Art Galleries London: The best exhibitions to see this winter

John Baldessari, Marian Goodman Gallery

Conceptual American artist John Baldessari returns to London this November with a solo show at Marian Goodman Gallery. Taking centre stage is Baldessari's monumental sculptural installation Brain/Cloud (Two Views): with Palm Tree and Seascape, 2009, on display for the first time since Baldessari's major retrospective in 2010.

Jacky Tsai ‘Reincarnation’, Unit London, Mayfair

This November, Unit London presents a major solo exhibition of work by Chinese contemporary artist Jacky Tsai; it will be the artist’s largest UK solo show to date. Although best known as the creator of the iconic floral Alexander McQueen skull, Tsai is a prolific artist in his own right, working across sculpture, fashion and installation.

Featuring twenty new works, this bijou exhibition showcases the artist's innovative fusion of East and West, imaginative use of perspective and aesthetically rich narratives. Expect skulls and a whole lot more.

Chiharu Shiota: Me Somewhere Else, Blain/Southern London

Blain/Southern presents an exhibition of new work by Japanese artist Chiharu Shiota. Shiota uses thread to 'draw' in three dimensions and is renowned across the world for her site-specific, large-scale immersive installations that defy time and space. Her intricate networks of yarn vary in shape and size, but always stem from a personal experience that references the body, memory, life and death.

Suspended from the gallery ceiling, the billowing net of hand-knotted red yarn burgeons from a bronze cast of the artist's feet. Laden with symbolism (blood, and neural pathways), Me Somewhere Else sees a departure from Shiota's ephemeral installations, and asks the viewer to question the complex relationship between mind and body. This large-scale installation is on display alongside new rhomboid sculptures and two-dimensional works on canvas. An exhibition to brighten up your Instagram feed this winter.

Hiding in Plain Sight exhibition, Amar Gallary, King's Cross

Amar Gallery presents a ground-breaking exhibition that honours the work of pioneering female abstract expressionists working in America between the 1950s and 1960s. Despite their significant contribution to the field, these trailblazing artists have been largely overshadowed by their male counterparts. Hiding in Plain Sight seeks to redress this balance by showcasing significant multi-disciplinary works by eleven female artists.

Chris Burden: Measured, Gagosian, Britannia Street

Gagosian Britannia Street presents Measured, another supremely Instagrammable exhibition, featuring two large-scale sculptures by the late Chris Burden. A true artistic innovator and daredevil, Burden transformed materials from old toys into life-size engineered objects. Highlights of the exhibition include 1 Ton Crane Truck, 2009, and Porsche with Meteorite, 2013.

Darren Almond: Time Will Tell; Christine Ay Tjoe, White Cube Bermondsey

This November White Cube Bermondsey presents two solo shows: Time Will Tell, a presentation of new paintings exploring the nature of geographical limits by Darren Almond; and Christine Ay Tjoe: Black, kcalB, Black, kcalB, the artist's first solo show since joining the gallery. The work of Christine Ay Tjoe explores the human condition and 'addresses themes of philosophy and spirituality in large scale lyrical abstract paintings'.

Brent Wadden: sympathetic resonance, Pace Gallery, Piccadilly

Canadian abstract artist Brent Wadden returns to Pace Gallery this winter with an exhibition of new work. Wadden is known for the use of wool and yarn in his large-scale works, which he creates by stretching wool and yarn over raw canvas. The new paintings, inspired by the shapes and colours of Abstract Expressionism, play with the tactile qualities of the canvas itself. There's a mix of media at play, which Wadden uses to create an 'aesthetic that resists fixed boundaries between media'.

The Influencing Image, Stephen Ongpin Fine Art, St James's

New exhibition The Influencing Image: One Hundred Years of Drawing for Commercial Illustration and Design comes to drawings specialist Stephen Ongpin Fine Art as part of London Art Week — a biannual event organised by a roster of London's commercial galleries. During the week, participating galleries host exhibitions, talks and tours to engage with Old Master collectors and enthusiasts alike.

This exhibition showcases over 50 commercial works – magazine covers, adverts, book illustrations – alongside more traditional works on paper. Featured artists include Italian fashion illustrator René Gruau, whose bold designs had a lasting impact on the world of haute couture, and Pierre Brissaud, whose drawings graced the cover of American Vogue. This is a (free) bijou exhibition not to miss.

Robert Rauschenberg: Spreads 1975-83, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Ely House

Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac hosts the first ever UK exhibition dedicated to Robert Rauschenberg's Spreads series. The Post-War artist created Spreads while preparing for a mid-career retrospective; his pensive reflection on the past is translated to his large-scale works on show, which contain many of the primary motifs of his earlier Combines series. His new series, however, incorporates new elements including bright fabric colour blocks, which are a step away from his previous urban palette. Twelve works from the series are on display, one of which is over six metres wide.