Hayward Gallery reopens in London after two-year renovation

The Hayward Gallery in London reopens on July 9, 2018, after a two-year renovation by FCBStudios. The brutalist building, criticized for its concrete mass, now features new stone floors, replaced terrace paving to prevent water pooling, new air conditioning, and modernized pyramidal skylights that had been covered since 1968. The gallery's 50th anniversary season opened January 25 with the first major UK retrospective of German photographer Andreas Gursky (b. 1955, Leipzig), who created five new works for the show. Director Ralph Rugoff, recently appointed director of the 2019 Venice Biennale, noted that architecture is a subtheme for the year. From May 30 to August 19, Korean sculptor Lee Bul (b. 1964, Yeongju) will have a solo exhibition, with an outdoor installation resembling a sparkling necklace. A collective show exploring new spatial concepts is planned. The gallery will make its archive available online via Google Cultural Institute. Rugoff is editing "Fifty years of great art writing" for February publication. Founded in 1968, the Hayward Gallery is part of the Southbank Centre, alongside the Royal Festival Hall and Queen Elizabeth Hall. Rugoff cited landmark exhibitions: Bridget Riley (1971), The New Art (1972), and Gravity & Grace (1993).