Exhibitions to see this summer with a National Art Pass

At Tate Modern, explore immersive artworks by Anthony McCall, a pioneering artist renowned for his light sculptures and interactive installations.  

Blurring the boundaries between sculpture, cinema and drawing, McCall’s distinctive approach began in 1973 with Line Describing a Cone, a groundbreaking work which redefined sculpture. Experience this seminal piece alongside other large-scale sculptural forms, combining thin mist and slowly evolving light projections. Find out more.

Celebrate 65 years of Barbie at this major exhibition at the Design Museum, delving into an  iconic brand and one of the world’s most famous dolls. 

Don’t miss this unique opportunity to peek into the extensive Barbie archives in California.  Featuring rare items and key loans, the exhibition traces the beloved doll’s design evolution across fashion, architecture, furniture, and vehicle design since her inception in 1959. From her cars to her clothes, journey through six-and-a-half decades of Barbie’s world and its cultural impact with this must-see exhibition. Find out more.

Unravel the epic story of birds and discover the secrets to their success at the Natural  History Museum’s Birds: Brilliant & Bizarre exhibition.

Explore their ingenious survival strategies, from blood-sucking to acid bathing while getting  a deeper insight into how our changing world is affecting them. Can we create a future  where they can soar once more? Perfect for families, natural history enthusiasts, and  science lovers, this exhibition offers something for everyone. Find out more.

Celebrate the monumental career and cultural significance of supermodel and fashion  icon Naomi Campell at the V&A.  

Produced in collaboration with Campbell, NAOMI: In Fashion spotlights around 100 of her looks, drawing from her extensive wardrobe and the V&A's fashion collections. Marvel at some of the supermodel’s most iconic outfits, including an extravagant pink Valentino  ensemble worn at the 2019 Met Gala and a pair of Vivienne Westwood platforms she wore during that famous catwalk fall in 1993. Find out more.

Get up close to over 50 Impressionist artworks by Degas, shown together for the first time. See the Burrell Collection’s stunning holdings of 23 masterpieces by the notorious painter, alongside 50 other works of art spanning painting, works on paper, and sculptures, on loan from significant national and international collections, made possible by the Weston Loan Programme with Art Fund. Find out more.

Take a deep dive into the lives and afterlives of the six women who notoriously married Henry VIII in this first of its kind exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery. An enduring fascination for writers and artists, discover how the six wives have been represented  through history and popular culture, revealing a deeper insight into their personalities, passions and politics, beyond the high drama of the Tudor court. Find out more.

Discover the groundbreaking work of Jamaican-born sculptor Ronald Moody, one of the 20th century's most significant artists and founding member of the Caribbean Artists Movement. 

This major exhibition showcases 40 of Moody's works, from his distinctive 1930s wood  sculptures to his post-war experiments with concrete and resin. Set within the context of  his contemporaries, including Barbara Hepworth, Henry Moore, Eileen Agar, Jacob Epstein, and the Caribbean Artists Movement, this exhibition offers a comprehensive look at  Moody's artistic legacy. Find out more.

Experience still life like in The Shape of Things, an exhibition that challenges the idea that it is a lesser genre by showing its importance to artists and society through history. The exhibition spans 17th-century ‘vanitas’ paintings through to contemporary explorations of the genre, including examples from different movements, from post-impressionism to pop to highlight still life’s rich symbolism and potential to push boundaries. Themes include love, grief, identity, life and death, and key issues such as biodiversity loss, colonialism’s legacy, and climate change are also interrogated. 

Expect to see works by leading contemporary and modern artists, including Hurvin Anderson, Vanessa Bell, Patrick Caulfield, Lucian Freud, David Hockney, Rachel Whiteread, and more. Find out more.

Make this your best summer yet with a National Art Pass and see all of these exhibitions for 50% off. On top of this, you’ll also get free or half-price entry to hundreds of museums, galleries and historic places across the UK, and great discounts in museum shops and cafés too. Buy your National Art Pass here.