Sphere's guide to the five best autumn exhibitions

Barbican Art Gallery - Modern Couples: Art, Intimacy and the Avant-garde

Shining a light on some of the most influential artists of our time, The Barbican has collated the work of eminent painters, sculptors, photographers, architects, poets, musicians and dancers to reveal how love and loss has shaped modern art. Featuring over forty couples and their photographs, love letters and gifts, this exhibition is set to be a fascinating exploration of how relationships can become a playground for creativity.

10 October 2018 - 27 January 2019, barbican.org.uk

Tate Modern - Christian Marclay: The Clock

Crowds have gathered from New York to Moscow to see Christian Marclay’s mesmerising video installation - The Clock. This autumn The Tate brings it to London. 24-hours long, The Clock is a montage of thousands of time-related film fragments edited together by Marclay to function as a mesmerising real-time clock. The display will be free for all visitors during the gallery’s opening hours, but Tate Members will have access to an exclusive 24-hour screening on selected dates.

14 September 2018 - 20 January 2019, tate.org.uk

Serpentine Sackler Gallery - Atelier E.B: Passer-by

This autumn, designer Beca Lipscombe and artist Lucy McKenzie will channel the essence of their collaborative fashion label Atelier E.B into a pioneering exhibition at the Serpentine. Taking the figure of the mannequin as its central theme, this interactive exhibition will give visitors the chance to try on and order clothes, browse a display of historical material, and discover newly commissioned artwork - all with the view of exploring the future of retail display in the digital age.

3 October 2018 – 6 January 2019, serpentinegalleries.org

Fashion and Textile Museum - Cecil Beaton: Thirty from the 30s | Fashion, Film and Fantasy

Celebrated as one of Britain’s most influential photographers, Cecil Beaton was among the greatest visual artists of his time. During his unprecedented fifty-year career, Beaton contributed to Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, and Tatler – chronicling cutting edge developments during the golden age of fashion. Thirty from the 30s will present some of Beaton’s most iconic portraits, as well a selection of photographs taken at the notorious house parties held at his glamorous home in Ashcombe.

Display admission included with Night and Day: 1930s Fashion and Photographs exhibition. 12 October 2018 – 20 January 2019, ftmlondon.org

Royal Academy - Renzo Piano: The Art of Making Buildings

With a portfolio that includes the Centre Georges Pompidou, The Shard, and the New York Times Building - Renzo Piano is undoubtedly one of the greatest architects of our time. In the first comprehensive survey of Piano’s career to be held in London since 1989, the Royal Academy will present an unparalleled insight into the architect’s career. Spanning from the early influence of Piano’s Genoese heritage, right through to his current projects, this exhibition will give an unprecedented insight into the life of this design icon.

15 September 2018 – 20 January 2019, royalacademy.org.uk

Main Image: Atelier E.B, The Inventors of Tradition II showroom, Brussels 2015 Photography: Galerie Micheline Szwajcer