Modern Art Oxford

Oxford

A serious gallery that never feels stuffy

There is something quietly confident about Modern Art Oxford. It sits on Pembroke Street, a short walk from Christ Church and the covered market, in a generous, light-filled building that has been showing contemporary work since the mid-1960s. Entry is free, there is no permanent collection to file past, and the whole place turns over every few months, so what you find depends entirely on when you walk in. That is the appeal for us. A visit is never quite the same twice, and it rewards the habit of dropping in whenever a trip into the city brings us close.

Because the programme rotates, we would rather tell you about the character of the place than about any one show, which may well have come down by the time you read this. Expect ambitious contemporary art: international names alongside emerging artists, large-scale installations, photography, film and work that spills across the refurbished ground-floor galleries. It is the kind of gallery we would happily point a sceptic towards. Walk in with no expectations, give it an hour, and something usually catches you off guard. Check the gallery's own site before you set off, since opening days and the current exhibition change through the year.

Why we keep going back

• Free and unhurriedNo ticket to buy and no permanent collection to work through, so you can stay for ten minutes or an afternoon without feeling you owe the place anything.
• Always changingExhibitions turn over through the year, which makes it a proper reason to head into Oxford again rather than a one-and-done attraction.
• A shop and a cafeThe shop is good for catalogues, prints and gifts, and the cafe is a calm spot to sit before you rejoin the crowds on the high street.
• Genuinely family-friendlyThe learning and community programme runs from early-years families to teenagers and adults, so it works with children in tow, not just despite them.
• WeatherproofAn easy, engaging hour whatever the sky is doing, which counts for a lot when a Cotswold morning turns wet.

Making a day of it in Oxford

We rarely come in just for the gallery. Oxford is about forty minutes from the cottage door, roughly twenty miles down through Woodstock, and Pembroke Street is an easy walk from the Westgate car park or the park-and-ride buses if you would rather leave the car outside the centre. From the gallery you are minutes from the covered market for lunch, Christ Church Meadow for a stretch of green, and the grander museums across town. Pair Modern Art Oxford with the encyclopaedic Ashmolean Museum for old masters and antiquities, or the wonderfully atmospheric Pitt Rivers Museum if the children prefer shrunken heads to abstract canvases. A morning of one and an afternoon of the other, with lunch somewhere in between, makes a full and satisfying day out of the city.

Closer to home, and getting there

If a full Oxford day feels like too much with young children, there is culture closer to base. The Oxfordshire Museum in Woodstock is a gentle, family-sized stop a short drive from the cottage and sits neatly on the route into the city. When you do commit to Oxford, aim to arrive before the lunchtime rush for parking, and keep an eye on the gallery's opening days, as it closes on Mondays and shortens its Sunday hours. For more ideas across the county, our full guide to things to do and see runs from grand houses to riverside walks.

“It's the gallery I'd recommend to anyone who thinks they don't like contemporary art. Walk in with no expectations, stay for an hour, and something will catch you off guard.”

Visit the official site →

Also nearby

• Ashmolean Museum · Museum · Oxford
• Pitt Rivers Museum · Museum · Oxford
• The Oxfordshire Museum · Museum · Woodstock
• Oxford · City · Oxfordshire