About
The Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA) is Glasgow's contemporary art museum housed in one of the city's finest neoclassical buildings in the heart of Royal Exchange Square. Built in 1778 as the Cunninghame Mansion for wealthy tobacco lord William Cunninghame, the building later served as the Royal Exchange before opening as an art gallery in 1996.
GoMA presents an accessible, engaging approach to contemporary art with four floors of galleries showcasing Scottish and international artists working across diverse media including painting, sculpture, photography, video, installation, and new media.
The museum's collection and exhibitions focus on art made from the 1950s onwards, with particular strengths in Scottish contemporary art and socially engaged work addressing themes like identity, environment, and social justice.
GoMA is famous for the statue of Duke of Wellington outside, consistently crowned with a traffic cone by the public in Glasgow's most enduring example of street art and civic humor. The gallery's inclusive approach and free admission make contemporary art accessible to all, while its central location and beautiful architecture make it one of Glasgow's most visited cultural destinations with over 500,000 visitors annually.
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Highlights
The Duke of Wellington Statue with Traffic Cone
While not technically inside the museum, the equestrian statue of the Duke of Wellington outside GoMA's entrance has become Glasgow's most beloved piece of public art through unofficial civic participation. For decades, unknown persons have repeatedly placed traffic cones on the Duke's head, despite council removal attempts.
The cone has become a symbol of Glasgow's irreverent humor, democratic spirit, and resistance to authority.
The practice began in the 1980s and despite police surveillance, barriers, and increasing the statue's plinth height, the cone consistently reappears, sometimes within hours of removal. The phenomenon gained international attention and in 2013, Glasgow City Council finally embraced the tradition, recognizing the coned Duke as an icon of Glasgow's character.
The statue has been decorated for special occasions - rainbow cones for Pride, Santa hats for Christmas, and multiple cones for sporting victories.
It embodies Glasgow's unique cultural identity and has inspired merchandise, tourism, and even a campaign to formally recognize the cone as part of the statue.
The Neoclassical Architecture
The building housing GoMA is itself a significant architectural artwork - one of Glasgow's finest neoclassical structures.
Built in 1778 as Cunninghame Mansion for tobacco lord William Cunninghame, it exemplifies the wealth generated by Glasgow's Atlantic trade. The Corinthian portico (added when converted to Royal Exchange in 1830) is one of Scotland's grandest, creating a temple-like facade that dominates Royal Exchange Square.
Inside, the original mansion's grand staircase, ornate plasterwork ceilings, marble fireplaces, and decorative details survive, creating striking juxtapositions when contemporary art is displayed in these historic rooms. The building's transformation from private mansion to merchants' exchange to public art gallery reflects Glasgow's social and economic evolution.
Conservation of original features alongside modern gallery requirements demonstrates how historic buildings can adapt to contemporary cultural uses.
The architecture itself tells stories about Georgian Glasgow, tobacco trade wealth, Victorian commerce, and 20th-century democratization of culture.
Scottish Contemporary Art Collection
GoMA's permanent collection focuses on contemporary Scottish art with significant holdings of paintings, sculpture, photography, and mixed media from 1950s onwards. The collection documents post-war Scottish art movements and individual artists who have shaped contemporary Scottish cultural identity.
Highlights include works by Eduardo Paolozzi, John Bellany, Alison Watt, Toby Paterson, Nathan Coley, and Christine Borland.
The collection features Glasgow School of Art graduates who helped establish Glasgow's international art reputation in the 1990s. Thematic strengths include socially engaged art addressing Scottish identity, urban experience, industrial heritage, and contemporary social issues. The collection actively grows through acquisitions and donations, with curators seeking work that reflects Scotland's diversity and addresses contemporary concerns.
Regular rotations ensure fresh exhibitions from the collection, allowing visitors to encounter different works and themes. The collection serves as a resource for understanding how Scottish artists engage with international contemporary art while maintaining distinctive perspectives.
The Library
GoMA's first floor gallery houses the thematic collection display called 'The Library' - an innovative exhibition exploring how artists respond to literature, knowledge, and information systems. The gallery features works by Scottish and international artists who engage with books, reading, collecting, classification, and the dissemination of knowledge.
Highlights include installations using thousands of books, conceptual works about information overload, photographic series documenting libraries and readers, and sculptures made from paper and books.
The display changes periodically but maintains its thematic focus on literacy, libraries, and information in the digital age. Works address issues like censorship, book banning, digital versus physical media, and the future of books. The gallery's location in a former merchants' exchange (where commercial information was traded) adds resonance to explorations of knowledge and power.
Interactive elements encourage visitors to reflect on their own relationships with books and reading. This themed approach makes contemporary art accessible through familiar subject matter while raising provocative questions about knowledge in contemporary society.
Collections
GoMA's collections focus on contemporary art made from the 1950s onwards, with particular strengths in Scottish contemporary painting, sculpture, photography, craft, and applied art. The collection numbers over 8,000 objects and continues to grow through active acquisitions program and donations. Scottish art forms the core, documenting Glasgow's emergence as significant international art center in 1990s and continued vitality of contemporary Scottish artistic production.
International works complement Scottish holdings, placing Scottish art in global contemporary art context. Thematic strengths include socially engaged art, feminist art, LGBTQ+ perspectives, environmental art, and work addressing urban experience and post-industrial society. The collection includes works by Turner Prize winners, Glasgow School of Art graduates, and internationally recognized Scottish artists.
Applied art and craft collections demonstrate continued relevance of traditional materials and techniques. The collections are actively used for education, research, and changing exhibitions, with only small percentage on permanent display at any time. Works not displayed are accessible to researchers by appointment.
The Library - First Floor
Themed collection exploring how artists engage with books, reading, literacy, and information systems through diverse media.
Craft and Applied Art - Third Floor
Contemporary ceramics, glass, metalwork, textiles, and jewelry demonstrating vitality of craft in contemporary art.
Scottish Contemporary Art - Rotating Displays
Regularly changing selection from GoMA's contemporary Scottish art collection featuring paintings, sculpture, photography, and mixed media.
Current Exhibitions
No current exhibitions. Please check the museum website for updates.