Modern Art Oxford
Encyclopedia
Modern Art Oxford is an art gallery
established in 1965 in Oxford
, England
. From 1965 to 2002, it was called The Museum of Modern Art, Oxford.
were designed by the architect Harry Drinkwater
and built in 1892 as a square room and stores for Hanley's City Brewery.
The gallery was founded by architect Trevor Green. With funding from the Arts Council of Great Britain
, the gallery survived as a venue for temporary exhibitions. It was widely known as MoMA Oxford, similar to other international modern art spaces such as MoMA in New York
. (It was renamed "Modern Art Oxford" in 2002. Adrian Searle of The Guardian
commented, "Perhaps the museum bit was only ever there to confuse tourists and convince gowny academic Oxford that modern art was worth taking seriously.")
became director in 1974, with Sandy Nairne as assistant director. David Elliott replaced Serota in 1976.
Elliott's programme focused on media that were often ignored by bigger public galleries at the time, such as photography, architecture and graphic design. Under Elliott's directorship, MoMA held photography exhibitions such as the Robert Doisneau
Retrospective in 1992, which was and has remained the most popular show in the gallery's history. Elliott introduced up-and-coming artists from Africa
, Asia
and the Soviet Union
, and at various times also held major video art
exhibitions. His contributions also included numerous gallery renovations. He resigned his position in 1996 to become the director of the Moderna Museet
in Stockholm
, having served the longest term of any director in the history of the gallery.
Elliott's replacement, an American
from Los Angeles
, Kerry Brougher, preferred larger shows of American
and European art, and, like Elliott, exhibitions focusing on film and media. In 2000, Brougher left to join the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
in Washington, D.C.
Brougher was replaced by Andrew Nairne
, who renamed the gallery, coordinated additional enhancements to the building, and gave MoMA's substantial library of art books and catalogues to Oxford Brookes University
. He shifted the focus to exhibitions of contemporary artists, who have included Cecily Brown
, Jake and Dinos Chapman
, Tracey Emin
, Gary Hume
, Daniel Buren
, Stella Vine
, Sol LeWitt
and Kerry James Marshall
. Nairne left the gallery in 2008 to take up a senior managerial position at the British Council
.
Michael Stanley assumed the directorship in January 2009.
From November 2002 - January 2003, Tracey Emin
's solo exhibition This Is Another Place was held at Modern Art Oxford and marked the museum's reopening and renaming to Modern Art Oxford. The exhibition was Emin's first British exhibition since 1997. The exhibition contained drawings, etchings, film, neon works such as Fuck off and die, you slag, and sculptures including a large scale wooden pier, called Knowing My Enemy, with a wooden shack on top made from reclaimed timber. Emin commented that her choice to exhibit in Oxford was due to personal reasons as museum director Andrew Nairne
had always been "a big supporter of my work". An exhibition catalogue included 50 illustrations: "a compilation of images and writings reflecting her life, her sexual experiences and her desires and fears."
held a solo show at Modern Art Oxford entitled The Rape of Creativity in which "the enfants terribles of Britart, bought a mint collection of Goya's most celebrated prints - and set about systematically defacing them" The Francisco Goya
prints were his Disasters of War set of 80 etchings. The duo named their newly defaced works Insult to Injury. BBC
described more of the exhibition's art: "Drawings of mutant Ronald McDonalds, a bronze sculpture of a painting showing a sad-faced Hitler in clown make-up and a major installation featuring a knackered old caravan and fake dog turds." Whilst The Daily Telegraph
commented that the Chapman brothers had "managed to raise the hackles of art historians by violating something much more sacred to the art world than the human body - another work of art", whilst commenting that the effect of their work was powerful.
In conversation with Susan Cotter, Bonvicini explained some of the motivations behind the Anxiety Attack exhibition:
"Complex ideas are based on facts and I try to keep things simple - it's about getting away from the fascination with the outward appearance of things to tap into something more fundamental.I can't think of any surroundings that are not architectural. I am talking about it as something physical but also an abstraction. I think of movement, language and thought as buildings; every structure is related to a system, which is a kind of architecture to me. Every space has a character. A space where you go to see art is a space for direct contact between you and the work.Confrontation with art is about a state of awareness, a wake up call-it's about demystifying;it's about the geometrical form of minimalism as an unreasonable example of logical thinking (and) something lacking in humour."
From July until September 2007, the first major solo show of British painter Stella Vine
's work was held at Modern Art Oxford. The show included more than 100 paintings which had not previously had much exposure, hung from floor to ceiling: "a style of hanging paintings that is reminiscent of the salon hang, a 19th Century fashion for displaying paintings." New work was made specially for the show, including a new Diana, Princess of Wales
series of paintings
A book Stella Vine: Paintings accompanied the exhibition, including an essay by Germaine Greer
. On 18 September 2007, Greer gave a talk about Vine's art with gallery director Andrew Nairne
. Andrew Nairne said in the gallery's Summer brochure, that Vine will be discovered to be one of the most remarkable painters of our time.
The Observer
reported that Vine subsidized the Modern Art Oxford solo show by giving the museum four of her paintings valued at £46,000 to cover the costs of shipping more than 100 works from all over the world to Oxford. The musicians Gina Birch
of rock band The Raincoats
and KatieJane Garside
of rock band Daisy Chainsaw
both performed live inside the gallery to commemorate the end of Vine's solo show.
presented a documentary for Five (TV channel) called Tim Marlow on… Modern Art Oxford. Marlow filmed behind the scenes of two international contemporary artists' exhibitions: "Black American painter Kerry James Marshall and eminent French installation artist Daniel Buren." Footage of the Stella Vine
with gallery director Andrew Nairne
was also included.
Art gallery
An art gallery or art museum is a building or space for the exhibition of art, usually visual art.Museums can be public or private, but what distinguishes a museum is the ownership of a collection...
established in 1965 in Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. From 1965 to 2002, it was called The Museum of Modern Art, Oxford.
Foundation
Modern Art Oxford's premises at 30 Pembroke Street, OxfordPembroke Street, Oxford
Pembroke Street is in central Oxford, England. St Ebbes Street is to the west and major thoroughfare of St Aldate's is to the east.Modern Art Oxford is located on the north side of the street...
were designed by the architect Harry Drinkwater
Harry Drinkwater
-Career:Drinkwater was a pupil of William C.C. Bramwell in Oxford 1860-65 and then assistant to the Gothic Revival architect G.E. Street 1865-73. After a year as a Royal Academy travelling student Drinkwater began independent practice in Oxford. Drinkwater was made a Fellow of the Royal Institute...
and built in 1892 as a square room and stores for Hanley's City Brewery.
The gallery was founded by architect Trevor Green. With funding from the Arts Council of Great Britain
Arts Council of Great Britain
The Arts Council of Great Britain was a non-departmental public body dedicated to the promotion of the fine arts in Great Britain. The Arts Council of Great Britain was divided in 1994 to form the Arts Council of England , the Scottish Arts Council, and the Arts Council of Wales...
, the gallery survived as a venue for temporary exhibitions. It was widely known as MoMA Oxford, similar to other international modern art spaces such as MoMA in New York
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
. (It was renamed "Modern Art Oxford" in 2002. Adrian Searle of The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
commented, "Perhaps the museum bit was only ever there to confuse tourists and convince gowny academic Oxford that modern art was worth taking seriously.")
Directorship
Several transitory directors oversaw the gallery until Nicholas SerotaNicholas Serota
Sir Nicholas Andrew Serota is a British art curator. Serota was director of the Whitechapel Gallery, London, and The Museum of Modern Art, Oxford, before becoming director of the Tate, the United Kingdom's national gallery of modern and British art in 1988. He was awarded a knighthood in 1999. He...
became director in 1974, with Sandy Nairne as assistant director. David Elliott replaced Serota in 1976.
Elliott's programme focused on media that were often ignored by bigger public galleries at the time, such as photography, architecture and graphic design. Under Elliott's directorship, MoMA held photography exhibitions such as the Robert Doisneau
Robert Doisneau
Robert Doisneau was a French photographer. In the 1930s he used a Leica on the streets of Paris; together with Henri Cartier-Bresson he was a pioneer of photojournalism...
Retrospective in 1992, which was and has remained the most popular show in the gallery's history. Elliott introduced up-and-coming artists from Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
, Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
and the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, and at various times also held major video art
Video art
Video art is a type of art which relies on moving pictures and comprises video and/or audio data. . Video art came into existence during the 1960s and 1970s, is still widely practiced and has given rise to the widespread use of video installations...
exhibitions. His contributions also included numerous gallery renovations. He resigned his position in 1996 to become the director of the Moderna Museet
Moderna Museet
Moderna museet, the Museum of Modern Art, Stockholm, Sweden, is a state museum located on the island of Skeppsholmen in central Stockholm, that was first opened in 1958. Its first manager was Pontus Hultén...
in Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
, having served the longest term of any director in the history of the gallery.
Elliott's replacement, an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
from Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, Kerry Brougher, preferred larger shows of American
American Art
American Art is the debut album of the band Weatherbox. It was released on May 8, 2007 on Doghouse Records. The album received critical acclaim from several sources including underground music distribution company Smartpunk, who lauded the band's style:...
and European art, and, like Elliott, exhibitions focusing on film and media. In 2000, Brougher left to join the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden is an art museum beside the National Mall, in Washington, D.C., the United States. The museum was initially endowed during the 1960s with the permanent art collection of Joseph H. Hirshhorn. It was designed by architect Gordon Bunshaft and is part of the...
in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
Brougher was replaced by Andrew Nairne
Andrew Nairne
Andrew Nairne , is Director for Arts Strategy at the Arts Council England.Nairne graduated with an art history MA from the University of St Andrews in 1983. He was the Visual Arts Director at the Scottish Arts Council and for eight years he was the Exhibitions Director at the Centre for...
, who renamed the gallery, coordinated additional enhancements to the building, and gave MoMA's substantial library of art books and catalogues to Oxford Brookes University
Oxford Brookes University
Oxford Brookes University is a new university in Oxford, England. It was named to honour the school's founding principal, John Brookes. It has been ranked as the best new university by the Sunday Times University Guide 10 years in a row...
. He shifted the focus to exhibitions of contemporary artists, who have included Cecily Brown
Cecily Brown
Cecily Brown, born 1969 in London, is a British painter. She has a great respect for art history and her works reveal her reverence and high regard for artists such as Francisco de Goya, Nicolas Poussin, Willem de Kooning, and Joan Mitchell while incorporating into her works her distinct female...
, Jake and Dinos Chapman
Jake and Dinos Chapman
Iakovos "Jake" Chapman and Konstantinos "Dinos" Chapman are English visual artists, often known as the Chapman Brothers, who work together as a collaborative sibling duo...
, Tracey Emin
Tracey Emin
Tracey Karima Emin RA is a British artist of English and Turkish Cypriot origin. She is part of the group known as Britartists or YBAs ....
, Gary Hume
Gary Hume
Gary Stewart Hume is an English artist. His work is strongly identified with the YBA artists who came to prominence in the early-1990s. In 1996, Hume was nominated for the Turner Prize, but lost out to Douglas Gordon. Hume was elected a Royal Academician in 2001.-Life and work:Hume was born in...
, Daniel Buren
Daniel Buren
Daniel Buren is a French conceptual artist.- Work :Sometimes classified as an abstract minimalist Buren is known best for using regular, contrasting maxi stripes to integrate the visual surface and architectural space, notably historical, landmark architecture.Among his chief concerns is the...
, Stella Vine
Stella Vine
Stella Vine is an English artist, who lives and works in London. Her work is figurative painting with subject matter drawn from either her personal life of family, friends and school, or rock stars, royalty and celebrities.After a difficult relationship with her stepfather, she left home and in...
, Sol LeWitt
Sol LeWitt
Solomon "Sol" LeWitt was an American artist linked to various movements, including Conceptual art and Minimalism....
and Kerry James Marshall
Kerry James Marshall
Kerry James Marshall is an artist born in Birmingham, Alabama. He grew up in South Central Los Angeles and now lives in Chicago where he previously taught at the School of Art and Design at the University of Illinois at Chicago...
. Nairne left the gallery in 2008 to take up a senior managerial position at the British Council
British Council
The British Council is a United Kingdom-based organisation specialising in international educational and cultural opportunities. It is registered as a charity both in England and Wales, and in Scotland...
.
Michael Stanley assumed the directorship in January 2009.
Tracey Emin (2002–2003)
Tracey Emin
Tracey Karima Emin RA is a British artist of English and Turkish Cypriot origin. She is part of the group known as Britartists or YBAs ....
's solo exhibition This Is Another Place was held at Modern Art Oxford and marked the museum's reopening and renaming to Modern Art Oxford. The exhibition was Emin's first British exhibition since 1997. The exhibition contained drawings, etchings, film, neon works such as Fuck off and die, you slag, and sculptures including a large scale wooden pier, called Knowing My Enemy, with a wooden shack on top made from reclaimed timber. Emin commented that her choice to exhibit in Oxford was due to personal reasons as museum director Andrew Nairne
Andrew Nairne
Andrew Nairne , is Director for Arts Strategy at the Arts Council England.Nairne graduated with an art history MA from the University of St Andrews in 1983. He was the Visual Arts Director at the Scottish Arts Council and for eight years he was the Exhibitions Director at the Centre for...
had always been "a big supporter of my work". An exhibition catalogue included 50 illustrations: "a compilation of images and writings reflecting her life, her sexual experiences and her desires and fears."
Jake and Dinos Chapman (2003)
From April - June 2003, Jake and Dinos ChapmanJake and Dinos Chapman
Iakovos "Jake" Chapman and Konstantinos "Dinos" Chapman are English visual artists, often known as the Chapman Brothers, who work together as a collaborative sibling duo...
held a solo show at Modern Art Oxford entitled The Rape of Creativity in which "the enfants terribles of Britart, bought a mint collection of Goya's most celebrated prints - and set about systematically defacing them" The Francisco Goya
Francisco Goya
Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker regarded both as the last of the Old Masters and the first of the moderns. Goya was a court painter to the Spanish Crown, and through his works was both a commentator on and chronicler of his era...
prints were his Disasters of War set of 80 etchings. The duo named their newly defaced works Insult to Injury. BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
described more of the exhibition's art: "Drawings of mutant Ronald McDonalds, a bronze sculpture of a painting showing a sad-faced Hitler in clown make-up and a major installation featuring a knackered old caravan and fake dog turds." Whilst The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
commented that the Chapman brothers had "managed to raise the hackles of art historians by violating something much more sacred to the art world than the human body - another work of art", whilst commenting that the effect of their work was powerful.
Monica Bonvicini (2003)
From June to August 2003, Monica Bonvicini exhibited her psychogeographic installations and situational art at MOMA in an exhibition entitled Anxiety AttackIn conversation with Susan Cotter, Bonvicini explained some of the motivations behind the Anxiety Attack exhibition:
"Complex ideas are based on facts and I try to keep things simple - it's about getting away from the fascination with the outward appearance of things to tap into something more fundamental.I can't think of any surroundings that are not architectural. I am talking about it as something physical but also an abstraction. I think of movement, language and thought as buildings; every structure is related to a system, which is a kind of architecture to me. Every space has a character. A space where you go to see art is a space for direct contact between you and the work.Confrontation with art is about a state of awareness, a wake up call-it's about demystifying;it's about the geometrical form of minimalism as an unreasonable example of logical thinking (and) something lacking in humour."
Stella Vine (2007)
Stella Vine
Stella Vine is an English artist, who lives and works in London. Her work is figurative painting with subject matter drawn from either her personal life of family, friends and school, or rock stars, royalty and celebrities.After a difficult relationship with her stepfather, she left home and in...
's work was held at Modern Art Oxford. The show included more than 100 paintings which had not previously had much exposure, hung from floor to ceiling: "a style of hanging paintings that is reminiscent of the salon hang, a 19th Century fashion for displaying paintings." New work was made specially for the show, including a new Diana, Princess of Wales
Diana, Princess of Wales
Diana, Princess of Wales was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, whom she married on 29 July 1981, and an international charity and fundraising figure, as well as a preeminent celebrity of the late 20th century...
series of paintings
A book Stella Vine: Paintings accompanied the exhibition, including an essay by Germaine Greer
Germaine Greer
Germaine Greer is an Australian writer, academic, journalist and scholar of early modern English literature, widely regarded as one of the most significant feminist voices of the later 20th century....
. On 18 September 2007, Greer gave a talk about Vine's art with gallery director Andrew Nairne
Andrew Nairne
Andrew Nairne , is Director for Arts Strategy at the Arts Council England.Nairne graduated with an art history MA from the University of St Andrews in 1983. He was the Visual Arts Director at the Scottish Arts Council and for eight years he was the Exhibitions Director at the Centre for...
. Andrew Nairne said in the gallery's Summer brochure, that Vine will be discovered to be one of the most remarkable painters of our time.
The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
reported that Vine subsidized the Modern Art Oxford solo show by giving the museum four of her paintings valued at £46,000 to cover the costs of shipping more than 100 works from all over the world to Oxford. The musicians Gina Birch
Gina Birch
Gina Birch is an English musician and film-maker, probably best known as a founding member of The Raincoats.Born in Nottingham where she attended Nottingham High School for Girls, Birch formed The Hangovers and released an album, Slow Dirty Tears, in 1998. In 2002 and 2007 she performed live at...
of rock band The Raincoats
The Raincoats
The Raincoats are a British post-punk band. Ana da Silva and Gina Birch formed the group in 1977 while they were students at Hornsey College of Art, London, England.-Career:...
and KatieJane Garside
KatieJane Garside
KatieJane Garside is an English vocalist, lyricist, artist and writer who fronted the first incarnation of the '90s noise rock band Daisy Chainsaw and now fronts Queen Adreena, an independent rock band from London....
of rock band Daisy Chainsaw
Daisy Chainsaw
Daisy Chainsaw was an English alternative rock band, active between 1989 and 1995. It originally featured KatieJane Garside as lead vocalist and lyricist on the band's early EPs and debut album, Eleventeen , before her departure in 1993...
both performed live inside the gallery to commemorate the end of Vine's solo show.
Tim Marlow on… Modern Art Oxford (2006)
In November 2006, Tim MarlowTim Marlow
Tim Marlow is a British writer, broadcaster and art historian. He is best known for his regular feature on Channel Five - Tim Marlow on..., an occasional series in which he looks at current art exhibitions. He has also had several other art programs, radio programs and publications...
presented a documentary for Five (TV channel) called Tim Marlow on… Modern Art Oxford. Marlow filmed behind the scenes of two international contemporary artists' exhibitions: "Black American painter Kerry James Marshall and eminent French installation artist Daniel Buren." Footage of the Stella Vine
Stella Vine
Stella Vine is an English artist, who lives and works in London. Her work is figurative painting with subject matter drawn from either her personal life of family, friends and school, or rock stars, royalty and celebrities.After a difficult relationship with her stepfather, she left home and in...
with gallery director Andrew Nairne
Andrew Nairne
Andrew Nairne , is Director for Arts Strategy at the Arts Council England.Nairne graduated with an art history MA from the University of St Andrews in 1983. He was the Visual Arts Director at the Scottish Arts Council and for eight years he was the Exhibitions Director at the Centre for...
was also included.