With over four million visitors every year, Tate Modern is one on the most popular modern art galleries in the world. Part of the Tate group, which also includes Tate Britain. A short distance along the River Thames, this institution reaches out to everyone, not just to the traditional art-lover, by presenting collections of innovative and engaging contemporary art.
Housed in the distinctive four-chimney Bankside Power Station since 2000, this gallery makes ingenious use of the industrial space, thanks to the Swiss architects Herzog and de Meuron. Stepping into the gigantic space of the Turbine Hall, you’ll be in awe of the very scale of this building.
This hall has held specially-commissioned works from leading artists, including Louise Bourgeois, Anish Kapoor and Ai Weiwei. Past works have seen the space occupied by giant spiders, a re-creation of the sky with real clouds, and even giant slides. All works will draw you in whether they are explicitly interactive or whether they subtly draw you in with their play on perspective.
Beyond the Turbine Hall, discover a permanent collection of works from all the major established modern artists such as Picasso and Dalí, arranged according to the pivotal moments in 20th art, from Surrealism to Abstract Expressionism.
Alongside this permanent collection, there is a programme of temporary exhibitions, providing a platform for some of the most cutting-edge emerging talent, as well as the chance to enjoy individual artists’ bodies of work in greater detail. In 2012, a glass tower was added to the building as a space dedicated to photography, video and graphical installations.
For expert guidance around this sometimes challenging subject, Tate Modern offers 45-minute tours that will help give you an even greater appreciation of this collection.
Why not sit and reflect on what you’ve seen by taking a refreshment break at the riverside café, or the restaurant on the 6th level, overlooking the river and city?
Tate Modern is open daily, and admission is free to the Turbine Hall and permanent collection. Tickets for special exhibitions can be purchased online or at the gallery. If you are travelling on the Underground, Southwark station is only a short walk away.
