Tate knows it needs to change. The top-heavy institution, comprising four museums, must scrutinise its aims and operations, including why it often fails. It hails new director Jessica Morgan as 'an agent of change', but is she really?
Morgan's background raises doubts
Morgan is a highly rated curator of contemporary art, recently leading the Dia Art Foundation in the US and with an earlier track record at Tate Modern. Yet these strengths suggest she will stay within a groove Tate is comfortable with. It's unlikely she will rush to put on a show about art and the Reformation.
Tate identifies with new art but owns a lot of old art too. The collection includes British art since 1500, but Tate Britain rarely goes back into the Tudor or Stuart ages, focusing mostly on art since the Victorians. Gainsborough gets a show next year, but Tate needs a proper plan for its older British art.
Problems at Tate Modern and Tate Britain
Tate Modern can be magnificent, like the current Ana Mendieta exhibition, but alongside it is the disappointing, over-hyped Frida Kahlo show that was obviously problematic. No one raised the alarm. The same goes for last year's dire Turbine Hall installation by Máret Ánne Sara. The faults must have been obvious, but nobody seemed to say so.
These unforced errors, including Tate Britain's ludicrously over-attitudinising collection hang, suggest a real problem with self-questioning. Tate seems to have a culture of rigid self-belief, seeing all criticism as enmity. This internal complacency needs fixing fast.
The Tate brand and future direction
An art gallery should not be a brand. Tate's transformation in the late 1990s involved hyper-marketing and PR-massaged cool. Today, its PR machine and branding seem to determine its values. The announcement of Morgan's appointment came with a list of artist endorsements – a totally unnecessary piece of pre-judging.
Morgan must totally rethink Tate, perhaps even allowing it to be called 'the' Tate. The outlets need serious attention. Tate St Ives is arguably a rather cosy sideline. The annual Turner prize is moribund. Tate is too set in its ways, too dogmatic about championing 'groundbreaking' art.
Tate needs to surprise us. Morgan may bring a fresh eye, even if she looks like a safe pair of hands who might bring more of the same. Hopefully she proves to be a revolutionary Trojan horse.
