Tate Modern – Bankside

                   Housed in the former Bankside Power Station (one of the most striking landmarks of the London cityscape), Tate Modern is one of world’s largest Modern Art museums. The vast, industrial space is an impressive sight in itself, and a perfect minimalist backdrop to the Tate’s unrivalled collections of contemporary artworks and installations including many by Picasso, Dali and Mattise to name a few.

Enter through the dramatic ramped turbine hall and the sheer scale of the building becomes immediately clear, leaving you feeling decidedly small. And with a brand new 10 storey building The Switch House built above the subterranean tanks, the Tate’s footprint has now increased by 60 percent.

We recently visited to see the Georgia O’Keefe exhibition (on until 30th October 2016). As there are no public collections of her work in the UK this is a wonderful and rare opportunity to see a diverse range of artworks from this iconic, American artist. Although O’keefe is best known for her close up flower paintings, this retrospective contains many of her less well known landscapes and photographs.

What I find so appealing about the Tate Modern is its relaxed and welcoming attitude towards children inside the galleries. Of all the London galleries we find it to be the most laid back, interactive and inspiring for little minds. We often take sketchpads and colouring pencils so that the children can sit on the floor and draw or mark down observations of their favourite pictures. From experience other galleries have been less encouraging on this front.

Aside from the major temporary exhibitions for which you must purchase tickets the vast majority of the Tate is made up of free galleries. They are so varied and interesting (the entire basement of the switch house is now dedicated to live art) but with so many to chose from we usually only tackle a few at each visit. There are plenty of cafes to grab a bite to eat within the gallery and then there’s the wonderful riverside views of St Pauls Cathedral from the Viewing Level on the top floor of the Switch House. You really need an entire weekend to do justice to this huge iconic London gallery but even a whirlwind visit here is time well spent.

Kate

Tate Modern, Bankside, London, SE1 9TG
Opening Times 10:00am – 18:00pm

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