Tate Modern
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Founded in 2000, the Tate Modern gallery is housed in a former power station. Its opening became a real sensation and an outstanding demonstration lesson in marketing which, of course, was mostly the merit of the Tate Director, Sir Nicholas Serota, a highly influential figure in the world of art. The opening ceremony was attended by the Queen and Madonna, among other dignitaries and celebrities. The building, designed by the Herzog & de Meuron architecture firm, combines elements of historical and contemporary architecture and has been featured in style, interior design and architecture
Entering the Tate Modern Turbine Hall for the first time, visitors are astonished by the sheer scope of the room and the art exhibits displayed in it; this is a place that makes the hosted projects particularly inspiring. The giant format offers or perhaps imposes rules of its own, and art, having accepted these rules, from an often relatively small object sometimes turns into a world in itself, and the viewers become active participants. The force of the Turbine Hall is perhaps best illustrated by Ólafur Elíasson's Weather Project installation (pictured on the front cover of the Paris Opera-Bastille yearbook).
Tate Modern offers an outstanding collection of international contemporary art (post-1900) and hosts also an excellent exhibition of modern British art (thus represented in both of the London Tate galleries, Tate Britain and Tate Modern). The exhibition of modern and contemporary art covers all of the main movements, starting with Fauvism and including classic works by Matisse and Picasso, also one of the best surrealist collections (complete with samples of Dalí's, Ernst's and Magritte's art), outstanding works by American expressionists (including, of course, Pollock and Rothko). Tate Modern also owns a huge collection of Pop Art as well as a significant number of minimalist and conceptual art exhibits.
Bankside
www.tate.org.uk/modern