- HOME
- CULTURE
London’s Best Immersive Exhibitions To Book Now
From dazzling light shows to historical VR experiences
By | 1 week ago
Galleries are constantly innovating and finding exciting new ways to showcase art. While there will always be a place for the traditional art gallery, many modern-day shows benefit from other elements too, such as video and live performance. Over the past couple of years, we’ve seen an influx of immersive exhibitions, offering a new chance to engage with art – and perhaps attract new audiences, too. Here are the ones worth visiting.
The Best Immersive Exhibitions In London To Book Now
Illusionaries
Where? Crossrail Place, Canary Wharf, London E14 5AR
Canary Wharf is home to London’s latest permanent experiential art hub, Illusionaries. On until 24 September is Memories of a Dead Poet, in which artist Arash Irandoust takes visitors on a 40 minute audio-visual art journey about the human lifecycle, spread across three galleries. Playing with art and illusion, expect themes of memory, greed and jealousy.
BOOK illusionaries.com
David Hockney: Bigger & Closer (not smaller & further away)
Where? Lightroom (12 Lewis Cubitt Square, London N1C 4DY)
When? Until 3 December 2023
David Hockney’s new immersive exhibition at King’s Cross’ Lightroom venue utilizes the growth of immersive art. But, imagined and curated by the man himself, the experience is enhanced by input from the artist’s own brain – in contrast to, for example, the plethora of Van Gogh immersive exhibitions that the artist played no part in.
Check out Ed Vaizey’s full review here
BOOK lightroom.uk
Image: Installation of David Hockney’s Gregory Swimming Los Angeles March 31st 1982, Composite polaroid, © David Hockney
Turn It Up: The Power Of Music
Where? Science Museum
When? 19 October 2023–6 May 2024
Perfect for little ones, explore the power of music – how it moves us to create, perform, move and share – at the Science Museum’s new immersive exhibition. Featuring a music playground, you can play with beat, melody, harmonies, and even bust a move in the name of science. Meanwhile, learn all about improbable instruments and firsthand memories of chart-topping artists.
BOOK sciencemuseum.org.uk
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum Group
Outernet London
Where? Charing Cross Road, London WC2H 8LH
If you’re looking for a free immersive art exhibition, look no further than London’s new landmark cultural space, Outernet. With a rotating roster of art shown throughout the day – from mindfulness experience ‘Room To Breathe’ to interactive art driven by the movement of its viewers – this open-air digital exhibition space is situated just outside Tottenham Court Road Station; you can’t miss it.
If eco exhibitions are your thing, don’t miss Continuity Flaws: The Loophole by Brazilian immersive artist, Gabriel Massan (30 July–17 September 2023).
Read all about Continuity Flaws here
BOOK outernetglobal.com
Pictured: The Summer Palace.
Frameless
Where? 6 Marble Arch, London W1H 7AP
A new permanent immersive art exhibition space has opened in Marble Arch Place: Frameless. Drawing together over 40 artworks across four galleries, expect new interpretations of recognisable and timeless classics stretched across vast spaces and around bends, accompanied by a bespoke soundtrack.
Plus, Frameless also hosts an artist in residence; digital artist and illustrator, Lewis Osborne is September’s. Witness his uncanny characters interacting with surreal, geometric environments from 2 September–12 October 2023, accompanied by music by Berlin-based electronic artists, ASA 808.
Read our full review of Frameless here
BOOK: Adult tickets from £25, and child tickets from £15, with free admission for children under 5 years old. Frameless Lates tickets are £15 per person. frameless.com
Image © Chris Orange
Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirror Rooms
Where? Tate Modern (Bankside, London SE1 9TG)
When? Until 28 April 2024
Still not managed to get your hands on a ticket for Yayoi Kusama’s Instagram-famous Infinity Mirror Rooms? Fear not: you have until next June to secure a booking, and more tickets are being released in the new year. The much-awaited exhibition arrived at Tate Modern this May after being postponed from its original date last year, complete with two spectacular installations. The first is Infinity Mirrored Room – Filled With The Brilliance of Life, a room featuring a walkway of mirrored tiles, with hundreds of small LED lights hanging from the ceiling. This sits alongside Chandelier of Grief, the centrepiece of which is a rotating chandelier of Swarovski crystal. Both work together to give viewers the experience of being in a seemingly endless space of reflections.
BOOK tate.org.uk
Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience
Where? The Old Truman Brewery, 106 Commercial Street, London E1 6LZ
Fancy stepping inside some of the world’s most famous art works? Now’s your chance: Van Gogh is being brought to life in an all-consuming show at The Old Truman Brewery. Immerse yourself in more than 300 of his sketches, drawings and paintings through floor-to-ceiling digital projections, made possible by special video mapping technology. In a separate gallery, visitors can embark on a 10-minute VR experience which takes you through a day in the life of the artist, with insight into the inspiration behind some of his most acclaimed works including Bedroom at Arles and Starry Night Over The Rhone River.
BOOK: vangoghexpo.com
Dopamine Land
Where? 79-85 Old Brompton Road, London SW7 3LD
Calling all ASMR lovers, immersive experience fanatics or just those who fancy a boost of serotonin – South Ken’s newest immersive installation promises is the brainchild of Fever, and aims to boost those essential dopamine levels. Guests will enter on a multisensory journey through a collection of differently themed rooms, each intended to overload the senses, often through nostalgic nudges. You can embrace your inner child in the video-game style room, be transported to a festival with the woodland-style room lit with glowing lanterns or lose yourself in the Yayoi Kausama-inspired room with its hanging multicoloured-lights and mirrors. Each room will tantalise the senses and absorb the mind – the volume’s turned up high, the smells are evocative, and the decor is dazzling. End your journey in the rainbow-coloured warehouse-style bar at the end and finish off with one of their special and delicious bubble-tea cocktails.
Main image: Installation of David Hockney’s Gregory Swimming Los Angeles March 31st 1982, Composite polaroid © David Hockney
