What happens between gallery exhibitions — the hanging week explained

Between exhibitions, a gallery is not sitting empty: it is being stripped back to bare walls and rebuilt. In the days after one show closes and before the next opens — often called the hanging week or the changeover — the team takes down the old work, fills and repaints every nail hole, then hangs, labels, and lights the new exhibition. It is some of the most physical, least glamorous work in the art world, and it is why your favourite gallery is sometimes closed when you turn up.

What does “striking” a show actually involve?

Striking a show means dismantling everything the previous exhibition put up. Works come off the walls first, wrapped and either returned to the artist, sent to a buyer, or moved into storage. Then come the less visible layers: vinyl wall text peeled off, plinths shifted out, and any temporary structures taken apart. A gallery that looked serene and finished on the last day of a show can look like a building site by the next morning. This is normal, and it is the start of every changeover.

The pace here depends on the work. A wall of small framed pieces comes down quickly; a single large sculpture or a delicate installation can take a full day to pack properly. Galleries that show heavier or more fragile work, like a sculpture-focused space, often build extra time into the schedule simply because moving the objects safely is slow.

Why do the walls need so much attention?

Gallery walls take a beating, and getting them back to a flawless white is the part of the hanging week that surprises most people. Every screw and nail from the last show leaves a hole; every brush of a frame or trolley leaves a mark. So the team fills the holes, sands them flush, and repaints — sometimes a whole wall, sometimes the entire room. In a classic white cube space the wall is meant to disappear, and a single grey smudge or shadowed dent will pull your eye away from the art.

The white wall is not a backdrop. It is part of the work the gallery does to make everything else look effortless.

This is also when bigger jobs get done: moving a partition wall, changing the floor finish, or rewiring the lighting track. Because the space is empty and closed, the changeover is the only sensible window for it.

How is a new exhibition actually hung?

Hanging a show is a deliberate, often slow process of deciding where every work lives and at what height. Most galleries hang to a standard centre line — frequently around 150 to 160 centimetres from the floor to the middle of the work — so that pieces relate to each other and sit comfortably at eye level. But the centre line is a starting point, not a rule. Curators and artists walk the room, lean works against the wall, swap them, and step back again and again before a single fixing goes in.

The order matters too. A good hang has a rhythm: a strong piece to draw you in from the door, quieter works to slow you down, and breathing space so nothing feels crammed. Decisions about grouping, colour, and sightlines all happen now, on the floor, with the actual objects rather than a plan on paper. It is why two curators can hang the same set of works in completely different ways.

What are the finishing touches before opening?

The last day or two is about the details that make a show feel resolved rather than merely installed. Labels are printed, checked for spelling and price, and placed at a consistent height beside each work. Lighting is the big one: each piece is lit individually, with the angle and intensity adjusted so the work glows without glare or hard shadows falling across it. Bad lighting can quietly ruin a strong painting, and getting it right takes patience.

Then comes the cleaning — floors, glass, fingerprints on frames — and a final walk-through where the team looks at the room as a visitor would. Wall text goes up, the price list is finalised, and any handouts are stacked by the door. By the time the doors open, every trace of the build should be gone.

How long is a gallery usually closed?

Most independent galleries are closed for somewhere between three and seven days between shows, though it varies with the complexity of the work and the size of the team. A small commercial space with a tight crew might turn a room around in a few days; a large institution with a major installation can need weeks. If you are planning a visit, it is always worth checking a gallery’s website or mailing list, because changeover dates are rarely fixed far in advance.

If you want to see the rhythm of a programme up close, larger spaces such as the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art and dedicated exhibiting societies like Bankside Gallery cycle through shows regularly, and both make it easy to find out what is on and when the next exhibition opens. Catch a gallery on the right week and you will see a finished show that looks as though it was always there — which is exactly the point of all that hidden work.