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.

The gallery presents exhibitions of modern and contemporary art. It has a national and international reputation for quality of exhibitions, projects and commissions, which are supported by a learning and engagement programme with audiences in excess of 100,000 each year. Funded primarily by Arts Council England, many exhibitions, events, activities and workshops are free for visitors.

History

Modern Art Oxford's premises at 30 Pembroke Street, 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 in 1965. 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. Nairne left the gallery in 2008 to take up a senior managerial position at Arts Council England.

Michael Stanley assumed the directorship in January 2009.

David Thorp assumed interim directorship in October 2012 following the death of Michael Stanley.

Paul Hobson was appointed Director in April 2013 and took up the post that September.

Notable exhibitions and shows

Artists' exhibitions have included Richard Long (1971); Sol Le Witt (1973) Joseph Beuys (1974); Donald Judd (1995); Marina Abramovic (1995, 2022–23); Carl Andre (1997), Lubaina Himid (2017), Ruth Asawa (2022), and Yoko Ono (1997). Since the renaming of the gallery, notable exhibitions have included:

  • Tracey Emin This Is Another Place (November 2002 – January 2003) – marked the reopening of Modern Art Oxford by and was her first British solo exhibition since 1997. The exhibition contained drawings,
  • Jake and Dinos Chapman The Rape of Creativity (April – June 2003) – the artists bought a mint collection of 80 Goya prints and systematically defaced them. The BBC and The Daily Telegraph reviewed the show.
  • Stella Vine (July – September 2007) – a solo show of by the Britart painter including more than 100 paintings and a catalogue essay by Germaine Greer.

Notes and references

  • Modern Art Oxford official site
  • Art Guide entry
  • AboutBritain.com entry
  • Review of Monica Bonvicini's MOMA Oxford Show by Greg Whitfield