David Hockney exhibition to open at Serpentine North Gallery in 2026

A major exhibition of recent works by David Hockney is set to open at Serpentine North Gallery in March 2026. This will be the artist’s first show at the Serpentine. The exhibition will feature several seminal works being shown in the UK for the first time, including the celebrated Moon Room, which reflects Hockney’s lifelong fascination with light and the passage of time. Serpentine’s CEO Bettina Korek and Artistic Director Hans Ulrich Obrist described the exhibition as a “landmark cultural moment” in the gallery’s Spring/Summer season.

David Hockney, London, 2023 © David Hockney Photo Credit: Jean-Pierre Gonçalves de Lima

Much of the work was created during the 2020 lockdown, when Hockney produced over a hundred images on his iPad in just a few weeks. He captured the subtle changes of light and weather across the seasons, using a vivid palette and compositions that combine bold colour with playful, pop-like touches. The exhibition will also feature digital paintings from his Sunriseseries and A Year in Normandy, a ninety-metre-long frieze inspired by the Bayeux Tapestry, documenting the changing seasons at his former Normandy studio. Through these works, Hockney continues to explore how technology and art can combine to capture the beauty of everyday life.

Born in Bradford in 1937, Hockney has been at the forefront of the international art world for more than six decades. Over his prolific career, he has worked across painting, drawing, photography, printmaking, opera set design, and digital media, continually experimenting while remaining fundamentally a figurative artist. His iconic works include 1960s Los Angeles swimming pool paintings, experimental photographic collages of the 1980s, and recent iPad drawings. He has consistently sought to challenge artistic conventions and explore new ways of seeing, celebrating the everyday world around him.

A Year in Normandie (detail), 2020-2021, composite iPad painting © David Hockney

Hockney’s exhibition will be part of a broader programme of major presentations at Serpentine. Other exhibitions still to open in 2025 include Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley on 29 September and Peter Doig on 10 October. These events, alongside Hockney’s show in 2026, demonstrate Serpentine’s continued commitment to showcasing both contemporary pioneers and emerging voices, offering audiences an engaging, year-round programme of innovative art.

Date: 12 March – 23 August 2026. Location: Serpentine North Gallery, West Carriage Drive, London, W2 2AR. Price: Free. serpentinegalleries.org