Nottingham Contemporary - A landmark for the 21st Century

By Nottinghamshire Life on May 5th 2010

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EUROPE’S newest art gallery – Nottingham Contemporary  polarised opinion from the moment it was built.

The £20m development, in the city’s famous Lace Market, is loved and reviled in equal measure among residents, visitors and critics.

But the building, which was designed by acclaimed architects Caruso St John, certainly fulfils its brief to be an ‘international arts centre with a strong local sense of purpose’.

At 3,000 square metres, it is also one of the largest contemporary art spaces in England with four galleries, a performance space, two education rooms, a café-bar and a shop.

And the success of its first show – which featured the works of Bradford-born artist David Hockney – is undisputed. One art critic, visiting the gallery for the first time on behalf of a national broadsheet newspaper, stated: ‘Though I was underwhelmed by the serviceable shed Caruso St John has designed for the awkward site in that blighted city centre, it was a stroke of genius to bring these glorious pictures and prints from Hockney’s finest period together for the first time.’

However, many architecture critics have been far kinder.

One review in a specialist national publication read: ‘Caruso St John’s Nottingham Contemporary...  which to my mind was easily the most accomplished public building realised in Britain over the last 12 months.

Less assured designers would have struggled to conjure anything remotely cohesive from the project’s sudden expressive shifts between the workaday and the highly ornamental, but this bouillabaisse of a project was put together with phenomenal wit and conviction.’

The ‘highly ornamental’ referred to in this review is a reference to the 13 metre, concave, concrete panels tinted a pale green – some of which have a lace pattern innovatively moulded in them – which adorn the exterior.

This pattern derives from a sample found in a Victorian time capsule near the site which was produced by Richard Birkin, a lace manufacturer who was three times Lord Mayor of Nottingham in the 19th Century.

Bernd Schmutz, Caruso St John’s project architect for Nottingham Contemporary, told Nottinghamshire Life and Countryside that this strong link to the lace trade had proved a ‘major inspiration’.

 ‘There is a deep interest in art in our office and the team has worked on numerous galleries around the world – such as the Museum of Childhood, in London, as well as several Gagosian galleries.'

‘But once we established the strong link with the historic lace industry in that part of Nottingham, we wanted to connect into that.’

The main entrance to the building is under a large canopy and visitors begin to view some of the exhibits even before they have entered the double glass doors.

The top floor has a group of four gallery spaces, with a combined floor area of 775 square metres.

The Tate’s director, Sir Nicholas Serota, said on a recent visit, that he believed they are some of the best galleries he had seen in Europe.
The galleries are also evenly lit by 132 pyramidal skylights – one of the venue’s most distinctive features.

It also features a single large window at one end, the size of a cinema screen, through which passersby can see into the space.

Mr Schmutz added: ‘It was our intention to design something that was rooted in the past while also going beyond that to transform the building into something that is new and light while also having a delicacy about it.
‘The team at Caruso St John is delighted with the result – for us it was an exploration of techniques.

‘We also hope that it has provided a different dimension to the city centre – and hope that the success of the first show which featured the work of David Hockney is indicative of the success that is to come.’

Nottingham Contemporary – a few facts

It is anticipated that Nottingham Contemporary will bring 200,000 visitors to the city each year.

Conservative estimates suggest that this will boost the economy by an extra £4m a year.
The David Hockney exhibition – which closed earlier this year – was the first time Hockney’s early work had been brought together for nearly 40 years.

The building has been constructed from scratch on what is said to be the oldest occupied site in the city.

The site is known to have previously had caves, a Saxon fort and a mediaeval town hall on it. All were knocked down by the Victorians to make way for a railway cutting.

The steps at the side of the building have recreated a historic right of way.

Queues outside Nottingham Contemporary

Performance space

Performance space

Learning Area

Insects line the perimeter of Nottingham Contemporary

Nottingham Contemporary

A showcase of public programmes, education workshops and partnerships at Nottingham Contemporary

Nottingham Contemporary – the latest exhibition

On May 9, the venue’s latest exhibition entitled ‘Uneven Geographies – Art and Globalisation’ will open.

It will feature the work of a group of international artists who use their creativity to represent globalisation and its human consequences.

The works on display use a variety of techniques – including experimental mapping, film, games and photography – to expose the opaque processes of a new economic and social world order.

Among the artists whose work will feature are: Mexican Eduardo Abaroa; Moroccan Yto Barrada;  Ursula Biemann from Switzerland; Goldin and Senneby from Sweden; and Mark Lombardi from America.

The exhibition will also feature work by: Steve McQueen from England; Cildo Meireles from Brazil; George Osodi from Nigeria; Bruno Serralongue from France; and Yang Zhenzhong from China.

The free exhibition will run until July 5, 2010.

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