You’re standing at the entrance and you can’t find the right distance to measure what’s in front of you. Is it flat or deep, small or large? When Anish Kapoor coats a sculptural object in Vantablack the viewer’s trained habit of solving perception simply stops working. The Hayward Gallery has been transformed this summer for precisely that experience, and it’s what the press has called “one of the art events of the year.”
Twenty-Eight Years Later, the Same Venue
Kapoor’s first major UK retrospective at the Hayward Gallery was almost thirty years ago. Now he returns at a different scale entirely: the entire building has been reorganised for him. Steel mirror sculptures descend from the ceiling or lean against the walls, warping and distorting forms, bending space, pulling you inside your own reflection. The Vantablack-coated objects do the opposite: they absorb light, making three-dimensional forms appear entirely flat. What looks like a hole is actually a sphere; what looks like a flat surface is actually a curved one Kapoor manufactures perceptual illusion as a deliberate programme.
This exhibition is also new: the artist’s recent visceral paintings, and a pair of monumental new installations in his signature red, are seen here for the first time.
Ralph Rugoff’s Farewell Exhibition
The curator is Ralph Rugoff, who after twenty years as Hayward Gallery Director is presenting his final show in that role. Rugoff curated the 2019 Venice Biennale; that he has chosen to close his tenure at the Hayward with Kapoor — with a show demonstrating how completely an artist can transform a gallery building is not coincidental.
The exhibition is also one of the flagship events of the Southbank Centre’s 75th anniversary celebrations. This convergence adds another layer of meaning: you are experiencing an artist at full maturity, a director’s farewell, and an institution’s landmark moment simultaneously.
From Chicago to London: The Creator of “The Bean” and Sky Mirror
If you’ve encountered Kapoor before, it was probably through *Cloud Gate* in Chicago the monumental mirror-surface sculpture the public calls “The Bean” or through the *Sky Mirror* series shown in London, Istanbul, Versailles, and elsewhere. These works have kept Kapoor on the international art agenda for more than two decades. The Hayward Gallery exhibition is the most concentrated crystallisation, within a gallery space, of the thinking that underlies those vast public sculptures.
The press responses this time are particularly strong:
The Guardian awarded five stars: “work that moves, frightens and stuns.” The Independent called it “one of the art events of the year.” The Telegraph: “a riveting feast for the eyes.”
Music, Tours and Extended Experiences
Several special events accompany the exhibition. Guided tours (included in the ticket price) run every Wednesday and Friday at 12 noon. On 13 August 2026, Hayward Gallery Lates keeps the gallery open late into the evening. From 8 August to 3 October, Brian Elias and Ben Goldscheider present a live musical performance inside the gallery in dialogue with Kapoor’s sculptures — a genuinely unusual way to encounter the work.
Anish Kapoor at Hayward Gallery
- When, where and how much?
Anish Kapoor runs from 16 June to 18 October 2026 at Hayward Gallery, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XX. Hours: Tuesday–Friday 10:00–18:00, Saturday 10:00–20:00, Sunday 10:00–18:00; closed Monday. Tickets are £22; Southbank Centre Members free. Book at southbankcentre.co.uk/whats-on/anish-kapoor/.
- What is Vantablack?
Vantablack is a material made from carbon nanotubes that absorbs approximately 99.965% of visible light — the highest light-absorption capacity of any substance yet produced. When Kapoor applies it to a sculpture, the three-dimensional form appears visually flat, as though the object has been erased from reality.
- Is this Kapoor’s first show at the Hayward?
No. Kapoor staged his first major UK retrospective at the Hayward Gallery approximately thirty years ago. This exhibition marks his return to that venue and also marks curator Ralph Rugoff’s final major project there after twenty years as Director.
NO-26 Note
If you can only pick one exhibition in London this summer, Kapoor is a strong argument. Standing in front of the Vantablack sculptures, you’ll find that the point isn’t to understand them but to let go of the need to. Open until 18 October — and until 20:00 on Saturdays if you want the gallery quieter.
