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Top 10 events in London

- Jim Hodges - Since the late eighties American artist Jim Hodges has been producing fragile and intimate works which focus on themes of love, loss, beauty and sexuality. This exhibition brings together a significant collection of drawings, paintings and small sculptural pieces, intricately crafted from a wide variety of materials, both commonplace and precious, including shattered mirrors, paper napkins, artificial flowers and gold leaf. Until 5 September. www.camdenartscentre.org

- Mark Alexander - Red Manheim - Mark Alexander shows two works entitled Red Manheim, paintings at once paying homage to the original Manheim Cathedral Altarpiece (1739-41) and re-evaluating the contemporary perception of religious iconography. The Manheim Cathedral Altarpiece was a seminal example of the German Rococo style, badly damaged by bombing in the Second World War. Alexander's paintings offer an appropriation of, and tribute to the masterpiece, suggesting melancholy in their deep colouring and sense of removal from the past. Employing a similar scale and monumentality to the original, the Red Manheim paintings serve to remind us of the loss and desecration of icons, and in spite of the ecclesiastical subject matter bring to attention a secular and ever relevant concern with the atrocities of war. The installation at the nave of St Paul's is especially pertinent given the cathedral's spiritual and architectural connection with the Manheim Cathedral and the reputation of St Paul's as a symbol of British defiance during the Blitz. Until late Summer at St Paul's Cathedral.

- The Surreal House - Step inside a labyrinth of chambers, designed by acclaimed young architects Carmody Groarke, and experience The Surreal House - its haunted rooms, delirious forms, blasted architecture and cinematic dreamscapes - featuring a host of artists, architects and film makers including Salvador Dali, Marcel Duchamp, Alberto Giacometti, René Magritte, Man Ray, Joseph Cornell and Maya Deren through to more contemporary figures, among them; Louise Bourgeois, Rebecca Horn, Edward Kienholz and Rem Koolhaas. At times enchanting, playful and at others, deeply disquieting, The Surreal House is a dwelling that is essentially everything that the rational, functional Modernist house is not. Until 12 September. www.barbican.org.uk

- Summer Exhibition 2010 - The Colomb Art Gallery’s annual Summer Exhibition is a local London event with an international appeal. This year’s collection will include original artwork from established artists including: Michael Hill, Pip McGarry, Marie Louise Wrightson, Will Teather, Elena Kourenkova, Annie Ralli, Stella Parsons, Jean Parsons. and Valery Koroshilov. Free admission. All artwork is for sale with a selection now available to view at on the gallery website. Until 18 September. www.colombart.co.uk

- Sally Mann - The Family and the Land - The work of American photographer Sally Mann is deeply rooted in both her family, and the landscape she lives and works in. This exhibition, her first solo-show in the UK, draws on several powerful photographic series from throughout her long career that reflect these influences. Until 19 September. www.photonet.org.uk

- Joana Vasconcelos - I Will Survive - The pre-eminent Portuguese artist of her generation, Vasconcelos came to public attention for her display at the Venice Biennale in 2005. Her stunning sculpture 'A Noiva' (The Bride) took the form of a chandelier made from around 25,000 tampons and greeted visitors to the Arsenale. Typical of her witty and often provocative work, these unglamorous objects belie the sculpture’s grand structure. I Will Survive - taken from the tune made popular by Gloria Gaynor in 1978 - transports us to a world of embroidery and crochet, sex and simulacra. Of particular interest is the way in which contemporary technological and ethical “advancements” challenge traditional ideas surrounding identity. Finding her inspiration in the popular imagination and examining various themes of daily life, Vasconcelos focuses on the politics of gender, national identity and class. Until 25 September. www.haunchofvenison.com

- Grace Kelly: Stlye Icon - The spectacular wardrobe of Grace Kelly is on display at the V&A. Tracing the evolution of her style from her days as one of Hollywoods most popular actresses in the 1950s and as Princess Grace of Monaco, the display presents over 50 of Grace Kelly's outfits together with hats, jewellery and the original Hermès Kelly bag. Dresses from her films, including High Society, are on show as well as the gown she wore to accept her Oscar award in 1955. These are accompanied by film clips and posters, photographs and her Oscar statuette. The display also includes the lace ensemble worn by Grace Kelly for her civil marriage ceremony to Prince Rainier in 1956 and 35 haute couture gowns from the 1960s and 70s by her favourite couturiers Dior, Balenciaga, Givenchy, and Yves St Laurent. Until 26 September. www.vam.ac.uk

- Sargent and the Sea - American expatriate artist John Singer Sargent (1856-1925) is best known for his glamorous society portraits. Now, for the first time in Britain, 'Sargent and the Sea' will present more than 80 paintings, drawings and watercolours that reveal a less familiar side of the artist: the seascapes and coastal scenes subjects produced in his early career during summer journeys from Paris to Brittany, Normandy and Capri, as well as two transatlantic voyages. Until 26 September. www.royalacademy.org.uk

- Tribal Perspectives, 2010 - The fourth Tribal Perspectives exhibition returns to Mayfair, London, in September. Eight international dealers will exhibit top quality tribal art from around the world. The only annual tribal art event in UK, it is a must for enthusiasts and collectors of African, Asian and Pacific art. Rare textiles, artefacts and books will be presented, with talks about the art and its culture. Tribal Perspectives 2010 presents an opportunity to see this unique and diminishing art from a selective group of specialist dealers. From 28 September until 2 October. http://tribalperspectives.com

- 'ULTRA’ - By Luisa Agliatta, Bálint Bolygó, Philip Chudy, Eugenia Emets, Ray Massey, Rob Matheson, Moira Metcalfe, Damir Muratov, James Stroud and Nitin Vadukul. The group exhibition ‘Ultra’ is the result of collaboration between artists from many different backgrounds. Their works include paintings, drawings, etchings, filmmaking, photography, collages, sculptures and installation works. They are well-established in the artistic community both nationally and internationally and are represented in various museums of modern and contemporary art as well as private collections in the USA, the UK, Russia and Europe. From Monday 20th September until Saturday 2nd October. www.colombart.co.uk

- Exposed: Voyeurism, Surveillance and the Camera - Exposed offers a fascinating look at pictures made on the sly, without the explicit permission of the people depicted. With photographs from the late nineteenth century to present day, the pictures present a shocking, illuminating and witty perspective on iconic and taboo subjects. Beginning with the idea of the 'unseen photographer', Exposed presents 250 works by celebrated artists and photographers including Brassaï's erotic Secret Paris of the 1930s images; Weegee's iconic photograph of Marilyn Monroe; and Nick Ut's reportage image of children escaping napalm attacks in the Vietnam War. Sex and celebrity is an important part of the exhibition, presenting photographs of Liz Taylor and Richard Burton, Paris Hilton on her way to prison and the assassination of JFK. Other renowned photographers represented in the show include Guy Bourdin, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Philip Lorca DiCorcia, Walker Evans, Robert Frank, Nan Goldin, Lee Miller, Helmut Newton and Man Ray. Until 3 October. www.tate.org.uk/modern

- Divergence - An exhibition of abstract painting at Forman’s Smokehouse Gallery, curated by Claire Undy. Including work by Alice Browne, Jane Bustin, Dragica Carlin, Sarah McNulty, Nadia Mulder, Susan Sluglett, Claire Undy and Clare Wilson. For more information about the show please visit www.divergenceexhibition.com. Dates: From 2 September until 3 October.

- Camille Silvy, Photographer of Modern Life, 1834-1910 - The first retrospective exhibition of work by Camille Silvy, one of the greatest French photographers of the nineteenth century, will open at the National Portrait Gallery this summer. Marking the centenary of Silvy's death, Camille Silvy, Photographer of Modern Life, 1834 - 1910, will include over a hundred objects, many of which have not been exhibited since 1860. The portraits on display offer a unique glimpse into nineteenth-century Paris and Victorian London through the eyes of one of photography's greatest innovators. Until 24 October. www.npg.org.uk

- Victoria & Albert: Art & Love - This major exhibition is the first ever to focus on Queen Victoria and Prince Albert’s shared enthusiasm for art. Bringing together over 400 items from the Royal Collection, it celebrates the royal couple’s mutual delight in collecting and displaying works of art, from the time of their engagement in 1839 to the Prince’s untimely death in 1861. The exhibition also challenges the popular image of Victoria – the melancholy widow of 40 years – and reveals her as a passionate and open-minded young woman. Until 31 October. www.royalcollection.org.uk

- Toy Boats - This is an enchanting exhibition featuring miniature ocean liners, toy paddle steamers, tin battleships and clockwork submarines alongside, games, catalogues and photographs all produced in Europe between 1850 and 1950. For more than 100 years the craze for things maritime drove toy companies to make toy boats of every size and description, capturing the imagination of generations of children, creating a sense of adventure and excitement. At a time when Britain was the world’s greatest industrial and maritime power, toy boats were as fascinating to children as computer games are today. Until 31 October. www.nmm.ac.uk

- Nicolas Pol: Mother of Pouacrus - Nicolas Pol’s paintings take on an apocalyptic vision of the world, yet his aesthetic is at once seductive and sensual with its strong use of colour. Creating expressive, dynamic paintings on a large scale, Pol uses a variety of techniques from dripping and screen printing to collage. His work references street art, graphic design, the work of artists from Leonardo to Basquiat, alongside his cinematic heroes Fritz Lang and David Lynch. Pol plays with ideas of deceit, honesty, truth and the many layers or our complex modern world. Pol is interested in wordplay, and the title for this exhibition is inspired by the ancient word ‘Pouacre’ which the artist came across in a poem by Verlaine. A ‘Pouacre’ is a dark ambiguous figure, such as seen in Lynch’s masterpiece ‘Mulholland Drive’; someone lurking in the corner of one’s eye, dark, sinister and perhaps threatening. From 15 October until 5 November at the Old Dairy, 7 Wakefield St, London, WC1N 1PB.

- Julien Sinzogan: Spirit Worlds - In his first UK solo show, Julien Sinzogan exhibits a bold new series of colourful pen and ink works on paper. His work depicts the transmigration of African ‘soul’ – the persistence of her dreams across the Atlantic and the return of the ancestral slave spirits to African shores. From 24 September until 6 November. www.octobergallery.co.uk

- Julian Rosefeldt - American Night - Berlin-based artist Julian Rosefeldt (b.1965) has made a name for himself with lavishly produced, moving image multi-screen installations. American Night is one of his most complex works to date - a five channel film installation. In it he uses the stylistic devices of the Western genre, to deconstruct the myth of the founding of America and relate it to the ambitions of recent US foreign policy. From 10 September until 6 November. www.bfi.org.uk

- Great British Composers: From Elgar to Adès - To coincide with the launch of the 2010 BBC Proms, a new photographic display at the National Portrait Gallery celebrates remarkable achievements in twentieth-century British classical music. The display comprises 31 photographs of British composers who, collectively, define a great modern tradition. Beginning with Edward Elgar, whose music has links with nineteenth-century romanticism, the selection of portraits traces a trajectory linking Delius, Vaughan Williams and Walton to more recent developments represented by the music of Birtwistle and Adès. Many of the century's great portrait photographers are represented including Elliott and Fry, Bassano, Jorge Lewinski, Howard Coster, Lord Snowdon, Godfrey Argent and Angus McBean. Three giants of British music, Benjamin Britten, William Walton and Michael Tippett, are portrayed in classic studies by Cecil Beaton. Harrison Birtwistle and Peter Maxwell Davies are captured by iconic 1960s photographer Lewis Morley. Until 12 December. www.npg.org.uk

- A Brush With The Guns - an exhibition of war art - This fascinating exhibition exploring how art has documented conflict over two centuries. The exhibition features contemporary works from noted artists Annabelle Elford and Matthew Cook and items from the Museum's own extensive art collection that have never been publicly displayed. A Brush With The Guns features 50 drawings and paintings of artillery and guns, the people who man them in combat and the industrial processes to make the weapons. The works span two hundred years and are executed in pencil, watercolour and oil and appear on canvas and paper and in sketchpads, diaries and notebooks. Until 31 December. www.firepower.org.uk

- Gauguin - Gauguin (1848-1903) is one of the most influential and celebrated artists of the late nineteenth century. Remarkably, this is the first major exhibition in London to be devoted to his work in over half a century. Bringing together over one hundred works from public and private collections from around the world, the exhibition will take a fresh and compelling look at this master of modern art. Challenging commonly held assumptions about the artist and his practice and encompassing paintings, sculptures and drawings, as well as a documentary section, the exhibition will reveal the complexity and richness of his narrative strategies for a twenty-first century audience. Key loans include Self-portrait with Manao tu papau 1893, Teha 'amana has many Parents 1893 and Vision of the Sermon 1888. From 30 September 2010 until 16 January 2011. www.tate.org.uk/modern

- Cézanne’s Card Players - Paul Cézanne’s famous series of paintings of peasants playing cards has long been considered among his most important and powerful works. This landmark exhibition will be the first to bring together the majority of these remarkable paintings alongside a magnificent group of Cézanne’s closely related portraits of Provençal peasants and rarely seen preparatory oil sketches and drawings. The Courtauld Gallery’s two masterpieces from this series, The Card Players and Man with a Pipe, will be joined by exceptional loans to offer a visual feast of some of Cézanne’s finest paintings. From 21 October 2010 until 16 January 2011. www.courtauld.ac.uk

- Venice: Canaletto and his Rivals - This exhibition presents the finest assembly of Venetian views since the much-celebrated display in Venice in 1967. It features works by Canaletto and all the major practitioners of the genre. Bringing together around 50 major loans from public and private collections across Europe and North America, the exhibition highlights the rich variety of Venetian view painting. The exhibition includes many of Canaletto’s greatest masterpieces, including ‘The Riva degli Schiavoni, looking West’ (Sir John Soane’s Museum, London), The Stonemason’s Yard (The National Gallery, London), and four of the finest works from the Royal Collection. From 13 October 2010 until 16 January 2011. www.nationalgallery.org.uk

- Thomas Lawrence: Regency Power and Brilliance - The first exhibition in Britain since 1979 of the works of the great Regency painter Thomas Lawrence will open in October. Thomas Lawrence: Regency Power and Brilliance will showcase the most important British portrait painter of his generation and explore his development as one of the most celebrated and influential artists in Europe at the start of the nineteenth century. It will include the artist's greatest paintings and drawings, many of which are rarely seen in public and which convey the power and originality of his work. In order to provide a fresh understanding of Lawrence and his career, the exhibition will explore both his technical innovations as a draughtsman and painter and his unprecedented international reputation. It will also place him within the broader contexts of the aesthetic debates, networks of patronage and international politics of his day. From 21 October 2010 until 23 January 2011. www.npg.org.uk

- John Pawson - Plain Space - This autumn, the Design Museum presents a major exhibition of the work of British architect John Pawson. Often labelled a ‘minimalist’, he is known for his rigorous process of design. By reducing and editing he creates architecture and product designs of visual clarity, simplicity and grace. Plain Space celebrates Pawson’s career from the early 1980s to date and includes a selection of landmark commissions including the Sackler Crossing at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, the new Cistercian Monastery of Our Lady of Novy Dvur in the Czech Republic and Calvin Klein’s iconic flagship store in New York, as well as current and future projects. At the heart of the exhibition is a site-specific, full-sized space designed by Pawson to offer a direct and immersive experience of his work. This is the first time the Design Museum has realised a 1:1 scale architectural installation inside the museum. Using a rich range of media the exhibition will explore projects from Pawson’s career. From 22 September 2010 until 30 January 2011. www.designmuseum.org

- Future Beauty: 30 Years of Japanese Fashion - Future Beauty: 30 Years of Japanese Fashion is the first exhibition in Europe to comprehensively survey avant-garde Japanese fashion, from the early 1980s to the present. Curated by the eminent Japanese fashion historian Akiko Fukai, Director of the Kyoto Costume Institute, the exhibition explores the unique sensibility of Japanese design, and its sense of beauty embodied in clothing. From 15 October 2010 until 6 February 2011. www.barbican.org.uk

- Journey through the afterlife: ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead - The ‘Book’ was not a single text but a compilation of spells designed to guide the deceased through the dangers of the underworld, ultimately ensuring eternal life. Many of the examples of the Book of the Dead in the exhibition have never been seen before, and many are from the British Museum’s unparalleled collection. These beautifully illustrated spells on papyrus and linen were used for over 1,000 years, and the oldest examples are over 3,500 years old. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see these fascinating and fragile objects on display. In addition to the unique works on papyrus and linen, superbly crafted funerary figurines (shabtis), amulets, jewellery, statues and coffins illustrate the many stages of the journey from death to the afterlife, including the day of burial, protection in the tomb, judgement, and entering the hereafter. From 4 November 2010 until 6 March 2011. www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk

- Drawing Fashion - Drawing Fashion celebrates a unique collection of some of the most remarkable fashion illustrations from the 20th and 21st Century. These original illustrations reflect not only the spirit and style of the decades, but also evoke a sense of elegance and glamour long associated with the world of couture and high fashion. Drawings from the collections of Chanel, Dior, Comme des Garcons, Poiret, Lacroix, McQueen and Victor & Rolf amongst others, will feature in the exhibition, which charts the changing perception of fashion drawings from its origins as an advertising tool used prior to the advancements of photography, through to its establishment as a unique representation of collections which has endured through to today’s leading designers. This exhibition showcases the creativity and skills of a unique artistic approach, celebrating the art and artists of fashion illustration whose exquisite images gave each collection an emotive and stylistic sense of direction. From 17 November 2010 until 6 March 2011. www.designmuseum.org

- Aquarium - Immerse yourself in the wonderful underwater worlds of the new Aquarium. Journey through delicate environments and ecosystems from teeming British Pond Life, stunning and sensitive Rockpools, tropical Fijian Coral Reefs, to mysterious Mangrove Swamps and a breathtaking South American Rainforest display. Discover captivating creatures from across the world including jellyfish, seahorses and tropical monkey frogs amongst others. Amazing tank-viewing dens and interactive displays get you up close to these fantastic worlds. Permanent. www.horniman.ac.uk

- Courtauld - Permanent Collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist collections and Early Renaissance Italian and Flemish art and artefacts at Somerset House, Strand, WC2. Please phone 0207 845 4600 for more details or visit www.somerset-house.org.uk

- Dali Universe - (Permanent) Presented in a surreal, labyrinth sequence of galleries, this tourist attraction place viewers in the heart of a Dalinean fantasy land. Some 500 works of art set in 30,000 square feet help to unravel the great Spanish mind. Located at County Hall, Riverside Building, SE1. Telephone 0207 620 2420 for more information.