And just like that, we are in 2026. I hope this new year is treating you well so far, and you are excited for the year ahead. To be honest, I am still trialling this year’s subscription, but I am definitely always excited for all the art that is coming this year, artists I get to discover, the plethora of coffee I will enjoy on my art days and continuing to grow this community!
With January being a slower month when it comes to exhibitions, especially with a bit of carryover from 2025 (hopefully, most of you caught Kerry James Marshall at the RA before it finished). With that in mind, I have put together a small selection of exhibitions to help kick off your 2026 and ease us gently back into gallery mode.
So throw on your freshest art heaux outfit, grab a drink, and enjoy what is on show this month.
I have always enjoyed how Kemi Onabulé’s work holds beauty and memory in quiet tension, and this new show promises to add to that experience. Much like the title ‘Solastalgia', we are invited to sit with what it means to lose places we once called home through the immersive landscapes she has created. There is a strong personal and tactile quality to these works, moving between intimate close-ups and expansive vistas, with her working on board throughout the exhibition and framing the paintings in Sapele wood, a material that connects back to her family history in Nigeria and adds a subtle emotional resonance that binds place, memory, and material together. This feels like an exhibition that offers more than visual pleasure, creating space to reflect, feel, and reconsider our relationship to the landscapes that shape us, and it is one I am really looking forward to seeing.
Showing from the 15th January till 14th February 2026
6 Camberwell Passage, London, SE5 0AX
I first came across Anya Paintsil’s work in 2022 at her solo show at Ed Cross, and I was immediately drawn to how she uses fibre and textile to tell deeply personal stories. ‘mamwlad’ at Ames Yavuz is a continuation of that language and marks of her return to Wales and the building of a contemporary mythology from the everyday textures of rural life using techniques such as rug knotting, punch needle and tufting. The works sit beautifully in a space between beauty and discomfort, where village gossip, feral peacocks, and social media drama exist alongside tenderness, grief, and joy, and I am especially excited by how these new works place the Black figure from her earlier works not in isolation but held within landscape, community, and material history. This feels like an exhibition full of warmth, wit, and emotional honesty, one that embraces the strange, brutal, and joyful realities of home, and I truly can’t wait to experience it in person.
Showing from the 15th January till 28th Feburary 2026
31 Grosvenor Hill, London, W1K 3QU, UK
Gallery 1957 are back with Kwaku Yaro’s first solo exhibition in London, ‘Son of Man, Can These Bones Live?’, drawing from the book of Ezekiel (37:3), the exhibition is less about resolution but more about presence. Yaro works with materials gathered from everyday life in Accra, such as Ghana Must Go bags, woven mats, and worn objects, without romanticising hardship. These materials become carriers of memory and endurance, especially in sculptural figures that reference family, lineage, and the former Gold Coast. There is a strong sense of responsibility and care running through the exhibition, where nothing is overstated yet everything insists on being seen, making this feel like a thoughtful and compelling debut that rewards close attention.
Showing from the 22nd January till 07th March 2026
1 Hyde Park Gate, London SW7 5EW
I am always fond of when artists draw on their previous backgrounds in their work, and Kuda Mushangi does this beautifully by using his training in architecture to approach each painting as an emotional blueprint, layering shape, rhythm, and colour to translate domestic interiors into spaces charged with feeling. His work celebrates the small, often overlooked moments found in familiar rooms, making them feel quietly poetic. This is an invitation to slow down, notice the quiet joy embedded in everyday spaces, and reflect on how the places we inhabit shape how we feel.
Showing from the 31st January till 01st March 2026
91 Lower Clapton Rd, London E5 0NP
One thing I love about Paul Dash’s work is how joyful it is and how the paintings pulse with movement, colour, and a deep sense of community and this new show is a natural continuation and a celebration of Dash’s long-standing commitment to art, education, and the lived experiences of the Caribbean diaspora. His work captures scenes of everyday life and communal celebration with rhythmic energy, evoking music, ritual, and the joy of gathering, creating compositions that feel alive with motion and warmth, while foregrounding resilience and shared histories, but never losing sight of pleasure and connection. This exhibition promises both cultural depth and an uplifting sense of collective spirit.
Showing from the 10th December 2025 till 08th March 2026
71 St Mary’s Road, London W5 5RG
Similar to last month, some featured shows from previous months are still being shown. If you have seen them already, why not go again?
Ends on the 10th May 2026
Showing at Tate Modern, Bankside, London SE1 9TG
Ends on the 31st January 2026
Showing at Unit London, 3 Hanover Square, London W1S 1HD
I hope you get a chance to check them out.
Peace and love 🙏🏾🖤
FJ
*All images were sourced from the respective galleries’ websites.
No posts
Comments
Nothing yet. Say the first thing.
Sign in to join the conversation.