Whitechapel Gallery Reviews

A good exhibition and events programme plus a finely selected art bookstore.

Book ordered for delivery. No charge stated on invoice,but days later additional postage demanded

This was refused,and order cancelled. Failure to make good the order was provocative and

foolish in that the Bookshop lost the sale (better even .to absorb the postal charge and take

profit from sale of the book) and permanently lost customer goodwill. Clearly the Gallery

(presusmably publically funded) has no business 'nous'. Added 21/10/15

After a month,despite cancellation of the order NO REFUND RECEIVED.

GALLERY MADE NO REPLY TO ENQUIRY ABOUT THIS. HUGE DIFFICULTIES.

C USTOMERS STRONGLY ADVISED NEVER TO ORDER BOOKS FROM THIS

GALLERY SINCE COMPLETELY UNTRUSTWORTHY.

Beautiful gallery with a consistent run of good exhibitions, both free and paid.

Nice gift shop and cafe for a quick stop after or before your culture intake.

If you're already somewhere around bricklane and need a little bathroom break, check out some arts too!
I've been there twice, both times only gone trough the free exhibitions, and it's been totally worth the journey, the exhibitions have been visually appealing and interesting, the staff is great and friendly. A very old school gallery compared to the the big modern ones.

Brilliant for free shows. Too many pay shows, however brilliant. Thick Time will stay with me forever

Very intriguing and fresh views of the modern world. Bold colours and lots of relatable concepts that have been cleverly portrayed.

Free, launch 20 artists every year. Well-kept place

Great dining experience, fun food, good to be rented as well if you want something private. The gallery itself is also full of nice surprises.

Completely uninteresting exhibits, with no explanation of what they were meant to represent, or why they were there, spread over a handful of different rooms.

I had expected the building itself to be interesting, but it had little to offer and was inconveniently laid out, being essentially a rabbit warren of smallish rooms.

I had a not very nice, and overpriced coffee beforehand it their coffee shop. Sadly I had approached from the east as otherwise I would have seen a much nicer coffee shop virtually next door.

In a city of countless wonderful galleries, this place has nothing to offer.

This is not a big gallery but always has interesting exhibitions on. Also it's not very touristy so you can take your time viewing. Ideal to have a day out here then head to brick lane market. There is a museum cafe inside as well if you a place to rest a bit.

Can be a little hit and miss. Always check the exhibitions before you go as they can be more variable than a lot of other galleries I go to

The East Ends premier art gallery, it's completely free, has some great shows and has also got a nice cafe

A small non-touristy art gallery in East London. Exciting exhibitions and art collections. A wonderful place for art lovers!

On a red route, don't stop outside! Not easy to find... Just past commercial st on the left going east. About 30 yards approx

Interesting exhibitions, very good cafe, free entry

Great looking gallery with a mixture of exhibitors.

What a beautiful building! By a tube station which is a bonus

It was great fun trying to unravel what was going on, definitely something I enjoyed oppose to something boring

The place was easy to find, but the gallery was too small. I was shocked . It's a really famous place and had only a few rooms. We only had access to like 4 places and other 3 were locked and needs payment. But I still cannot get over the extremely small area. Also, in every room we go into, there's a girl just standing there. It was creepy to be honest. I can't say anything bad about the art since dahhhh it's art, but wasn't my taste at all.

Totally depends on your personal taste. Not for me.

Very nice gallery, during my visit most of the rooms were closed due to a change of the exhibition on display. The other rooms are more then OK. Right next to an underground station.

Very well curated contemporary art shows, very nice space/building and a bookshop with a good selection of books and postcards!

Visited for the first time in many years. Some interesting short movies and, in the free exhibitions a focus on nature and ecology, and interaction with the built environment.

Very generous. A lot of big names and a very furnished library.

Open all year round and close to the Aldgate station, there's always something interesting to see. The gallery has hosted expositions of classicists and contemporary artists in keeping with the vibrant cultural tradition of London. There are free and paid exhibitions and projects, very well curated, making maximum use of the space. The bookshop is also a lovely place to browse and buy books, fancy magazines, or gifts. Staff are very knowledgeable and willing to inform.

Excellent gallery space. The cafe is a little expensive but the food is good. The bookshop is one of the best for art and philosophy books in London.

Beautiful little gallery tucked away in Whitechapel. Somehow for the life of me, I couldn t never figure out the opening times, but it turned out to be an awesome walk in surprise everytime I did get in there.

Gripping and moving exhibitions all year round. Something you have to try at least once.

A free gallery just outside the station. Great for a quick detour and change of scenery!

They put on really nice exhibitions and the building itself is really nice so it's definitely worth going to if you're in the neighbourhood.

Whitechapel Art Gallery is a little off the beaten track, but it s very easy to find and worth a visit if contemporary art is your bag. I dropped by for the Rothko in Britain exhibition (here until Feb 2012) which was pretty impressive considering it s free. The very friendly receptionist also pointed out that there are several other floors that I was welcome to look at, which I did. Particularly enjoyed the Government Art Collection but The Bloomberg Commission was a bit too spacey for me. This definitely isn t the gallery to take young children to on a rainy day. They d hate you for it. But if you have 45 minutes spare and you ve already done London s major galleries, then this is a wonderful alternative.

Typical big city art gallery, of which London has many notables and of which this is one. Everything you'd expect is here. Great space to exhibit for artists. You should go if they are showing something you want to see, rather than just pop in.

Nice little gallery with a pleasant tea-room. Free entry but not enough to occupy for more than about 45 minutes.

What a gem!

The Whitechapel Gallery dining room has a menu full of freshly prepared European style meat/fish dishes (try the small tapas-y bites) plus wines by the glass, caraf or bottle.

Decorated with retro contemporary lighting, staff were friendly and attentive. Not many tables but you could probably get away without booking...

Well worth a visit for changing exhibition and the upstairs reading room

So good to be able to go to this gallery again. One of London's must visit spaces.

Wonderful bookstore, but the gallery itself and the exhibition was very abstract which is not really my thing

great space for creative art + you can buy some cool limited series pieces to collect!

Free free free! Contemporary art, free to the public. No better way to avoid the rain.

It s a smaller gallery with a nice selection of art.

If you love art, the Whitechapel Gallery is for you. Since its inception in 1901 it has been at the forefront of the avantgarde. Always challenging, always a joy.

Electronic superhighway exhibition was great fun. Good for the geeks. I pop back every month or so to see what's on - never disappointed.

Like all venues these days, includes temperature check, masking wearing experience but the art makes it worthwhile.

Call me a Philistine if you want, but I was utterly underwhelmed by the "art" in this place. It's free to visit, which is a positive, but we spent more time in the tearoom than in the galleries. Other people might be blown away by the place, but it wasn't for me.

Cutting edgy, avant-garde, thought-provoking, multimedia, free contemporary exhibitions and events throughout a year. Always worth a visit. Bookshop stocks good selection.

Whitechapel is a contemplative gallery, there's always something thought provoking in the free spaces if you don't want to pay for the main exhibition. The work can be challenging but delivered in a calm space. The audio-visual viewing room never disappoints. The collections are always refreshingly curated, with a cool shop and cafe thrown in.

Loved the eclectic nature of the shows and the space they are shown in

Well situated art gallery. It has a good atmosphere and interesting artworks. Visit it!

An amazing contemporary art gallery in East London, the best one in that area. Many exhibitions always on at the same time, changing every three/four months. Lots of events, projections, courses and conferences as well. Especially lively on a Thursday night, when it's open late (until 9pm).

Wonderful Gallery showing major works from interesting and alternative artists from around the world. Also runs a excellent film programme. Gallery has great links with the local community, which includes running education workshops with schools in the area.

Great gallery, beautiful pieces of contemporary art and a nice shop and cafeteria.

A unique and intesting gallery, they have a very small free exhibition over 3 floors and have a paid for exhibition too. Wortg a stop by if u are local

Small cute gallery with interesting modern photos and installations. It is free but you have to pay for some special exhibits

The problem is that this neighborhood is badly attended

Never visited, don't know this place, can someone tell me if it's worth visiting

I went to see the Dust exhibition which is thought provoking meditation on photography and art. However Trickle Down Theory exhibition is a must see and terrific. Do not miss Rodins Thinker re- imagined with the head of a goat. The cafe is as good as the art.

Free museum, the exhibitions change fairly regularly, very good bookshop too!

beautiful gallery, arts from lots of different artists, we spent the whole afternoon there

I love this gallery, and come here often. OK, it s right next to the tube station, and they have toilets .. But while I m here, I ll have a look around, and the conceptual installation art they exhibit does make me think. Unfortunately I don t know much, so can t think for very long, but I do have questions:

Can I take one of those magazines, or would that be vandalism?

Are the people looking at that pile of magazines, thinking intellectual thoughts, or are they thinking what I m thinking?

Do artists create these installations because they ve risen above more traditional art forms, or is it because they re not very good at drawing cats?

Was I supposed to buy a ticket for this bit, and come in through a different door?

They have a good bookshop, so maybe I ll buy some of those books and hopefully get some answers.

And if you re here for the first time, and come to what feels like an out-of-bounds staircase, or a forgotten corridor between cupboards, keep going, there s more to see.