Tate Modern - Connecting Culture With The Thames

Connecting culture with the Thames while providing open public space, the Tate Modern Switch House sits opposite Locke at Broken Wharf via Millennium Bridge. Contrasting raw and refined materials and details, the building balances industrial spaces with 21st century architecture.

Introducing Tate Modern.

The infamous Tate Modern is one of four Tate venues in the UK, and it welcomes a stonking 5 million visitors through its doors each year. Whilst it’s well worth having a look around the super-stylish exteriors of the striking building of the Tate Modern, you need to head indoors for the real treats. The Switch House gave the Tate Modern an additional 60% of space, and they’ve used it wisely. Their international focus means their collection of over 800 works are by artists hailing from over 50 different countries. They’ve also tackled the gender debate in a much more pro-active way than most art galleries, with their solo displays split 50-50 between male and female artists.

Along with their permanent collection (which includes the likes of Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, and Barbara Hepworth), the Tate Modern also hosts some blockbuster temporary exhibitions that never fail to pull in the crowds.

Currently on exhibition: Andy Warhol.

12 March – 15 November 2020.

Andy Warhol (1928–87) was one of the most recognisable artists of the late 20th century - yet his life and work continue to fascinate and be interpreted anew. A shy and gay man from a religious, migrant, low income household, he forged his own distinct path to emerge as the epitome of the pop art movement. This major new exhibition at Tate Modern – the first at the gallery for almost 20 years – offers visitors a rare personal insight into how Warhol and his work marked a period of cultural transformation.

Drawing upon recent scholarship, it provides a new lens through which to view this American icon. Featuring over 100 works from across his remarkable career, the show sheds light on how Warhol’s experiences shaped his unique take on 20th century culture, positioning him within the shifting creative and political landscape in which he worked. While he is best known for his iconic paintings of Coca-Cola bottles and Marilyn Monroe that held up a mirror to American culture, this exhibition emphasises recurring themes around desire, identity and belief that emerge from his biography. It shows how this innovative artist reimagined what art could be in an age of immense social, political and technological change.

The exhibition is now open to the public, available for booking with a timed ticket. But for those that can't make it, the exhibition can also be explored virtually. Join Tate curators Gregor Muir and Fiontán Moran as they discuss Warhol through the lens of the immigrant story, his LGBTQI identity and his concerns with death and religion.