{{Short description|Art centre in Nottingham, England}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2025}} {{Use British English|date=July 2025}} {{Infobox building | name = Nottingham Contemporary | native_name = | former_names = | alternate_names = | image = Nottingham Contemporary.jpg | alt = | caption = | pushpin_map = | pushpin_map_alt = | map_caption = | altitude = | building_type = | architectural_style = | structural_system = | cost = | client = | owner = | current_tenants = | landlord = | location = | address = Weekday Cross , Nottingham, NG1 2GB, England | location_town = | location_country = | coordinates = {{coord|52.9511|-1.1458|region:GB|display=inline,title}} | construction_start_date = | completion_date = 2009 | inauguration_date = | renovation_date = | demolished_date = | destruction_date = | height = | diameter = | floor_count = | floor_area = | main_contractor = Sol Construction Ltd | architect = Caruso St John Architects | architecture_firm = | structural_engineer = Arup, Elliott Wood Partnership | services_engineer = Arup | civil_engineer = | awards = 2010 RIBA Award Winner | website = {{URL|https://www.nottinghamcontemporary.org/}} | references = }}
'''Nottingham Contemporary''' (formerly known as the '''Centre for Contemporary Art Nottingham''' (CCAN)) is a contemporary art centre in the Lace Market area of Nottingham, England. The gallery opened in 2009.<ref>{{cite news |title=Alex Farquharson is Leaving Nottingham Contemporary for Tate Britain |url=https://www.leftlion.co.uk/read/2015/october/alex-farquharson-is-leaving-nottingham-contemporary-for-tate-britain-7788/ |access-date=4 July 2018 |work=LeftLion}}</ref>
The gallery describes its site as being "the oldest in the city", having been the site of a Saxon fort.<ref name=OurBuilding>{{cite web |url=http://www.nottinghamcontemporary.org/our-building |title=Our Building |access-date=2015-02-13 |author=Nottingham Contemporary }}</ref> To celebrate the area's history of lace manufacture, the cladding of the building is embossed with a traditional Nottingham lace pattern.
Nottingham Contemporary is a registered charity under English law.<ref>{{EW charity|1116670|Nottingham Contemporary}}</ref>
==Exhibition programme== Nottingham Contemporary organises four to five major exhibitions a year, bringing the work of the world's contemporary artists to Nottingham. The ideas raised by the exhibitions are explored in educational programmes for all ages. The museum opened on 14 November 2009 with an exhibition of early works by David Hockney and recent works by Los Angeles-based artist Frances Stark, including some from the Tate collection.
Since then, the gallery has hosted a number of major thematic exhibitions including ''The Place is Here'' (2017), a landmark survey of Black British Art;<ref>{{cite web |date=17 March 2017 |title=The Place is Here at Nottingham Contemporary |url=https://contemporaryartsociety.org/explore/resources/place-here-nottingham-contemporary |website=Contemporary Art Society |access-date=14 July 2025}}</ref> ''States of America'' (2017), the largest-ever survey of American photography in the UK;<ref>{{cite web |last=Banks |first=Grace |date=7 October 2022 |title=A survey of 1960–90s photography reveals omens of America's current state of discord |url=https://www.wallpaper.com/art/states-of-america-nottingham-contemporary |website=Wallpaper |access-date=14 July 2025}}</ref> Glenn Ligon's ''Encounters and Collisions'' (2015);<ref>{{cite web |title=Encounters and Collisions |url=https://www.contemporaryartdaily.com/project/encounters-and-collisions-at-nottingham-contemporary-9032 |website=Contemporary Art Daily |access-date=14 July 2025}}</ref> and ''From Ear to Ear to Eye'' (2017–2018), an exploration of the politics of listening across the Arab world.<ref>{{cite web |last=Sherwin |first=Skye |date=19 December 2017 |title=Fatal gunfire silences the gallery – From Ear to Ear to Eye review |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2017/dec/19/from-ear-to-ear-to-eye-review-nottingham-contemporary |work=The Guardian |access-date=14 July 2025}}</ref>
==Building== The building was designed by the London architects Caruso St John. With over {{convert|3,000|sqm}} of floor space, it is one of the largest contemporary art centres in the UK. The exterior is clad in verdigris scalloped panels with a traditional lace pattern, with large windows that offer direct views from the street into the interior.<ref name=OurBuilding /> The building is larger than it appears from the outside, because much of it is sunk into the sandstone cliff that runs through the city centre.
Nottingham Contemporary is one of the largest contemporary art spaces in the UK, with four galleries, an auditorium, an education space and a study centre. The building also houses a café-bar and a shop.
The building has been acclaimed by architectural critics. Ellis Woodman in ''Building Design'' complimented how the building's facades successfully expressed its relationship with the city.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Woodman|first=Ellis|title=Caruso St John's Nottingham curtain raiser|url=https://www.bdonline.co.uk/buildings/caruso-st-johns-nottingham-curtain-raiser/3152974.article|access-date=2022-01-27|website=Building Design|language=en}}</ref> Owen Hatherley stated that "this might, irrespective of the leaky roof, be the first masterpiece of British architecture of the twenty-first century."<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hatherley|first=Owen|title=Guide to the new ruins of Great Britain|date=2011|publisher=Verso|isbn=978-1-84467-700-9|edition=Paperback|location=London|oclc=706029492}}</ref>
==Site== Nottingham Contemporary is on the oldest site in Nottingham, Garners Hill, it once housed cave dwellings, a Saxon fort and a medieval town hall – before the Victorians swept all aside for a railway line.<ref name=OurBuilding /> It is in the historic Lace Market, a showcase for a world-famous fabric when technical innovation gave lace a mass market. A revolutionary concrete casting technique, carried out in Nottingham, has embossed a lace design into the building's panels, some up to {{convert|11|m}} tall.
==Management== Sam Thorne was appointed director in 2015, taking up the position in early 2016,<ref>{{cite web |date=7 September 2017 |title=Sam Thorne |url=https://apollo-magazine.com/sam-thorne-apollo-40-under-40-global-the-thinkers/ |website=Apollo Magazine |access-date=14 July 2025 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> following on from the founding director Alex Farquharson (2007–2015).<ref>{{cite web |title=Tate Britain Director |url=https://www.tate.org.uk/about-us/tate-britain-director |publisher=Tate |access-date=14 July 2025}}</ref>
==See also== * National Justice Museum
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *[https://www.nottinghamcontemporary.org/ Official website] *[http://www.nottingham21.co.uk/build_nottingham_contemporary.htm Pictures of Nottingham Contemporary from Nottingham21] *[https://news.bbc.co.uk/local/nottingham/hi/people_and_places/arts_and_culture/newsid_8359000/8359583.stm Inside Nottingham Contemporary (BBC)] *[http://www.carusostjohn.com/text/bdonlinecouk-video-caruso-st-johns-nottingham-cont/ Caruso St John's Nottingham Contemporary Arts Centre] Video, bdonline.co.uk{{dead link|date=July 2025}}
{{Nottingham Places of Interest |state=autocollapse}}
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Category:Museums in Nottingham Category:Art museums and galleries in Nottinghamshire Category:Contemporary art galleries in England Category:Arts centres in England Category:Art museums and galleries established in 2009 Category:2009 establishments in England Category:Charities based in Nottinghamshire