It was formerly known as the State Museum of Contemporary Art (SMCA, Greek: Κρατικό Μουσείο Σύγχρονης Τέχνης, ΚΜΣΤ).

There are over a hundred works of art on display in the permanent exhibition, by artists such as Olga Rozanova, Nadezhda Udaltsova, Alexander Rodchenko, Solomon Nikritin, Ivan Kliun, Gustav Klutsis, Ilya Chashnik, K. Ender, Aleksandr Drevin, I. Kudriashev, A. Sofronova, and K. Vialov.

The exhibitions Composition and Constructions, that referred to international Constructivism, and Nikitin and Kliun, with works from the Costakis collection, took place in 2003.

The works are by well-known artists like Kazimir Malevich, Vladimir Tatlin, Wassily Kandinsky, El Lissitzky, and Lyubov Popova, among others.

Notable among them are The Chapel of the Heavenly Stairway by Stylianos Antonakos, Gridlock by Chris Giannakos and Group of Four Figures by Joannis Avramidis,[3] all Greek artists of the diaspora.