Photo: londondrum.comUseful things to know before your visit
Address: Hayward Gallery, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, Southbank SE1 8XX. Telephone: 0207 960 4200. Website: southbankcentre.co.uk
How much do the tickets cost?
£19 to £22.
What are the opening hours?
Opening times are 10am to 6pm (Tue-Fri and Sun); 10am to 8pm (Sat).
How much time do you need?
A typical visit to the Hayward Gallery takes 45 to 60 minutes.
Which buses go to the Hayward Gallery?
Bus routes 1, 26, 59, 68, 76, 139, 168, 172, 176, 188, 243, 341, 521 and X68 all stop close by.
Which is the closest train station?
The nearest station is Waterloo, which connects with the Bakerloo Jubilee Northern and Waterloo & City lines. It also serves National Rail trains. You can walk the ¼ mile to the Hayward Gallery in about 4 minutes.
Which other attractions are nearby?
These attractions are all within 15 minutes walk of the Hayward Gallery: Cleopatra’s Needle, London Eye, London Dungeon, SEA LIFE London Aquarium, Courtauld Gallery, Benjamin Franklin House, Banqueting House, Transport Museum, Household Cavalry Museum and Covent Garden.
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They call this style of architecture ‘brutalist’ which is about as perfect a description as you can possibly get. It’s just a stack of angled concrete – the same stuff they make those thundering ring roads out of.
The gallery doesn’t have a permanent collection so whatever I describe to you now will be long gone by the time you arrive. It’s all temporary exhibitions and retrospective art shows, but it’s always modern stuff, contemporary stuff – the sort of art they show at sixth-form parent evenings (the sort of art that mums and dads pretend to like, whilst secretly hoping that their kids will knuckle down and concentrate on maths instead). Let me give you a few examples…
Contemporary art exhibitions
I’m looking at a piece about border security and surveillance called Harry II which describes itself as a “contemporary manifestation of ancient myths and modern sphinxes”. But here’s what it actually is: six pink mattresses and three plastic bird heads on a pole. The next piece consists of a few funfair mirrors and a cartoon fox reciting lines from HG Wells’ The Time Machine.
In the past I’ve seen a pile of plastic pills and a revolving washing line with red and white toadstools on top. If this is art, then my guidebook is literature.
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What do you think? (3)
Ask a question, or share your experience of the Hayward Gallery
Tom I agree the exhibitions can be a bit patchy but I’ve seen some fantastic works of art here so it depends what you see. The Bridget Riley exhibition was superb, and Among The Trees was beautiful and thought provoking and well worth seeing. (reply)
Rob The Hayward makes a nice change from visiting all the crowded galleries like the National Gallery – a great gallery for sure, but I don’t want to compete to find some floor space when I’m looking at a great work of art. The Hayward gives you to time to contemplate what you’re looking at. (reply)
SimonD Good gift shop. (reply)
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