About | Nottingham Contemporary

Introduction

Welcome from Alex Farquharson, Director

The opening of Nottingham Contemporary is a momentous occasion – for me, for my team, our board, and for the many friends and partners whose dedication stretches back for over a decade.

This has been an enormous undertaking, as anyone who has watched our great green and gold building emerge from a former railway cutting, must be aware.

Alongside the feats of engineering we have been engaged in another kind of construction – the building of an organisation. It is a great privilege to finally put our artistic and educational plans into action.

We believe that contemporary artists offer extraordinary perspectives on contemporary society. They cross boundaries, and they take us with them. They enable us to see ourselves – and the world around us – in completely different, sometimes life-changing, ways.

David Hockney is consistently called Britain’s favourite artist. This is the first time that so many works from his early years in London and Los Angeles have been shown together for nearly 40 years, and it comes at a time when its influence can be felt in the work of much younger artists. This has been made possible by the generosity of many organisations, particularly Tate, who have the world’s best collection of Hockneys from the 1960s.

The artists are from different generations, but they share certain similarities. Los Angeles as a way of life, is apparent in their work. Both artists incorporate their literary interests into their visual art. Both share, too, an autobiographical code, making their art a game of interpretation. Neither artist dissolves art into life – instead they complicate the two. It is a connection that sets the tone for the new Nottingham Contemporary.

Themes from the are explored in other aspects of our opening programme - the talks, screenings and learning events, and whole environments made for the building by Matthew Brannon and Pablo Bronstein in Café.Bar.Contemporary and The Study.

Everyone is welcome to Nottingham Contemporary – our building and exhibitions are free. We are located at the heart of Nottingham, and we want to be central to the life of our city as well.