Art shows to leave the house for in January 2025

Prem Sahib’s Documents of a Recent Past explores The Backstreet, London’s longest-running gay leather bar, which closed in 2022 after almost four decades. Through photographs and a new audiovisual piece, “Footnotes for Heroes”, Sahib reflects on the bar’s role in shaping queer identities and communities. The exhibition blends image, text, sound, and furniture, exploring notions of belonging, alienation, and absence. Sahib’s “destabilised minimalism” captures the emotional resonance of public and private queer spaces, inviting viewers to reflect on the traces of touch and memory left in these disappearing venues as well as their personal and political significance in our wider world.

Documents of a recent past runs from January 15 – March 23 2025 at Studio Voltaire, London, UK

One of Paul McCarthy’s seminal 90s works, “Tomato Head” (1994), returns to Jeffrey Deitch in January. An unsettling, cartoonish figure that critiques consumerism, innocence, and identity, the artwork plays on the childhood toy “Mr. Potato Head”, with interchangeable facial, body, and genitals that question the malleability of contemporary selfhood, including gender and identity while highlighting the limitations imposed by society at large. At its heart, “Tomato Head” confronts the false promises of the American Dream, offering a cynical view of the choices we actually have – verses what we think we have – while exposing the myth of freedom. Alongside “Tomato Head”, a co-inciding exhibition titled Post Human will share McCarthy’s drawings and sketches behind several of his most significant artworks, from past and present.

Tomato Head runs from December 13, 2024 – February 8, 2025, at Jeffrey Deitch, Los Angeles, USA

This major survey of Jeff Wall’s career spans over 40 works, tracing his evolution from lightboxes to recent black-and-white and colour prints. Known for his meticulous, cinematographic approach, Wall’s ‘near-documentary’ photographs blend fact with fiction, challenging the ever-complex relationship between photography and ‘truth’.

Life in Pictures runs from November 22, 2024 – January 12, 2025 at White Cube Bermondsey, London, UK

Photographer Keiran Perry offers an intimate portrait of a travelling circcus, lensing resilience and community within the UK's northern landscapes. Over two years, Perry immersed himself in their world, creating a body of work which moves beyond documentary photography. Now published as a photobook of over 100 images and a transcript of conversations with Perry, exploring notions of belonging and human connection.

Smoke Filled Mirror runs from January 17 – February 16 2025 at Village Gallery, Manchester, UK

The annual prize celebrates contemporary portraiture featuring works by both emerging and established photographers. Selected from 4,847 image submissions from 50 countries, Steph Wilson took first prize for her portrait “Sonam” from her series on ‘imperfect mothers’, titled Ideal Mother. While second prize went to Adam Ferguson, whose Big Sky series explores globalisation, climate change, and colonial legacy in the Australian outback. Third prize was awarded to Tjitske Sluis for a photograph of her elderly sleeping mother from her series Out of Love, Out of Necessity. Whereas Jesse Navarre Vos was awarded the Photographic Commission for an image from his series I’ll come following you, of his mother, Edith – his biological paternal grandmother who adopted him – in her care facility. This year’s exhibition also unveils new work by Serena Brown, the 2023 commission prize winner.

The Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize runs from November 14 2024 – February 16 2025 at The National Portrait Gallery, London, UK

Renowned for his handmade quilts and installations, Jakkai Sirbutr addresses societal issues in Thailand, exploring marginalised narratives which are often excluded from history. He confronts “contemporary and historical societal issues in Thailand, migration and personal stories of grief and remembrance with works such as “MM20”, made from service industry uniforms collected during the pandemic, and “IDP Story Cloth”, which highlights the plight of Myanmar's displaced ethnic minorities. This exhibition coincides with There’s No Place, his first institutional UK exhibition at The Whitworth.

Jakkai Siributr runs at January 9 – February 8 2025 at Flowers Gallery, London, UK

For five decades, Charlie Phillips OBE has been behind the camera creating a rich legacy by documenting Black London and capturing pivotal moments like the city’s West Indian migration, African-Caribbean funerals, and student protests. This exhibition will celebrate just that – alongside newly rediscovered photos from Italy’s Dolce Vita era – in Phillips’ stomping grounds, West London. 

Past and Present runs from December 19 2024 – January 12 2025 at The Muse Gallery, London, UK

From Afro to bob, locs to cornrows, hair is a powerful expression of identity and culture. Now in its final stretch, the exhibition Grow It, Show It! explores the cultural, historical, and political significance of hair through photography and motion works. Featuring artists such as Rotimi Fani-Kayode, Nakeya Brown, Hoda Afshar, Nan Goldin, Samuel Fosso, Yinka Shonibare CBE RA, Lorna Simpson, Viviane Sassen, and more, the works included span from the 19th century to the present day. 

Grow It, Show It!runs from 13 September 2024 – 12 January 2025 at Museum Folkwang, Essen, Germany

Curated by Sasha Ercole, 11 artists explore the act of ‘staging’ to examine history through its gaps and omissions in Ensemble, using archival excavation to reimagine how we record and assign value to history and which stories are remembered. The title, derived from the word ‘insimul', meaning "together at the same time,” reflects a collective storytelling approach and presents newly commissioned works that blend choreography, oral history, performance, and collage from artists such as Rene Matić, Tristan Pigott, Adam Farah-Saad, and Issy Wood.

Ensemble runs from 18 January 2024 – 4 April 2025⁠ at Perimeter, London, UK

This annual collaboration between galleries is one of my favourite moments in the Art Year. The premise of CONDO is simple: local galleries share or offer their space to international ones, either dividing the space or co-curating a show. January’s edition will see 49 galleries across 22 London spaces, mostly north of the Thames. The preview weekend is Saturday 18 and Sunday 19 January, 12 – 6pm for both days. Get your walking shoes on!

CONDO runs from January 18 – February 15 2025 at various galleries across London, UK

Artist John Divola’s seminal 1970s series Vandalism – which explored photography as a tool for documentation and artistic intervention – will go on show alongside recent works from his Blue with Exceptions series (2019 – 2024). The latter series, captures the physical deterioration of the abandoned George Air Force Base, blending historical decay with AI imagery to raise questions about photography’s role in documenting and reinterpreting reality. A great chance to see Divola’s career trajectory, as well as one of my favourite photography series ever (Vandalism).

The Ghost in the Machine runs from January 9 – February 22 2025 at Yancey Richardson, NYC, USA