Sam Thorne has been appointed as the new director of Nottingham Contemporary, replacing Alex Farquharson who was named director of Tate Britain in July. Thorne, who takes up the post early next year, joined Tate St Ives only last spring as artistic director.
Thorne is a contributing editor at Frieze, a visiting tutor at the Royal College of Art in London and co-founded Open School East in 2013, a fee-free art school in Hackney, east London. He says in a statement that he aims to build on “the extraordinary programme that Farquharson and the team have developed during the organisation’s first six years, and to helping articulate the next chapter.”
Thorne, who co-organised last summer’s Images Moving Out Onto Space exhibition, leaves Tate St Ives in the midst of a major refurbishment project which is due for completion in 2017. The gallery is closed until May next year with major structural work continuing on-site including the construction of a new learning and events space.
The redevelopment also includes a new extension designed by Jamie Fobert Architects, which will house a large exhibition space and a collection care suite. According to The Times, Thorne planned to launch a major survey of Patrick Heron’s work in the new gallery.
A spokeswoman for Tate says that details of the forthcoming programme have yet to be announced, adding that Thorne helped “to put in place a wide-ranging programme of exhibitions for the new galleries, which are due to open in 2017. He has also led on the pilot phase of the Artists' Programme, a range of residencies and commissions which bring international practitioners to the historic Porthmeor Studios in St Ives.”