Modern Art Galleries

Modern Art Galleries

Tate modern art gallery is one of the most popular galleries in the world. The resource, which forms a part of the center previously known as Bank Power Station located in London, currently attracts about five million visitors every year. The power station designer, architect Giles Scott, took about 16 years to complete designing and build the expansive resource. After the power station ceased its operations in 1981, it was converted to what is today called Tate Modern Art Galleries. I never knew art was such a power media for communicating, until I visited Tate (Riding, 2006).

When we visited London in 2011, with my father and my younger brother Mark, I proposed that we visit these infamous galleries and at least get a glimpse of the contemporary art stored in the 99-meter tall building. I love photography and I appreciate great arts because I believe they are only produced by great artists. I was especially amused by the number and categories of galleries on display, considering the short period of time that the resource had been operating. Accompanied by my father, a retired civil engineer, made our visit more interesting, because he complemented the details of the arts by providing further explanations about design, perspective, contrast, etc, which were clear in all pieces of sketches.

We began our visit in level two, as advised by a friend that had visited Tate previously. Here we were provided with maps with detailed descriptions of various sections and activities that took place there. In level three we found out that the management allowed people to try out their artistic skills by making own sketches. However, it restricted visitors from using abrasive materials that would distort the display walls. We found this to be astounding because everyone, both good and amateur artists, seemed to be enjoying this. Although we did not try making any sketches ourselves, we thought that we would try it out during our next visit.

The art timeline on display in level three also offered us a great learning opportunity. Here we could see the transformations that had taken place over time as was elaborated by art.

Tate art galleries features arts work, both modern and contemporary, produced since 1900. My dad explained that the resource is segmented into several levels that exhibit different arts for ease of access (Google, 2012). We started by going through the section that displays poetry works by various artists. This section displayed various pieces done by legendary poets and those that were surrealism biased. I am not a poet and that section did not particularly interest me, however I tried to grab a few names and pieces on display and I can still recall seeing moon in a bottle by Max Ernst.

To say the least, poetry is a great art that is both expansive and complex but understanding its depths requires real interest. We took about 20 minutes to complete exploring this section before we entered the Material Gesture section within level three of the building. This section displayed great arts that highlighted expressionism and abreaction. We were made to understand that most of the works displayed in this section were created by Barnett Newman, Matisse Henri, Claude Monet and a few other artists of the 19^th century.

Unluckily we did not visit all the sections in the building. I believe everyone should make an effort of visiting it. There are many games that kids and grownups can engage in, if they are not interested in viewing art works. There are sections that are paid with classic works on display there, however there are manyfree sections and you may not have enough time to exhaust them all.

Tate modern art galleries offer great learning opportunities for people looking for historic facts and even those that are interested in just seeing art works. Although I am not an artist, I enjoyed interacting with both history and art because they clearly told an interesting story. Today you can download a mobile application that can guide you through the galleries and you will see everything at first hand. Onsite there are maps that you can acquire and use as your guide to various resources in the building. Whether you are an artist or not Tate provides an opportunity for everyone to enjoy his or her time. You can also take a friend or kids and enjoy the Selene atmosphere and various arts on display.