Best Contemporary Art Museums

2 min read

When we talk about museums, the first thing that comes to mind is usually a solemn building with exhibits from hundreds and thousands of years ago. However, museums can do more than just show things that once were – they can also show things that are now. Here are the most amazing museums of contemporary art.

Los Angeles

There are actually two entries in this fine city worthy of our attention. The Los Angeles County Museum of Art, or LACMA, is one of the largest of its kinds and, without a doubt, the largest in the western part of the US. You can find works by Barbara Kruger, Jeff Coons, and Cindy Sherman as displayed by the Broad Contemporary Art Museum, a fascinating building that came to be open to the public in 2008.

Our second LA museum is the Museum of Contemporary Art, or MOCA. There are around 7 thousand pieces of American and European art here and this forty-year-old marvel has had a significant influence on how we view modern art. There is even a slim possibility that these two institutions might merge, but that is a topic for another day.

Guggenheim Bilbao

No, it is not the one founded by Frank Lloyd Wright. This one is in Spain and its building, interestingly enough, is older than the works that can be found inside. An important piece of its architecture is its virtual building, designed and constructed with the help of CATIA, or computer-aided three-dimensional interactive application. The museum fits in nicely into its urban surroundings, with its glass and metal construction. One of the artists that were lucky enough to have his art displayed is Richard Serra, notable for his contributions to the Process Art Movement. His sculpture, the Snake, can be seen at Guggenheim Bilbao.

Moderna Museet Stockholm

It is always wonderful to come across a museum of art funded by the government. It was originally opened in a location that used to be a drill hall in the late 1950s, but has since moved once or twice. Salvador Dali, Pablo Picasso, and Marcel Duchamp are just a few of several notable artists whose works decorate the walls and halls of this fine institution. The museum also features the one-and-only Pontus Hultén Collection and boasts an attraction not found in many places – a sculpture park. The exhibitions of contemporary art are available to the public all year round.

The Museum of Contemporary Art Shanghai

A non-profit institution that is the final entry of our humble list is the Museum of Contemporary Art Shanghai. It is not just for the established artists, as many emerging figures that might make a great impact on the world of art also have the opportunity to show what they have to offer to the global artistic stage. If you get tired by the art exhibits and need to take a break and a bite – there is the restaurant on the third floor, called MOCA on the Park.