies see Five West Midland weavers and International artist Seulgi Lee create works on an AVL Studio Dobby Loom to be exhibited as they are made. Visitors can observe and engage with the traditional and contemporary craft practices as the artists exchange ideas, materials and connections.
For more information about the artists, the weavers and when to catch the show, visit the site on the link below.
That's our recommended exhibitions for this June, but we'd love to hear your thoughts, so drop us a message if you see any of the shows, and let us know what you think. Or tell us about something you recommend - we always love to share!
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