Anish Kapoor to debut monumental new installations at Hayward Gallery in 2026
In the summer of 2026, the Hayward Gallery at London’s Southbank Centre will present a major exhibition of Anish Kapoor’s work, marking the artist’s first UK show at the gallery since his landmark retrospective in 1998. Curated by Ralph Rugoff, the exhibition will bring together new and seminal works, transforming the gallery and its terraces into immersive environments that interrogate scale, perception, and materiality. The show forms a key component of the Southbank Centre’s 75th anniversary programme, offering an ambitious survey of Kapoor’s internationally acclaimed practice.
The exhibition will feature a colossal inflated PVC membrane filling a six-metre-high gallery space, a dark mountainous threshold set against a red landscape, and Mount Moriah at the Gate of the Ghetto (2022), hovering just above the gallery floor. Kapoor’s ongoing exploration of perceptual illusions is further expressed through void-like sculptures coated in Vantablack and mirrored steel works on the outdoor terraces.
Mount Moriah at the Gate of the Ghetto 2022 Mixed media 13.8x6.8x3.9 cm Photograph. Attilio Maranzano ©Anish Kapoor. All rights reserved, DACS, 2025.
Recent paintings and sculptural works in silicone, resin, and pigment evoke corporeal forms, confronting the human condition and reflecting on the psychological impact of contemporary imagery. These intense works continue Kapoor’s long-standing engagement with the relationship between the sublime, the abject, and the physical, encouraging reflection on perception, scale, and materiality.
Void Pavilion VI 2018 Wood, concrete, pigment 6x6x12 m Photograph Nobutada Omote. © Anish Kapoor. All rights reserved, DACS, 2025
Ralph Rugoff, Director of the Hayward Gallery, describes the exhibition as “an exhilarating perceptual journey that illuminates the links between the sublime and the abject, the spiritual and the physical.” Kapoor adds that he is “thrilled to return to the Hayward Gallery and contribute to the Southbank Centre’s 75th anniversary.” Tickets will be available to Southbank Centre Members from 12 November 2025 and to the general public on 5 January 2026, with discounted rates offered through the newly launched Southbank Centre Under-30s scheme. A fully illustrated catalogue, including commissioned essays and an interview with the artist, will accompany the exhibition.
Dates: 16 June – 18 October 2026. Location: Hayward Gallery, Southbank Centre, London. Price: from £22. Book now
