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Contemporary

New installations and additions to the collection tell the story of contemporary art in Britain.

A blurred man walks towards a stairwell with a brightly coloured mural of geometric patterns painted on the right wall

Contemporary stairwell with Lothar Götz mural

The art of the present day forms an integral aspect of the experience of visiting Pallant House Gallery.

With exciting installations and major acquisitions, we strive to continue telling the story of Modern British art right up to the present day.

Click the links below to find out more.

Overview

Highlights from the collection

 

 

Overview

Since 2006, we have commissioned contemporary artists from across the world to create work specifically for the Gallery. Our 18th century historic house in particular provides a unique setting for presenting contemporary installations. Artists such as Susie MacMurray, Cathie Pilkington and Lothar Götz have created works that have formed a fascinating dialogue with the history of house and its former occupants.

The grand staircase of the historic house in particular has been transformed numerous times. In 2006, Susie Macmurray’s Shell (2006) transformed the space with 20,000 mussel shells filled with velvet. The installation was a comment on the loveless marriage of Henry and Elizabeth Peckham, the original owners of Pallant House. A small section of this extraordinary work can often be seen hanging in the historic house to this day.

A grand wooden staircase with walls covered in mussel shells with red velvet peeking out between the shells

Danish artist Nina Saunders installation Autumn Flowers (2007-2009) similarly transformed the staircase, with hanging forms upholstered in William Morris fabric. An armchair, bulging unsettlingly can still be found within the historic house. More recently, Argentinian artist Pablo Bronstein’s Wall Pomp (2016) created extraordinary wallpapers based on overblown classical funerary monuments.

We celebrated the 10th anniversary of the opening of the contemporary wing with an installation by German artist Lothar Götz. Composition for a Staircase is a vibrant abstract mural inspired in part by some of the modern abstract paintings in the collection.

Over the last fifteen years we have also acquired over 300 contemporary prints by artists including Rachel Whiteread, Paula Rego, Gavin Turk, and David Shrigley. These acquisitions have been made possible thanks to generosity of the Golder – Thompson Gift. We have also made major acquisitions such as Sean Scully’s painting Dark Pink Triptych (2010) and Andy Goldsworthy’s Hearth Stone (2002) made of chalk from the nearby South Downs.

Highlights from the collection

A bronze sculpture painted hyper-realistically to resemble a full black bag of rubbish
Three columns of coloured blocks. The left side has four blocks in orange and pale terracota orange; the central column has four blocks of yellow and black; the final column has six blocks in red and black.
Pair of scissors set agains pink background with outlines of other objects
A four poster bed with a line of surreal dolls heads at the end and another doll with tentacle like limbs sitting at the end of the bed facing towards them.
A four poster bed with a line of surreal dolls heads at the end and another doll with tentacle like limbs sitting at the end of the bed facing towards them.
A large chalk stone incised with a square outline sitting in a period fireplace.
A huge Greek urn printed on wallpaper hanging over a grand wooden staircase.
A colourful geometric mural on the walls on a contemporary stone staircase in an art gallery.
The interior of a period house with wallpaper decorated with outsized classical buildings and architectural features against an electric blue background.
A period staircase with a red upholstered armchair with amorphous bulging out of one side at the foot of the staircase. More long upholstered forms hang down the centre of the stairwell.
A grand wooden staircase with walls covered in mussel shells with red velvet peeking out between the shells
A close up of dozens of mussel shells stuffed with red velvet.
A black and white rug in a geometric pattern laid out in front of a period fireplace in a room with floral wallpaper