Serpentine Galleries

The Serpentine Galleries are two contemporary art spaces in Kensington Gardens, Westminster. One sits in a former tea pavilion built in the 1930s, the other in a converted gunpowder store from the early 19th century. A short bridge over the Serpentine Lake links the two buildings five minutes apart. Each year up to 1.2 million visitors come to see exhibitions, architecture and public programmes. The galleries are led by CEO Bettina Korek and artistic director Hans Ulrich Obrist. Serpentine South opened in 1970 and has shown work by artists such as Man Ray, Henry Moore, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Andy Warhol and Bridget Riley. A permanent piece by Ian Hamilton Finlay at the entrance honours Diana, Princess of Wales, former patron of the gallery. Serpentine North opened in 2013 inside The Magazine, a Grade II* listed gunpowder store, with an extension by Zaha Hadid Architects. The North site includes a restaurant and shop alongside gallery space. Since 2000 the galleries have commissioned a summer pavilion on the South lawn by an international architect who has not built in England before. Each pavilion appears within six months and remains for three months. Past designers include Zaha Hadid, Oscar Niemeyer, Rem Koolhaas, Frank Gehry and Frida Escobedo. The pavilions and the galleries sit among the trees and paths of Kensington Gardens, offering changing views of the lake and the city beyond.