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Anish Kapoor returns to London with building-wide immersive exhibition

Anish Kapoor poses with art installation at the Hayward Gallery in London, United Kingdom, on June 15, 2026. (AA Photo)
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Anish Kapoor poses with art installation at the Hayward Gallery in London, United Kingdom, on June 15, 2026. (AA Photo)
June 16, 2026 02:04 AM GMT+03:00

Anish Kapoor returns to London’s Hayward Gallery for a major solo exhibition, filling the entire building with immersive works.

According to the Southbank Center, the exhibition marks the artist's return to the venue where he staged his first major United Kingdom survey nearly 30 years ago.

The career-spanning presentation occupies every corner of the architectural space, with installations pressing against walls and floors, and descending directly from the ceilings to alter visitor perception.

Anish Kapoor poses with installation on display at the Hayward Gallery in London, United Kingdom, on June 15, 2026. (AA Photo)
Anish Kapoor poses with installation on display at the Hayward Gallery in London, United Kingdom, on June 15, 2026. (AA Photo)

Illusion, Vantablack, and void

The exhibition highlights several of the signature series that have defined the sculptor's career, who is globally recognized for large-scale public installations such as Sky Mirror and Chicago's Cloud Gate.

Flawless steel mirror sculptures are positioned to warp, distort, and disorient the surrounding space.

The galleries also display mysterious geometric objects coated in Vantablack, a highly specialized nanotechnology and the blackest known material to exist, which absorbs nearly all incident visible light to make three-dimensional objects appear entirely flat.

These pieces sit alongside seemingly depthless void structures designed to create a physical sensation of vertigo for onlookers.

Art installation titled "Mount Moriah at the Gate of the Ghetto" on display at the Hayward Gallery in London, United Kingdom, on June 15, 2026. (AA Photo)
Art installation titled "Mount Moriah at the Gate of the Ghetto" on display at the Hayward Gallery in London, United Kingdom, on June 15, 2026. (AA Photo)

Visceral paintings, monumental red structures

In addition to the historic series, the show introduces recent, highly visceral paintings and sculptures created from silicone, resin, and raw pigments.

These textured works reference the fragility of human existence by evoking images of splayed-open bodies and internal organs.

Several new pieces enhance the exhibition by flipping traditional environmental viewpoints. Among them is a pair of monumental installations finished in the artist's signature deep red palette.

The exhibition serves as a centerpiece for the 75th anniversary celebrations of the Southbank Center, London's prominent riverside cultural complex.

The project is curated by Ralph Rugoff and serves as his final curatorial effort as Director of the Hayward Gallery, concluding a 20-year tenure in the leadership role.

The exhibition runs from June 16 through October 18, 2026.

June 16, 2026 02:04 AM GMT+03:00
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