It’s that time of year when major galleries begin to reveal their programming for the year ahead, and 2026 looks set to be a bumper year for art enthusiasts. From a tribute to the 90s, to Catherine Opie’s first UK exhibition and a major career retrospective for Tracey Emin, here are five things not to miss.
Tracey Emin: A Second Life, at the Tate Modern from 26 February – 30 August 2026
Tracey Emin, My Bed 1998. Tate Lentby The Duerchheim Collection 2015
(Image credit: © Tracey Emin)
In spring next year, the Tate Modern will stage Tracey Emin’s largest exhibition yet, uniting iconic installations, paintings and bronzes Emin has created over her 40-year career. Expect over 90 works criss-crossing mediums, from painting to video and textiles, neon and sculpture, all underpinned by Emin’s characteristic honesty. Early works – including the 1995 video work, Why I Never Became A Dancer, where Emin recalls traumatic events which occurred during her teen years in Margate – join Emin’s recent dissection of her experience of cancer, surgery and disability, explored in moving works such as 2024’s bronze sculpture Ascension.
Catherine Opie: To Be Seen at the National Portrait Gallery from 5 March – 31 May 2026
L-R: Chloe, 1993, Divinity Fudge, 1997, by Catherine Opie
(Image credit: Courtesy the artist, Regen Projects, Los Angeles and Thomas Dane Gallery; Divinity Fudge, 1997 © Catherine Opie. Courtesy the artist, Regen Projects, Los Angeles and Thomas Dane Gallery. )
Unbelievably, the upcoming Catherine Opie: To Be Seen will be the artist’s first major museum exhibition in the UK. Uniting Opie’s photographic portraits created over the last 30 years, work is underpinned by her commitment to bringing a visibility to queer communities through the lens of the home and the family.
David Hockney at Serpentine North from 12th March – 23rd August 2026
A Year in Normandie (detail), 2020-2021, composite iPad painting
(Image credit: © David Hockney)
There will be many works shown for the first time in the UK at the Serpentine’s major exhibition next year. Recent works, including his ninety-metre-long frieze inspired by the Bayeaux Tapestry, A Year in Normandy, join his body of work of digital paintings, Sunrise, and the beautiful exploration into the cycles of light, Moon Room.
The 90s at Tate Britain from 1 October – 14 February 2027
Juergen Teller, Young Pink Kate, London 1998
(Image credit: © Juergen Teller, All rights Reserved)
Edward Enniful curates this tribute to a seminal decade. Photographers including Juergen Teller and Corrine Day captured a zeitgeist of music, fashion and culture, taking shape here in the works of definitive designers, including Vivienne Westwood, Alexander McQueen and Hussein Chalayan. Iconic works from artists such as Damien Hirst, Gillian Wearing and Yinka Shonibare bring to life a decade unique for its fresh, fun slant on the avant-garde.
Marilyn Monroe: A Portrait at National Portrait Gallery from 4 June – 6 September 2026
L-R: Marilyn Monroe, by Cecil Beaton, gelatin silver print, 1956, The Only Blonde in the World, 1963, Pauline Boty,
(Image credit: L-R: Marilyn Monroe, by Cecil Beaton, gelatin silver print, 1956, Collection: National Portrait Gallery, The Only Blonde in the World, 1963, Pauline Boty, © The estate of Pauline Boty. Photo: Tate.)
Marilyn Monroe would have been 100 in 2026, and the National Portrait Gallery is marking the occasion with an exhibition devoted to portraits of her. Artists, including Andy Warhol, Pauline Boty and Marlene Dumas, are united here with photographers, from Cecil Beaton to Philippe Halsman and Richard Avedon to George Barris, in celebrating the movie star’s image. Monroe’s own personal effects will be here too, with her books, scripts and clothes all offering an insight into the person behind the photograph.
