Contemporary Art Museums in London

This is Practicality v Art contained in a neat little riverside package—a slender but intriguing collection offering a brief distraction from a Southbank stroll. When it opened in 1989, under the watchful eye of Sir Terence Conran, it was the world's first museum to be entirely focused on 20th century design, including graphics, fashion, architecture, industry, manufacturing and interiors. Anything goes with these exhibits from iconic packaging to concepts in video gaming, and Manolo Blahnik shoe designs to Vogue photography. The museum is limited to two floors and the showcases are constantly renewed. There's also a Conran restaurant, Blue Print Café, and a fabulous view of the Thames River and Tower Bridge.

This influential Hampstead gallery will appeal to fans of modern architecture, designed and lived in by one of the founders of the British modernist movement, Ernö Goldfinger. If you're thinking you've heard that surname before, you're right: James Bond's creator and fellow Hampstead resident, Ian Fleming, allegedly gave Bond's arch enemy the architect's name when Fleming objected to him demolishing the existing heritage cottages to make way for his contemporary terrace. Although Goldfinger's private art collection still resides here, and includes important works by Marcel Duchamp, Max Ernst and Henry Moore, it's the building's large, open interior that commands the most attention: the clever use of color; the obsessions with wood and concrete; and the eye-catching spiral staircase designed by Anglo-Danish engineer Ove Arup. Be warned, entry times are hourly and by tour only, plus facilities are very limited (restricted wheelchair access, no toilets, no refreshments and no parking).

Cutting-edge art and design housed in possibly London's most peculiar building. Built in the 1980s (and boy does it show), the Barbican Centre is billed as Europe's largest cultural complex. It's actually two galleries for the price of one: The Gallery, on the third floor of this labyrinthine monstrosity, favors touring exhibits to keep things fresh (roughly seven shows a year). The rotation brings in elements of fine art, architecture, fashion and design, but is particularly well-known for photography. The second gallery, The Curve—so called because of its long bent shape—commissions new installations from top contemporary artists. You could literally spend an entire day at The Barbican filling your boots with culture; there's also a concert hall, two theatres, a cinema, and public library. Check out the recently refurbished Searcys Restaurant and with its sleek new design and sweeping views of the London skyline.

An avant-garde space fueled by the world of business. It seems an odd pairing, especially when you think of all those ghastly works of art in skyscraper foyers in cities around the world. Better to have all the great art collected in one place, wouldn't you agree? Well, Bloomberg, the king of business TV, has taken the fiscal-meets-fine-art idea and transposed it into a highly innovative venue. This isn't your run-of-the-mill contemporary corporate art, this is large and intrepid. The ceilings are especially high and aid the artists in providing a larger and wholly differing sense of perspective. As well as intriguingly themed collections—such as an exhibition about prison—there are commissioned installations by solo artists: for example, the bold wall paintings of Brit Paul Morrison and the neon explorations of Frenchman Bertrand Lavier. Plus, it's only a five-minute walk through the impressive Liverpool Street new business district to the delicious Turkish restaurant, Haz.

As the name suggests, this the UK's first (and possibly only) museum dedicated to kinetic, electronic and experimental art. Everything here explores the world of movement where shapes, rhythm, light, energy and sound combine in some sort of quirky science lab. Whilst it conveys the essence of London's East End—fashionable, funky and left field—it also quaintly juxtaposes the ‘olde world' feel of its Spitalfields Market setting. The installations utilize new media and audiovisual technology and the work is often created by up-and-coming artists. Recent highlights include suspended pens that draw light beams on the floor and a sonic exhibit called Soundwaves. Overall, it's a fun way to spen an hour or two after exploring the vintage clothing stores in the (usually) chilly market. It's also just a two-minute walk from the highly regarded St. John Bread & Wine bistro.

Like The Barbican, the Whitechapel Art Gallery is a one-stop shop for culture, offering a host of events, talks, discussions, films, music and poetry, as well as art installations. If possible, wait until Spring of 2009 to visit because by then the £13 million expansion program will be complete, and what was once the old library will be transformed into three new galleries and a street-facing café. It seems London's contemporary art scene feels most at home in the East End. The Barbican, Bloomberg SPACE and Kinetica are all in East London, and all less than 15 minutes walk from each other. Indeed, it's not impossible to visit all three in one day.