Rothko

Starts on Friday 26th September 2008 and ends on Sunday 1st February 2009

Taking Mark Rothko's canvasses of squared blocks of colour at face value, it can be hard to understand why he is revered as one of America's most significant artists. But look at his work in the context of the post-war years and you get a different perspective. In their 'New York Times' manifesto Rothko and Gottlieb advocated "the simple expression of the complex thought". They favoured "flat forms because they destroy illusion and reveal truth". This exhibition focuses on his late works including Rothko's final series of Black on Grey paintings from the late 1960s. Most interesting is the story behind the 15 Seagram murals, intended for the Four Seasons restaurant at the skyscraper Seagram Building in New York but which were famously withdrawn by the artist. For this exhibition the Tate's nine paintings from the series are finally reunited with the remaining six.

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The Unilever Series: Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster

Starts on Tuesday 14th October 2008 and ends on Monday 13th April 2009

Following on from Doris Salcedo's giant crack the Tate's vast Turbine Hall is given over to a specially commissioned work by French artist Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster. Born in Strasbourg, France in 1965, Gonzalez-Foerster now divides her time between Paris and Rio de Janeiro. The influence of the latter can be seen in some of her works which have included tropical rainfall sounds and buildings painted bright Latin colours. This significant public commission is the artist's first in the UK.

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Rodchenko & Popova: Defining Constructivism

Starts on Thursday 12th February 2009 and ends on Sunday 17th May 2009

The term Construction Art was first used by Kazimir Malevich to describe the work of Russian avant-garde artist Alexander Rodchenko in 1917 in less than flattering terms. Through this exhibition at Tate Modern of over 350 art objects largely by Alexander Rodchenko and Lyubov Popova, the intellectual concerns of the Constructivism movement are revealed. Rodchenko and Popova, leading lights of Russian Constructivism, believed art should be used for practical purposes, to transform everyday life. Works proving their point include abstract paintings, three-dimensional constructions, posters, books, and costumes, the influence of which can still be seen in everything from cinema to graphic design today.

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Futurism

Starts on Friday 12th June 2009 and ends on Sunday 20th September 2009

Key artists of the Futurism Italian art movement which came to prominence before the First World War are brought together in this exhibition at Tate Modern. It was in 1909 that Italian writer Filippo Tommaso Marinetti launched his manifesto 'Founding and First Manifesto of Futurism' in Le Figaro, giving birth to the movement. Artists including Umberto Boccioni, Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque and Jacob Epstein responded by forging a new, modern art with hard lines and abstract edges. Their work was displayed at the group Futurist exhibition at the Galerie Bernheim in Paris in 1912 which then toured to major European cities including London. Though the Estoric Collection has an excellent collection of their work, this is the first large-scale Futurism show in Britain for thirty years.

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Sold Out

Starts on Thursday 1st October 2009 and ends on Sunday 17th January 2010

Pop Art gets a radical re-sizing at Tate Modern with artists like be Andy Warhol, Jeff Koons and Damien Hirst re-examined. This exhibition takes the approach that these artists are all about the 'brand', using modern means of communication and commercialism to promote their trademark style. An interest in self-promotion and use of marketing strategies are aspects that all the artists, popular since the 1980s, have in common. The title of the exhibition is sure to raise some eyebrows and just goes to show the controversy such flagrantly commercial art stirs up.

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