The Serpentine Galleries are two contemporary art galleries in

Kensington Gardens Kensington Gardens, once the private gardens of Kensington Palace, are among the Royal Parks of London. The gardens are shared by the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and sit immediately to the west of Hyd ...

, Hyde Park, Central

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. Recently rebranded to just Serpentine, the organisation is split across Serpentine South, previously known as the Serpentine Gallery, and Serpentine North, previously known as the Sackler Gallery. The gallery spaces are within five minutes' walk of each other, linked by the bridge over the

Serpentine Lake The Serpentine (also known as the Serpentine River) is a recreational lake in Hyde Park, London, England, created in 1730 at the behest of Queen Caroline. Although it is common to refer to the entire body of water as the Serpentine, strict ...

from which the galleries get their names. Their exhibitions, architecture, education and public programmes attract up to 1.2 million visitors a year. Admission to both galleries is free. The CEO is

Bettina Korek Bettina Korek (born 1978) is an American arts advocate, writer, and the founder of ForYourArt, a public practice organization based in Los Angeles. She founded ForYourArt a platform to produce and distribute artists’ work. Korek is also a member ...

, and the artistic director Hans Ulrich Obrist.

Serpentine South

Serpentine South, previously known as the Serpentine Gallery, was established in 1970 and is housed in a

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...

former tea pavilion built in 1933–34 by the architect

James Grey West Sir James Grey West OBE (1885 – 15 June 1951) was a British architect. Born and trained in Cardiff, Wales, West joined the government Office of Works in 1904, eventually succeeding Sir Richard Allison as chief architect in 1934. West worked ...

. Notable artists whose works have been exhibited there include

Man Ray Man Ray (born Emmanuel Radnitzky; August 27, 1890 – November 18, 1976) was an American visual artist who spent most of his career in Paris. He was a significant contributor to the Dada and Surrealism, Surrealist movements, although his t ...

, Henry Moore, Jean-Michel Basquiat,

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationsh ...

, Paula Rego,

Sondra Perry Sondra Perry is an interdisciplinary artist who works with video, computer-based media, installation, and performance. Perry's work investigates "blackness, black femininity, African American heritage" and the portrayal or representation of black ...

, Bridget Riley, Allan McCollum, Anish Kapoor, Christian Boltanski, Philippe Parreno, Richard Prince,

Wolfgang Tillmans Wolfgang Tillmans (born 16 August 1968) is a German photographer. His diverse body of work is distinguished by observation of his surroundings and an ongoing investigation of the photographic medium’s foundations. Tillmans was the first photog ...

Gerhard Richter Gerhard Richter (; born 9 February 1932) is a German visual artist. Richter has produced abstract as well as photorealistic paintings, and also photographs and glass pieces. He is widely regarded as one of the most important contemporary German ...

Gustav Metzger Gustav Metzger (10 April 1926, Nuremberg – 1 March 2017, London) was a German artist and political activist who developed the concept of Auto-Destructive Art and the Art Strike. Together with John Sharkey, he initiated the Destruction in A ...

, Damien Hirst, Maria Lassnig, Jeff Koons and Marina Abramović. On the ground at the gallery's entrance is a permanent work made by Ian Hamilton Finlay in collaboration with Peter Coates, and dedicated to

Diana, Princess of Wales Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997) was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William and Harry. Her ac ...

, the gallery's former patron.

Serpentine North

In 2013, Serpentine North, previously known as the Serpentine Sackler Gallery, was opened to the public. This gave new life to The Magazine, a Grade II* listed former gunpowder store built in 1805, with the addition of an extension designed by Zaha Hadid Architects. Located five minutes' walk from Serpentine South across the Serpentine Bridge, it comprises 900 square metres of gallery space, restaurant, shop and social space. The Magazine Restaurant adjoins the gallery space. At a preview of her show at Serpentine South, Hito Steyerl spoke out against the Gallery's funding by the Sackler family, members of which own Purdue Pharma which is behind the painkiller OxyContin. The Gallery subsequently put out a statement that concluded: “Donations to the Serpentine from the Sackler Trust are historic and we have no future plans to accept funding from the Sacklers.” Marina Abramović (London 2014)

Pavilions

Every year since 2000, Serpentine has commissioned a temporary summer pavilion by a leading architect. The series presents the work of an international architect or design team who has not completed a building in England at the time of the Gallery's invitation. Each Pavilion is completed within six months and is situated on the Serpentine South's lawn for three months for the public to explore. * 2000: Zaha Hadid * 2001:

Daniel Libeskind Daniel Libeskind (born May 12, 1946) is a Polish–American architect, artist, professor and set designer. Libeskind founded Studio Daniel Libeskind in 1989 with his wife, Nina, and is its principal design architect. He is known for the design a ...

* 2002: Toyo Ito * 2003:

Oscar Niemeyer Oscar Ribeiro de Almeida Niemeyer Soares Filho (15 December 1907 – 5 December 2012), known as Oscar Niemeyer (), was a Brazilian architect considered to be one of the key figures in the development of modern architecture. Niemeyer was ...

* 2005:

Álvaro Siza Álvaro (, , ) is a Spanish, Galician and Portuguese male given name and surname (see Spanish naming customs) of Visigothic origin. Some claim it may be related to the Old Norse name Alfarr, formed of the elements ''alf'' "elf" and ''arr'' "warrior ...

and Eduardo Souto de Moura * 2006: Rem Koolhaas * 2007 pre-pavilion 'Lilias': Zaha Hadid and Patrik Schumacher * 2007: Olafur Eliasson and Kjetil Thorsen * 2008:

Frank Gehry Frank Owen Gehry, , FAIA (; ; born ) is a Canadian-born American architect and designer. A number of his buildings, including his private residence in Santa Monica, California, have become world-renowned attractions. His works are considered ...

* 2009: SANAA * 2010: Jean Nouvel * 2011: Peter Zumthor with Piet Oudolf * 2012: Ai Weiwei and Herzog & de Meuron * 2013: Sou Fujimoto * 2014: Smiljan Radic * 2015: Selgas Cano * 2016: Bjarke Ingels * 2017:

Diébédo Francis Kéré Diébédo Francis Kéré (born 10 April 1965) is a Burkinabé-German architect, recognized for creating innovative works that are often sustainable and collaborative in nature. In 2022, he became the first African to receive the ''Pritzker Arc ...

* 2018:

Frida Escobedo Frida Escobedo (born 1979) is a Mexican architect. She specifically designs and restores urban spaces: housing, community centers, art venues, and hotels. When creating, Escobedo illustrates her works within a general theme of time, not in a his ...

* 2019: Junya Ishigami * 2021: Sumayya Vally, Counterspace * 2022:

Theaster Gates Theaster Gates (born August 28, 1973) is an American social practice installation artist and a professor in the Department of Visual Arts at the University of Chicago. He was born in Chicago, Illinois, where he still lives and works. Gates' ...

Gallery of temporary pavilions

File:Serpentine Pavillion 2002.jpg, Toyo Ito (2002) File:Serpentinegallerywithdome.jpg, Rem Koolhaas with

Cecil Balmond Cecil Balmond OBE is a Sri Lankan–British designer, artist, and writer. In 1968 Balmond joined Ove Arup & Partners, leading him to become deputy chairman. In 2000 he founded design and research group, the AGU (Advanced Geometry Unit). He cur ...

(2006) File:Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2007 - geograph.org.uk - 657048.jpg, Olafur Eliasson and Kjetil Thorsen (2007) File:Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2008 by Frank Gehry - geograph.org.uk - 890803.jpg,

(2008) File:Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2009.JPG, SANAA (2009) File:SerpentineGalleryPavilion2010.jpg, Jean Nouvel (2010) File:Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2011.jpg, Peter Zumthor, with a garden by Piet Oudolf (2011) File:Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2012 overview.jpg, Ai Weiwei and Herzog & de Meuron (2012) File:Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2013.jpg, Sou Fujimoto (2013) File:Serpentine Gallery Pavilion, July 2014 (10).JPG, Smiljan Radic (2014) File:Serpentine Pavilion 2015.jpg, SelgasCano (2015) File:Serpentine Pavilion 2016 I (27776972542).jpg, Bjarke Ingels (2016) File:Serpentine Pavilion 2017 II (35856682722).jpg,

(2017) File:Serpentine Pavilion 2018 VII (43037972402).jpg,

(2018) File:Serpentine Pavilion 2019 V (48179721942).jpg, Junya Ishigami (2019)

References

External links

*
Collection of articles about the Serpentine Pavilions
at ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...