A £1.2 million redesign of Modern Art Oxford includes an exciting new cafe Club Together, designed by famous British conceptual artist Emma Hart.
The idea behind Emma’s design for the Club Together cafe aims to celebrate raves and spaces where people come together for enjoyment and self-expression.
Which means that Hart’s specially created furniture in the café is inspired by dancing “hands in the air” which morph into seating, and tables that evoke disco lights throwing pools of coloured light onto the floor.
It’s a bold look and one that Paul Hobson, Director of Modern Art Oxford, is hugely excited about: “We are delighted to be working with David Kohn Architects to realise our vision for a major redesign of our ground floor public areas, including an incredibly exciting new destination café designed by acclaimed artist Emma Hart,” he says.
The new Modern Art Oxford café Club Together will return to the lower-ground floor and the redesign will take place next summer when the gallery closes to the public, reopening in autumn 2024.
Further redesign of the MAO ground floor layout also includes a new entrance to the main exhibition spaces, welcome desk and shop, a new ground floor gallery, specially designed creative learning studio and expanded learning spaces to vastly improve navigation, accessibility and environmental performance in the building on Pembroke Street.
Emma Hart’s vivid sculptures actively confront the viewer often by jutting out from the wall or physically encroaching on the viewer’s personal space.
In 2022 Emma Hart was awarded a Henry Moore Foundation Artist Award. In 2017 she won the Max Mara Art Prize for Women in collaboration with the Whitechapel Gallery, and in 2015 she was awarded a Paul Hamlyn Foundation award for Visual Art and her work is held in public collections including the Arts Council Collection, The Government Art Collection and the British Council Collection.
