The best things to do in London this April
Be full of the joys of spring in London this April with emotive exhibitions, rooftop restaurants and buzzy new openings
Spring is in full flight in London, as the city’s outdoor dining spaces begin to flourish – including the reopening of The Standard’s rooftop bar and the Forza Taps terrace at the National Theatre – and cherry blossom trees can be found from Kew Gardens to Regents Park.
April brings the Easter bank holiday weekend and the London Marathon. For something quieter, there are myriad exhibitions to peruse across the capital’s galleries and refuel at one of London’s leading restaurants or wine bars when you’re done.
The best exhibitions in London
Dissonant Beauty at Rejina Pyo, Soho
When: Until 31 April 2025
Location: 37 Upper James Street, Soho, London W1F
Price: Free
Fashion designer Rejina Pyo has partnered with art collective Wondering People to present an exhibition of seven multidisciplinary artists at her Soho boutique. Paintings, textiles, ceramics and glassware come together within the space and mirror Pyo’s own quiet nonconformity. Highlights include figurative works by Katy Papineau and sinuous vases by Justine Menard, who explores glass as an artistic expression.
Nora Turato: pool7 at the Institute of Contemporary Arts
When: Until June 8, 2025
Location: The Mall, London SW1Y 5AH
Price: 6 GBP
Croatia-born, Amsterdam-based artist Nora Turato unveils her first UK solo exhibition at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) on The Mall. Coined pool7, the newly commissioned work spans performance, graphic design, video, sound and the written word. The work ‘investigates our collective relationship to language, exposing the ideologies, failures and pleasures that characterise communication today.’ Perched on the edge of St James’s Park, a spring stroll beckons once you’ve finished at the exhibition (by way of the tempting ICA gallery bookstore).
Grayson Perry: Delusions of Grandeur at the Wallace Collection
When: Until 26 October 2025
Location: Hertford House, Manchester Square, London W1U 3BN
Price: 15 GBP
The Wallace Collection in Marylebone is noted for its ornamental Rococo grandeur and collections of 18th century French paintings, furniture and armour. This month, Turner prize-winning artist and ceramicist Grayson Perry wonderfully disrupts the peace with an exuberant exhibition, which is the largest contemporary showcase to ever grace the gallery. It focuses on a fictional character created by Perry called Shirley Smith and includes 40 new works spanning tapestry, collage and ceramics. The exhibit explores the notion of craft-making and society’s drive for perfectionism.
José Maria Velasco: A View of Mexico at the National Gallery
When: Until 17 August
Location: Trafalgar Square, London WC2N 5DN
Price: 12 GBP
Be transported to Mexico this month at the National Gallery. The first UK exhibition of 19th-century artist José María Velasco showcases the country’s rugged terrain, local flora, towering cacti and sweeping panoramic views of the Valley of Mexico, where Mexico City stands today. Velasco was keenly aware of his country’s industrialisation and his landscape paintings capture burgeoning train lines and factories, alongside detailed studies of plants. After you visit, beeline for one of Soho’s best restaurants.
Leigh Bowery! at Tate Modern
When: Until 31 August 2025
Location: Bankside, London SE1 9TG
Price: 18 GBP
A new exhibition at Tate Modern charts the life of legendary multi-hyphenate Leigh Bowery, from his emergence as a club kid in the 1980s to his work as a performer, model, artist and personality. His avant-garde and often outrageous costumes are on display, alongside interactive visuals and personal ephemera including homemade glittered gimp masks and illustrated postcards. The exhibition explores the impact that Bowery and the New Romantics had on the cultural landscape in London and beyond. It highlights Bowery’s collaborators, including his wife and companion Nicola Rainbird, fashion photographer Fergus Greer and artist Lucian Freud. A panel discussion on 16 April brings together three of his closest friends: DJ Princess Julia, choreographer Les Child (aka Leslie Bryant), and biographer Sue Tilley.
The Face Magazine: Culture Shift at National Portrait Gallery
When: Until 18 May 2025
Location: St. Martin’s Place, London WC2H 0HE
Price: 23 GBP
National Portrait Gallery is celebrating the legacy of The Face, the British ‘style bible’ that ran from 1980 to 2004. The magazine became a cultural phenomenon during the 1980s, thanks to its impactful photography and firm finger on the pulse of what was cool and influential in Britain. Iconic magazine covers are on display, including a young Kate Moss photographed by Corinne Day and Kurt Cobain smoking a cigarette while wearing a dress, shot by David Sims, as well as photographic contributions from Glen Luchford, David LaChapelle and Juergen Teller. It is the first time these images have been brought together in an exhibition and together they tell the story of youth culture in London during the magazine’s reign.
Linder: Danger Came Smiling at Hayward Gallery
When: Until 5 May 2025
Location: Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London, SE1 8XX
Price: 19 GBP
Danger Came Smiling is the first London retrospective from esteemed British artist, musician and designer Linder Sterling. The exhibit delves into 50 years of the artist’s pioneering work, comprising provocative photomontages and daring performance art that explores radical feminist ideas. Linder’s work emerged during Manchester’s 1970s punk scene andthe exhibition combines early material with never-before-seen works. The Hayward Gallery, located within the Southbank Centre, presents Sterling’s work alongside a new exhibition on American visual artist Mickalene Thomas.
Noah Davis at Barbican Art Gallery
When: Until 5 May 2025
Location: Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London, SE1 8XX
Price: 19 GBP
The Barbican presents a major retrospective of the late American artist Noah Davis. It presents more than 50 works from 2007 to his untimely death in 2015, at the age of 32. Considered one of the most unique painters of his generation, the exhibit explores his rich legacy. Primarily based in Los Angeles, his emotive figurative paintings draw on pop culture and art history, and can be both joyful, dreamlike and melancholic.
The 80s: Photographing Britain at Tate Britain
When: Until 5 May 2025
Location: Millbank, London, SW1P 4RG
Price: From 20 GBP
This group exhibition traces the social and political landscape of 1980s Britain with nearly 350 images from celebrated British photographers such as Martin Parr, Don McCullin, Willie Doherty and Syd Shelton. The show depicts the miners’ strikes, race uprisings, Section 28 rebellion and the Aids pandemic as its central themes. In the opening room, images portray the struggle of activists, with one hard-hitting image by John Harris showing a mounted policeman attacking a female demonstrator with a truncheon during the miners’ strike in South Yorkshire. Elsewhere, photographs from Anna Fox’s ‘Work Stations’ (1988) and Martin Parr’s ‘The Cost of Living’ (1986) are a stark contrast to bleak images of the deprived East End by Markéta Luskačova’s series ‘London Street Musicians’ (1975).
Where to eat and drink in London this month
Easter events at The Standard, London
When: 17-20 April
Location: 10 Argyle Street, London WC1H 8EG
Price: Free entry; menus vary
The Standard, London is set to be pulsing all Easter weekend long. To kick off the bank holiday, there will be two-for-one martinis on Thursday 17 April from 6-9pm, while Troy von Scheibner – aka Troy The Magician – works the room, followed by a Suz P and Martelo DJ set until late. On Friday night, head to Spanish-Mexican restaurant Decimo for dinner followed by drinks and dancing, while Saturday sees DJ Princess Julia take to the decks.
Sunday marks the grand reopening of the rooftop bar, which is one of the best outdoor spaces in London. Peckham’s Jumbi will be providing the tunes from 3pm, while pizza is served by the slice from the rooftop truck.
Forza Taps at National Theatre, Southbank
When: Opens 17 April 2025
Location: National Theatre, London SE1 9PX
Forza Wine is one of our favourite restaurants in London, with outposts in Peckham and at the National Theatre. The Peckham location has outdoor seating all year round, while the National Theatre is reopening its al fresco dining space this April on the brutalist riverside balcony. Slightly larger than last year, the outdoor space has 80 seats and looks out over the Southbank. As its name suggests, cold beers, cocktails and natural wine are the focus, alongside a grazing menu of Italian skewers, including beef, polenta and pork belly, served with crisps and pickles. Order a frozen margarita and watch the clipper boats glide along the Thames.
Câv, Bethnal Green
When: Ongoing
Location: 255 Paradise Row, London E2 9LE
Price: Drinks from 5.50 GBP
Câv is a new venture from Edwin Forest (who co-founded Islington’s Half Cut and Shoreditch’s Oranj) and Chis Tanner (co-founder of Dram London in Soho). The Bethnal Green bar and restaurant has a rotating kitchen residency, with chef Josh Dallaway of Tasca currently in the kitchen cooking Iberian-inspired dishes such as elevated spicy sandwiches and clams bathed in a garlicky Bilbaína-style sauce. The wine list, curated by Sinead Murdoch, champions low-intervention and natural wines from predominantly female producers, and there is a house martini for 7 GBP. Câv is also a listening bar, with a stellar line-up of DJs spinning vinyl tracks in the evening.
Bubala King’s Cross
When: Ongoing
Location: Lewis Cubitt Park, London, N1C 4ED
Bubala is one of London’s most loved restaurants, with outposts in Spitalfields and Soho. Celebrated for its plant-based Middle Eastern cooking, a third location is opening in Kings Cross this April. You’ll find Bubala favourites on the menu, including oyster mushroom skewers, creamy labneh and crispy deep-fried artichoke atop garlic tahini, as well as new creations such as cucumber tzatziki.
