Art guide to King's Cross, London

The art scene in King’s Cross is quite unique, with several art spaces and a great selection of public art.

This part of London has been transformed in recent years from a somewhat dodgy area into a fun and trendy hub with plenty of things to do.

Its redevelopment project is quite remarkable. These days it’s one of the must-see places on a trip to London.

You can easily spend an afternoon in King’s Cross exploring all kinds of art: massive public installations, sculptures in hidden corners, gorgeous immersive art shows, the latest contemporary art, and surprising pop-up exhibitions.

In this guide, you’ll find the main spots art lovers should visit around King’s Cross, my personal favourites, and ideas for self-guided tours.

Get a map of this art trail

Art spaces in King’s Cross

Lightroom

Lightroom, the captivating new venue in Kings Cross, is a platform for immersive art with cutting-edge digital projection and audio technologies.

Stepping into Lightroom, you’ll find yourself surrounded by images, videos, and sounds.

There are projections on every wall, including the floor, and you want to be constantly looking around, up and down, as things are changing at every moment.

You can experience the show standing up, sitting down, or even lying down on the carpet (as I saw some people did).

I moved around about three or four times during the show, to see the display from different angles.

The place is spacious and even with quite a lot of people there, it doesn’t feel crowded.

I saw David Hockney’s exhibition Bigger & Closer (not smaller & further away) at Lightroom. It’s a well thought-out, impressive, and engaging show.

It covers David Hockney’s biography and artworks through visuals, with an excellent soundtrack, and a flowing narrative.

As with many immersive experiences, the wow factor is always present, with walls used as spectacular canvases for massive visuals. It’s an invitation to lose yourself in a fantasy world for a while.

But beyond that obvious wow factor, the Hockney exhibition is also intellectually stimulating, thanks to the clever editing of the visuals and to the artist’s commentary.

He shares his philosophical thoughts on the nature of painting and photography and his fascinating perspective on art and life. You have a much deeper understanding of the visuals thanks to his commentary.

A couple of weeks later I went to another Hockney exhibition in Saltaire, a village in West Yorkshire close to where he grew up. I could easily notice how much of an insight I’d gained into Hockney’s mind and the ideas behind his art.

I recommend this experience to anyone visiting London, it’s truly memorable.

Lethaby Gallery

The Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design has its main site in King’s Cross, with its own gallery in the brown brick Granary Building on Granary Square.

The Lethaby Gallery is dedicated to showcasing the work of students, staff, and alumni of Central Saint Martins.

It’s a great place to find some more innovative and original pieces of art and design and discover some emerging talents in contemporary art.

Art in King’s Place

King’s Place is a large arts, music, and entertainment complex in King’s Cross. It hosts two galleries, each representing both established and emerging artists.

Pangolin Gallery

When you enter King’s Place, you’ll find Pangolin Gallery right by the entrance.

It’s dedicated to sculpture in all its forms and has represented many prominent sculptors throughout the years.

King’s Place Gallery

After you visit Pangolin Gallery, go down the stairs and you’ll find the King’s Place Gallery on level -1.

It has solo and group contemporary art exhibitions.

Queer Britain

The national LGBTQ+ museum isn’t strictly an art space, but it belongs on this list because it does, among other things, promote art by queer artists through its Madame F Art Award.

Queer Britian is a small museum in Granary Square in King’s Cross is on a mission to document the history of the LGBTQ+ community in Britain, through objects, images, books, archival photos, audio clips, and special events.

I highly recommend a visit to this museum, it’s a condensed educational experience that I found both informative and emotional.

Public art in King’s Cross

When you walk around King’s Cross, you’re more than likely to come across sculptures, installations, and pop-up exhibitions of all kinds. There’s a lot of public art around King’s Cross.

When you visit the Pangolin Gallery in King’s Place I recommend you pick up a sculpture trail map.

It’s fun to follow, with some of the sculptures right outside the King’s Place restaurant and around the building.

Another trail to follow is the Art + Culture Tour, a great free app that lists the current public art around King’s Cross, as well as interesting buildings and other points of interest.

It has a suggested route to follow, audio commentary, pictures, and videos.

As there’s so much public art to see in King’s Cross, I’ll just highlight some of my personal favourites here.

Inside the railway station, you’ll see the words “I want my time with you” in large neon pink text.

I remember seeing it several years ago and wondering what it meant… It took a bit of Googling to find out it was created by Tracy Amin.

It’s a refreshing contemporary art piece inside a Victorian station.

Pipette in the King’s Cross Tunnel, aka the light tunnel, is another surprising piece of public art in an unexpected place, and one of my favourite London hidden gems.

It’s an illuminated subway tunnel between St Pancras and King’s Cross station. The LED lights all along the tunnel change colours and make a fun and beautiful light show.

Photographers love this place and can spend ages capturing the changing lights.

One of the public art pieces that is hard to miss when you visit King’s Cross is called IFO (Identified Flying Object).

It’s a tall installation by Jacques Rival that looks like a birdcage. At night when it’s illuminated it’s quite spectacular.

King’s Cross guided tour

There’s quite a lot to see and do around King’s Cross beyond the art galleries and public art.

You can explore the area with a local guide who can tailor the tour to your interests. Check availability here.