Serpentine Opens Summer Programme with Public Sculpture by Jesús Rafael Soto
Visitors are invited to walk through Jesús Rafael Soto's luminous Pénétrable BBL Jaune as Serpentine launches a summer season featuring major exhibitions, family activities, technological projects and the 25th edition of its annual Pavilion.
Serpentine has unveiled a major new public sculpture by kinetic art pioneer Jesús Rafael Soto, marking the start of its summer programme across Kensington Gardens. Bringing together contemporary art, architecture, public engagement and technology, the season spans exhibitions, public installations and live events across the institution's campus.
On view from 16 June to 25 October 2026, Pénétrable BBL Jaune (1999; 2023 Edition) is the first outdoor presentation of Soto's work in the United Kingdom. Installed near Serpentine South, the vibrant yellow structure transforms the surrounding landscape into an immersive artistic environment, reinforcing Serpentine's long-standing commitment to presenting art beyond the gallery walls.
A Sculpture Activated by Its Audience
Widely recognised as one of the leading figures in kinetic art, Jesús Rafael Soto spent his career exploring movement, perception and the nature of space. Born in Venezuela in 1923, he created more than seventy works from his celebrated Pénétrable series over a seven-decade career.
Pénétrable BBL Jaune exemplifies these concerns. The ten-metre-long installation consists of 4,000 suspended yellow PVC strands hanging from a steel framework. Viewed from a distance, the work creates a striking moiré effect, with the vertical lines appearing to shimmer and shift as visitors move around it.
Unlike traditional sculpture, Soto's work invites direct participation. Visitors are encouraged to walk through the hanging strands, allowing their movement to become part of the artwork itself. As people enter the structure, they subtly alter the visual and spatial experience, creating a constantly changing environment.
In a conversation with Serpentine Artistic Director Hans Ulrich Obrist in 2004, Soto reflected on his fascination with space, stating: "Contrary to what we have always believed, space is not something that is filled with objects. Objects are in fact filled with space. Space flows. Nothing limits it."
The work presented in Kensington Gardens is based on Soto's original 1999 sculpture and was reissued in 2023 by the artist's estate to mark the centenary of his birth.
Continuing Serpentine's Art in the Park Programme
The installation continues Serpentine's tradition of presenting ambitious artworks within the natural setting of Kensington Gardens. Since its founding in 1970, the institution has regularly commissioned and presented public art that encourages dialogue between artists, audiences and the landscape itself.
Soto's sculpture joins a history of outdoor presentations that have included works by David Hockney, Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Yoko Ono, Yayoi Kusama, Anish Kapoor and Gerhard Richter. It also sits alongside Giuseppe Penone's Albero folgorato (Thunderstruck Tree), which remains on display near Serpentine South.
The 25th Serpentine Pavilion
This year's summer programme also marks the 25th edition of the Serpentine Pavilion.
Designed by Mexico City-based architecture practice LANZA atelier, founded by Isabel Abascal and Alessandro Arienzo, the 2026 Pavilion is titled a serpentine. Unveiled on 6 June, the structure continues the Pavilion's role as an annual platform for architectural experimentation and public engagement.
Over the past twenty-five years, the Serpentine Pavilion has evolved from a temporary architectural commission into a space for performances, discussions, education programmes and community events. To mark the anniversary, Serpentine is partnering with the Zaha Hadid Foundation to reflect on the Pavilion's cultural influence and history.
Throughout the summer, the Pavilion will host a series of live events, discussions and performances, including the Park Nights programme.
Major Exhibitions on View
Alongside the new sculpture and Pavilion, visitors can experience two significant exhibitions.
At Serpentine North, David Hockney: A Year in Normandie and Some Other Thoughts About Painting runs until 23 August 2026. The exhibition combines new paintings created in late 2025 with Hockney's monumental frieze A Year in Normandie (2020–21), presented in London for the first time. A large-scale outdoor mural extends the exhibition into the surrounding gardens.
Meanwhile, Serpentine South presents Cecily Brown: Picture Making until 6 September 2026. The exhibition brings together new and recent works by the British painter, whose exploration of landscape, nature and human relationships draws inspiration from the environment of Kensington Gardens.
A highlight of the programme will be an artists' conversation between Cecily Brown and Celia Paul on 6 July, offering audiences an opportunity to hear two leading painters discuss their creative processes and influences.
Art, Technology and the Archive
From 13 July to 6 September, Serpentine will also present processing…, an archive display dedicated to the institution's Arts Technologies programme.
Supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, the exhibition traces more than a decade of artist-led experimentation at the intersection of art and emerging technologies. The display will showcase research, commissions and collaborative projects developed since the department's launch in 2012.
The archive project will culminate in a public symposium in September exploring future directions for artistic practice, technological experimentation and collective knowledge production.
Family Activities Throughout the Summer
Serpentine's summer programme extends beyond exhibitions with a series of free Family Days designed to engage younger audiences.
Taking place across three Sundays, the events offer hands-on workshops, outdoor activities and creative projects inspired by the institution's current exhibitions and architectural programme.
Highlights include a David Hockney-inspired Family Day on 19 July, featuring drawing, collage and landscape-based activities, and a storytelling-focused event on 23 August inspired by the imaginative worlds of Cecily Brown and the Serpentine Pavilion archive.
A Summer of Art and Participation
The arrival of Pénétrable BBL Jaune signals the beginning of a wide-ranging summer programme at Serpentine. By bringing together immersive public art, architecture, exhibitions and community programming, the institution continues to explore new ways for audiences to engage with contemporary art in public space.
As visitors move through Soto's field of yellow strands, they become active participants in the artwork itself, reflecting the artist's long-standing interest in the relationship between space, movement and perception.
