LONDON NOW (APRIL-MAY)

DAMIEN HIRST
Tate Modern, Bankside, London SE1 9TG T: 020 7887 8752
This highly anticipated show from controversial Brit artist Damien Hirst is sure to be very popular. Tate Modern has put together a spectacular retrospective of his work that lingers on the theme of death. The exhibition includes live moths and butterflies, diamond encrusted skulls and a severed cow's head that sits in a pool of its own blood. Flies buzz around the dead mass and are occasionally zapped to death - this will only increase as the exhibition goes on. It might not be to everyone's taste but it is sure to be memorable. Until September.

LUCIAN FREUD PORTRAITS
National Portrait Gallery, St Martin's Place, London WC2H 0HE T: 020 7306 0055
This wonderful exhibition features 130 works by the late artist Lucian Freud, one of the world's greatest portraitists. The works come from museums and private collections and some of them have never been seen in public before. Freud's career spanned over 70 years and painting people was central to his work as an artist. Some are well known characters, while others are less well known but all were significant people in Freud's life in one way or another. Until 27 May.