A Day Out at Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA) Glasgow

While exploring Scotland, spending one day in each city, I wanted to check out a local cultural place each day! On my third and final day, I went to the Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA) in Glasgow. This art gallery was a decent size and easy to explore in a day. Unlike some of the other galleries and museums I had visited in Scotland, this one did not focus on just Scottish art. This gallery is split into for different galleries, a library, a cafe and a little gift shop, all packed in one really beautiful looking building.

The goal of the Gallery of Modern Art is to house art from local and international artists that are both well established and new on the scene. One of the balconies had a big exhibition explaining that this gallery was one of the first ones to showcase art from living artists. At the time, this was controversial, as galleries only really showcased art from those who had died and became famous afterwards. It was actually called a fad, but this fad stuck around and still showcases new art!

The GoMA has ever changing exhibitions, but when I went the gallery that stood out most for me was the one on homemaking. This area was set up with aspects of a home, from images of people being homemakers to different types of art that are based on home items. There was a wall of plates that had pictures of people from Glasgow, giving a feature on the people that were showcasing. Another bit of art in the home bit was a bunch of colorful, silly mugs on a mountain top, looking like they are a about to fall over. There was a series of pictures of a person who suffered from AIDS in his last few days of living at home, and an image of an American house that was built on contaminated land, talking about what happened to the people in that area. A giant stand showcased a bunch of different glassware techniques and another area showed ice cream paper weights. It was a very interesting look at all types of art that did fit in that home theme.

Another area had these big, red walls covered in vibrant drawings! At first, it was a heart, but another area had trees and things that seemed to link in the same way rootes and veins feel the same. Another area had some pictures and drawings from local school children, showcasing their art in a gallery like this is such a wonderful thing to do! Our middle child had her art featured at our local gallery, and it really inspired her to continue working on her art, so it’s fantastic to see that in Glasgow as well.

The Modern Art (GoMA) Glasgow also had a bunch of different statues, from massive colorful ones to smaller, more intricate ones. I quite enjoy the look of statues and the like generally so seeing the variety of types was very neat. I didn’t have as long as I would have wanted at this gallery, but I did enjoy every moment I spent there. The galleries feel small and intimate, and there wasn’t too many people when I went either, which was nice!

You can check out our other Days Out to see what else we’ve been up too!