With fame and fortune, many celebrities, sports figures, and entrepreneurs have experienced an influx of wealth and begin to buy art, jewelry, cars, wine and memorabilia. When the money begins to flow, it is common that a high-profile buyer experiences vulnerability.
It is essential that structures are put into place to protect the high-profile client from being taken advantage of.
In Part 1 of our latest webinar series, we will provide specific tools and case studies to assist in protecting the high-profile client.
Join Us Thursday, December 3rd, 10 am PST / 1 pm EST.
TOPICS TO BE DISCUSSED
- How do you buy luxury assets with intelligence and at the right price and in the right venue?
- How to avoid the lure of the “hot for a hot second” artist?
- How do you sell collections to obtain the highest revenue?
- How do you insure, store and ship collections correctly?
PANELISTS
OUR HIGH-PROFILE CLIENT DIVISION
We understand the unique challenges facing our clients and can offer high-profile individuals a full suite of services, and related white-glove concierge support, on a global scale.
We’re experienced working with actors and celebrities, directors and producers, musicians, athletes, models, authors, journalists, and industry executives. Offering the high-quality, collection-specific solutions to help make informed decisions around the strategic, long-term management of fine art, jewelry, and other high-value collectibles.
Further Reading
- High-Profile Client Collections & Sudden Wealth Syndrome
- Helping the High-Profile Client Buy Luxury Assets
Hello from Charlotte, N.C.!
Instant wealth and fame at a young age offers great opportunity. But adding the expertise of an art advisor gives those with sudden early success the enhanced prospect to pursue a sound and wise investment strategy in tangible assets.
This crucial need for the suddenly wealthy crystalized for us when our senior jewelry appraiser and I met with a newly contracted professional athlete, his business manager and risk manager to discuss and implement a plan of action when acquiring unique and unusual luxury timepieces. Throughout 2019 and 2020 this client made a substantial investment in what can be a robust and volatile collecting market, often working directly with dealers and without sound guidance from experts in terms of investment. In one instance before working with us, this client acquired an 18-karat yellow-gold Rolex Daytona set with diamonds and sapphires for $70,000 – a big purchase for a young man who overnight went from less than $20,000 a year to over $5 million a year!
In the late spring of 2020, a trusted friend and insurance broker called me to ask if we could establish appropriate retail replacement values for this growing collection. Our appraisal process began like any other: confirming available dates, scheduling onsite appointments, completing inspection and beginning valuation research. However, during this process we learned that our client had significantly overpaid for a watch that regularly retails for $25,000. A delicate conversation followed in which our team discussed the details of the luxury timepiece market and how to avoid overpaying in the future.
This made me pause and realize that most appraisers and art advisors are accustomed to opining on a range of tangible assets, such as jewelry, luxury accessories, rare automobiles and similar asset classes for private clients. However, there exists another segment of high net-worth individuals whose youth, wealth and celebrity regularly bring new challenges to their financial advisors and business managers. These individuals are often household names, from actors and celebrities to models or government officials – all people who have attained fame and wealth but have neither the time nor expertise to manage the range of investment-quality tangible assets that exist within their collections.
Although the enormous cash influx realized by many of these high-profile clients is properly protected by a team of business managers, wealth managers, accountants and attorneys, suitable guidance from an experienced art advisor who understands the challenges of the tangible asset market is missing. As a result, seemingly common purchases like a fine Swiss timepiece, a luxury handbag or a work of art from an emerging artist can become unstable investments.
SUDDEN WEALTH SYNDROME
Sudden Wealth Syndrome, a term coined by psychologist Stephen Goldbart to describe the stress, guilt, and social isolation that often accompanies a large windfall, often strikes first-round NFL draft picks, overnight IPO millionaires and actors plucked from obscurity. Sudden wealth can overwhelm those who have made it big and encourage overspending coupled with poor decisions when making a significant purchase. The result can be financial ruin. Goldbart and his associates at the Money, Meaning & Choices Institute say that much like the four stages of grief, there are four stages people go through when coming to terms with their new wealth:
- Honeymoon: Like the beginning of a romantic relationship, people who come into money feel powerful and invulnerable. Many go on spending sprees, buying things and making risky investments which often lead to disastrous results.
- Wealth Acceptance: A realization that there are unknown factors associated with wealth and the need to set limits.
- Identity Consolidation: During this stage, people accept that they are now rich but realize that their money does not define who they are.
- Stewardship: In the final phase, people reach a mature resolution of what their money means to them and have established a plan for what to do with their money in terms of personal, family and philanthropic missions.
These cash windfalls are a nice problem to have; however, there are numerous stories detailing the recently wealthy burning though their money in just a few short years, ending up with a collection of expensive toys and objects that hold little return on investment. There are important pitfalls to avoid particularly when managing investment quality tangible assets – the first step being to assemble the right team of experts.
A QUALIFIED ART ADVISOR OFFERS PROTECTION
All newly minted high-profile clients should be encouraged to hire and consult with an art advisor. In fact, it is paramount that the client hires an art advisory firm with a vast range of specialists, experts and conservators who can consult and bring significant insight to any asset class including expert purchase negotiations on the client’s behalf. This team can provide expert advice and analysis on the acquisition of a new asset whether it is a piece of jewelry, sports memorabilia or something more traditional such as a first-edition manuscript. Additionally, an art advisory firm can provide an unbiased opinion on the quality of the investment as well as the condition of the object, steering the client to more solid footing in terms of the client’s overall investment portfolio and potential long-term gains.
Secondly, avoid the dealer dilemma! While a traditional retail setting such as a gallery, fine art show or fine jewelry salon can be an interesting arena to acquire unique and unusual tangible assets, there is a built-in bias on the dealer’s behalf. The seller’s goal is to garner the highest amount possible for any object marketed or sold. Additionally, while a collector’s discount can often be negotiated, the seller has the upper hand because the seller’s understanding of the market is greater. In many cases, and particularly with our watch-collecting client, we see specific instances where high-profile clients are taken advantage of even with negotiated discounts, simply due to the fact that there is money to spend and impulse to buy without sound financial guidance.
In this circumstance, it is important for high-profile clients to have knowledgeable professionals advocating on their behalf in order to avoid additional pitfalls to acquisition, such as authenticity, fakes and forgeries, clear title and condition issues.
When acquiring high value tangible assets, the most important factor beyond understanding value is due diligence. Before payment is made, the potential owner should have a complete grasp of the item’s condition, including previous conservation or restoration. A solid and transparent provenance should also be available to the buyer and his or her team, thus providing a clear knowledge of authenticity and title which alleviates concern surrounding fakes and forgeries. Without proper due diligence, a $250,000 purchase can depreciate to $1,000 in the blink of an eye!
Finally, when working with an art advisory firm, many of the unseen details of acquisition are instantly handled by an experienced team and vetted third-party sources solving unforeseen concerns such as framing, conservation, repair, shipping, fine art storage and other needs associated with ownership of high value tangible assets. It is important for a high-profile client to “not go it alone” because doing so could have unwanted ramifications. For instance, storing a high value painting or print in an untested storage facility could mean significant financial losses if this facility does not meet appropriate standards. Further, if a work requires conservation or repair, an art advisory firm is able to facilitate the proper way forward. In many cases, if an owner does not hire the appropriate conservator, which is often designated by the artist or maker’s estate, foundations and/or other top experts, then a significant loss in value is imminent.
The art market is often considered by many to be the last great unregulated segment of the financial market and can often make for a treacherous experience for new collectors without the proper guidance.
OUR HIGH-PROFILE CLIENT DIVISION
We understand the unique challenges facing our clients and can offer high-profile individuals a full suite of services, and related white-glove concierge support, on a global scale.
We’re experienced working with actors and celebrities, directors and producers, musicians, athletes, models, authors, journalists, and industry executives. Offering the high-quality, collection-specific solutions to help make informed decisions around the strategic, long-term management of fine art, jewelry, and other high-value collectibles.
FURTHER READING
A client has put this impressive work by contemporary street artist Retna for auction. The work They Can’t Come is one of the largest pieces of Retna’s to go to sale.
Heritage Auctions
Urban Art Signature Auction
Lot 66039
RETNA (B. 1979)
They Can’t Come
2015
Acrylic on canvas
96 x 120 inches (243.8 x 304.8 cm)
Signed, dated, and titled in ink to verso
OUR SERVICES
Offering expert Advisory across sectors, our dedicated Advisory and Sales Agency teams combine strategic insight with transparent advice to guide our clients seamlessly through the market. We always welcome the opportunity to discuss our strategies and services in depth.
Following the success of our previous Virtual Breakfast Briefing back in July, this season’s Breakfast Briefing continues the trend of the virtual replacing the traditional IRL events, normally held at Christie’s, Sotheby’s, or Phillips around the world.
Senior Director Morgan Long and Managing Director Guy Jennings sat in virtual conversation with Philip Hoffman, discussing the recent auction sale results, and debating the movements and currents of the art market over the past few months.
The art world is an unregulated and opaque market with significant private and public transactions. Advisors guide collectors and investors, ensuring they do not overpay while offering discipline and market analytics. This model doesn’t necessarily exist when acquiring jewelry. Retail prices are often higher than the intrinsic value of the material and stones, and clients are shocked to discover their fair market value.
Jewelry connoisseurs understand the three c’s (cut, clarity, and carat) but are unaware of additional factors influencing value. Color saturation is important, and its interpretation and identification change as the market evolves. When diamonds are mounted, color can be enhanced by the mount or foil backing. Additionally, the mount or cut of the stone can hide flaws. This isn’t always disclosed when acquired through a dealer or designer, and accompanying certificates give the client a false sense of security.
It is imperative to work with a knowledgeable advisor such as The Fine Art Group’s Advisory Team when acquiring jewelry and loose stones. The following article discusses the myths surrounding red diamonds, highlighting the importance of seeking experienced advisory when navigating the jewelry market, as independent advisors can bring discipline, market analytics and due diligence to collecting.
The Diamond Investment & Intelligence Centre (DICE), Published August 9, 2020
RED DIAMONDS: UNDERSTANDING THEIR RARITY
Red diamonds are not the rarest color in the world! Now we can review the myths…
There are other colors that are rarer such as violet, purple and orange. So why are people under the impression that red diamonds are the rarest? There are so many individuals in the world that claim they know how many red diamonds exist. Some auction houses claim that there are only 29 red diamonds in existence. That is false. Some dealers claim that there are only 30 red diamonds in the world, which is also false. Even some geological websites claim that red diamonds are the rarest colors, which is also false. Do red diamonds even exist? if so, how many do exist? and if they don’t exist, then why does the GIA (Gemological Institute of America) certifies them as such?
What are the various theories? What is the truth about red diamonds? How many exist? These are all very good questions, and it is time to address them all properly.
RED DIAMONDS THEORY #1
The Argyle mine in Australia produces 90% of all pink and red diamonds.
It is believed that the majority (90% as stated) of all pink and red diamonds are mined in the Argyle mine. This theory can be easily verified. There are official documents (mostly Kimberly Process) that can trace back the majority of rough diamonds to mines and therefore we can use this method as a way to verify. Some red diamonds were found in India decades ago from the Golconda region which was also famous for its blue diamonds. This can also be verified as the GIA can easily determine the origin of such diamonds. If we go back less than 40 years, we will find that the Argyle mine has indeed produced the vast majority of pink and red diamonds; just follow the money and sales…
RED DIAMONDS THEORY #2
There are only 29 or 30 red diamonds in existence.
That is completely false. I am personally aware of at least 100 red diamonds in existence, and I am sure that some of the top fancy color diamond dealers that trade in red diamonds are aware of a few more…There is a single collection that has 51 red diamonds in it, from as large as a 4.59 carat red diamond to a 0.24 carat red diamond. With a total weight of just above 50 carats. There is another large collection of 25 red diamonds.
A very well-known dealer, who also produced a rare diamond cross with 11 red diamonds in it, has many other red diamonds in his personal collection. There is an online dealer (which has the largest diamond collection offered on the internet) that has more than 25 red diamonds listed. Let’s not forget that there are many other red diamonds owned by private individuals that have been acquired over the years that we are not aware of.
RED DIAMONDS THEORY #3
Are red diamonds real? The answer is yes, but only relatively recent.
The best-known gemological laboratory is the GIA based in New York and Carlsbad, with many more satellite labs around the world. Before the 1970’s color diamonds were such a rarity that they were discarded by the trade. The GIA started certifying red diamonds only recently (as recent as the 80’s). Prior to that they were all certified as pink diamonds, and in fact, if we look at the pink diamond color chart by the GIA, we will find that at the bottom right corner, there is an area called Fancy Red.
That is the reason that the red color has only 4 categories; Fancy Brownish Red, Fancy Orangy Red, Fancy Red and Fancy Purplish Red. You will not find a single GIA certificate that certifies a red diamond as Intense Red or Vivid Red. The most desired color is Fancy Purplish Red. It has a more lively color than a pure Fancy Red color, and therefore more attractive to the eye. A pure Fancy Red diamond has a more dull color.
RED DIAMONDS THEORY #4
The current largest certified red diamond is the 5.11 carat Moussaieff Red diamond. It has a flawless clarity. There are 2 more known certified red diamonds in the 5 carat size, there is a 4.59 carat red diamond and then the weight scale goes down to the 2.00-3.00 carat area with a 2.71, a 2.29 carat, a 2.26, a 2.11 carat, a 2.09, a 2.06 carat, a 2.03 and a 2.00 (to my knowledge). Then we go down into the 1.00-1.99 weight area with many more.
I heard that there is a 3 carat red diamond that exist, but I have not seen the certificate to confirm it myself. The vast majority of red diamonds are below the 0.50 carat mark. It is extremely rare to find red diamonds with clarities better than SI1. The vast majority are SI1 and below down to an I3 (or half cert). Rarely we see a VS2 or better such as the 2.11 Argyle Everglow. Such a combination makes a Red diamond extremely rare and very much desired by investors and collectors.
RED DIAMONDS THEORY #5
There are not many red diamonds sold in auctions.
It is true that since 1987 when the 0.95 carat round brilliant Hancock Red Diamond was sold for whopping $880k (a newsworthy sum at the time), there have been only 22 red diamonds (or 25 if we count multi red diamond jewelry pieces) that have been offered and sold at auction. The question is why not more red diamonds have been offered (like blue and pink diamonds)? The answer is simple. The vast majority of people, including dealers, do not really understand red diamonds and therefore prefer not to deal with them, unless they have a client that specifically asks for one.
Another famous red diamond that sold at auction, which also holds the current record price per carat for any red diamond sold at auction, is the 2.09 carat, Fancy Red, Heart Shape, with SI2 clarity. It was sold by Moussaieff. It was sold in November 2014 at a Christie’s auction in Hong Kong for over $2.4 million per carat. This 2.09 is the perfect example proving the Red Diamonds Theory #3. This 2.09 carat red diamond was an Argyle tender diamond which was certified as a pink diamond when it was offered.
CONCLUSION
This article summarizes the information and theories about red diamonds and their rarity. Are red diamonds rare? Yes. Are red diamonds the rarest color on earth? No. Violet and purple are; both in terms of quantities as well as in sizes. There are no pure violet and purple diamonds in the 5 carat size like red, not even a single diamond.
When buying a red diamond, one has to work with a trusted advisor that will not have a conflict of interest. The advisor will point out those red diamonds that may have a brown tint or an orange tint to it which should be avoided. The advisor will also help in properly valuing such a diamond and will also help acquire such a rarity.
Read this article at The Diamond Investment & Intelligence Centre (DICE).
What happens when the title event of Frieze week is a no show? It’s complicated. The fairs themselves – Frieze London, Frieze Masters, an already postponed Photo London – mostly moved online, although 1:54 optimistically went ahead with an IRL event at Somerset House.
Some Frieze week absences are welcome – the tired feet, gallery dinner malaise, bushels of Gail’s Bakery receipts – but, unsurprisingly, without the usual international traffic in town, the mood was and remains calm, steady, muted. Without marquee auctions accompanying the week – the biggest sales to coincide with Frieze week were Christie’s mixed offerings in New York and Sotheby’s successful contemporary sale in Hong Kong – the heat of blue chip commerce has been deferred in London to later this month.
The online iterations of Frieze and Frieze Masters, finely tuned technologically and stronger than most, generally contributed to the growing consensus that we’ve passed peak online viewing room. Bigger galleries reported meaningful sales, but there were few surprises. No fair passes without Hauser & Wirth pointedly announcing sales of at least several objects for several million each, yet there seemed to be little mention of reported sales from Frieze Masters.
While operating at a less frenetic pace there is nonetheless considerable depth to the museum and gallery schedule in London. The closest the week came to the usual fair buzz was a few hours on the afternoons of Thursday 8th and Friday 9th October on Cork Street. Blue chips Lisson and Sadie Coles have opened temporary spaces on the street, both until the end of October. While South Africa’s Goodman Gallery is a relatively new but permanent addition to the new Cork Street development which has stood empty for more than eighteen months. Outsize at the north end of the street is the new venture Saatchi Yates. Nearly three years in the making, the business is run by Phoebe Saatchi (daughter of Charles) and her husband Arthur Yates. The opening show – a young artist, Pascal Sender – is reportedly close to selling out, with large works priced at 50,000 – 60,000 GBP.
Typically the time of year for grand openings, there are further new spaces in the city. Dealer Ben Hunter has taken on White Cube’s first space at 44 Duke Street, opening with a sell-out show of paintings by Sarah Ball. Soon to open on Margaret Street, Fitzrovia is Workplace Gallery – headquartered in Gateshead – with a solo presentation by young painter Louise Giovanelli. Other galleries opened temporary off-sites in the centre of town – most notably Rome’s Galleria Lorcan O’Neill in Mayfair, Project Native Informant in Soho and Edel Assanti at St Cyprian’s Church in Baker Street.
Long in the making is the opening of Cromwell Place, a much talked about development of several South Kensington town houses into a commercial arts ‘hub’, with gallery spaces for hire, offices, club rooms and professional storage. Conceived several years ago as a response to the increasingly peripatetic nature of the art market and the focus on particular, seasonal moments in the city, the operation has nonetheless opened with a mixed offering of current occupants, most notably Lehmann Maupin – who appear to be longer term residents than others – and Edinburgh’s Ingleby Gallery.
Commercial shows in town remain strong, with or without the fair. Dana Schutz at Thomas Dane is a relative ‘must see’ (until 19 December 2020), as is Howard Hodgkin at Hazlitt Holland-Hibbert (until 11 December 2020) and John Stezaker at Luxembourg & Co. (until 5 December 2020). Other presentations of note include Christina Quarles at Pilar Corrias (until 21 November 2020) and a historicising group presentation, Nude at Olivier Malingue (until 11 December 2020).
The autumn season also sees strong institutional presentations recently opened or soon to open. Critics and the commentariat have significant praise for Toyin Ojih Odutola’s solo exhibition at the Barbican (until 24 January 2021), and group shows including The Botanical Mind: Art, Mysticism and The Cosmic Tree at Camden Arts Centre (until 23 December 2020) and Not Without My Ghosts: The Artist as Medium at the Drawing Room (until 1 November 2020). Bruce Nauman’s retrospective at Tate Modern, the artist’s first major show in London for twenty years, presents one of conceptual art’s most provocative proponents in depth (until 21 February 2021).
Soon to open, and hotly anticipated, are the solo surveys of Lynette Yiadom-Boake (18 November – 9 May 2021, Tate Britain) and Zanele Muholi (5 November – 7 March 2021, Tate Modern). We’re also excited to see Tracey Emin / Edvard Munch at the Royal Academy of Arts (15 November – 28 February 2021). And, continuing the yBa theme, Damien Hirst’s self-mounted early career survey at the Newport Street Gallery (until 7 March 2021).
The woes facing the museum sector – Tate especially – are myriad. And staff at leading institutions, including the Royal Academy of Arts, have been vocal in their criticism of the organisation’s financial priorities following announcements of large redundancies and cost cutting. Commercial galleries are likewise working harder than usual to turn the wheels of commerce without the heat, buzz and noise of the art fair circuit. So the current outlook for the London arts scene is one of great resilience, yes, but also enormous flux. While a little stilted compared to other years, the exhibition schedule in London should remind us of its place – come what may in January 2021 with our departure from the European Union – as one of the world’s most important ecosystems for modern and contemporary art.
Image 1: Image courtesy The Art Newspaper; Image 2: Image courtsey Novaloca; Image 3: Image courtesy Cromwell Place; Image 4: Image courtesy Hazlitt Holland-Hibbert; Image 5: Image courtsey Barbican; Image 6: Image courtesy artnet news
FURTHER READING
- What Will Collectors Buy in 2022?
- Market Update: How the Art Market Joined the Digital Age
- Commentary: Will Online Platforms Kill Art Fairs?
Leize Gaillard of William Means Real Estate located in Charleston, SC, recently featured The Fine Art Group Southeastern Regional Representative, Shane David Hall, in her October Newsletter.
Leize is a twelfth generation native to Charleston – this long familiar history has encouraged her passion for Charleston architecture, historic preservation, and the real estate market. Much like The Fine Art Group, Leize appreciates the role of a trusted advisor and encourages a spirit of stewardship and transparency among clients.
Read the full newsletter here.
“This is serious business and should not be trivialized.”
Managing Director Guy Jennings comments on the recent 20th Century Evening Sale at Christie’s, arguing that its distracting entertainment should not be taken lightly, nor detract from the sales results.
To read more of Guy’s insight into the content of the sales and the overall sales statistics, please click here.
“Collectors have already adjusted to considerable uncertainty [in 2020] in every aspect of their lives, and the industry as a whole has adapted at a remarkable pace to the radically transformed trading conditions.”
Senior Director Morgan Long comments on the latest Christie’s 20th-Century Evening Sale, and how it reflects that collectors have already fully adjusted to these times of uncertainty.
To read more about the auction results and the high-tech, live-streamed event, click here to read the article in full.
By Jonathan Levy, Head of DACH Region
The German-speaking Art world emerged from this year’s seemingly endless summer, with a hat trick of overlapping gallery weekends. Zurich, Munich and Berlin all opened their respective versions of the Corona-friendly format on the second weekend of September, to regional visitors anxious to experience Art IRL.
My forays took me to most galleries, museums and artist-run spaces in and around Zurich, followed by a day trip to Munich, where I was able to visit two extraordinary exhibitions at the Museum Brandhorst and immerse myself in the Bavarian capital’s gallery scene.
ZURICH ART WEEKEND
My Zurich Art Weekend started on Thursday evening, with a visit to Acrush, a production company on the industrial outskirts of Zurich. Acrush works with international galleries, museums and artists to realize ambitious large-scale commissions and exhibition projects. The impressive roster of artists includes names like Urs Fischer, Rob Pruitt, Paul McCarthy and the American artist, Darren Bader, with whom Acrush produced a special AI-experience to mark the occasion.
Bader’s work falls into a variety of categories, including “trash”- and “impossible” sculptures, “pairings” and “collaborative installations”. Using a range of experimental media, Bader explores inter-connections between seemingly disparate narratives and objects and presents the viewer with surprising and often humorous juxtapositions. In the current exhibition, entitled “Character Study”, Bader expands and confuses the object nature of art. He presents an experience in augmented reality that merges guided city walks in New York and Zurich, simultaneously. These walks are accompanied by an AR-character that can be produced and purchased in any desired scale. One version of the 3D character – part turtle, part cartoon – is placed at the centre of the exhibition space. The walls show posters of “Scott Mendes”, Bader’s fictitious travel agent, whom the artist developed as a mobile application for the 2019 Venice Biennale, to add an extra layer of content to the already crowded Arsenale and Central Pavillion exhibitions.
Over at Karma International, visitors are invited to explore the gallery’s massive 2-floor extension in an empty furniture showroom. The group exhibition in the new space combines exceptional works on paper by Meret Oppenheim and Bauhaus stage proposals by Xanti Schawinsky from the 1930s, with large paintings by Ida Ekblad and installation pieces by Sylvie Fleury, Pamela Rosenkranz, Ser Serpas and Vivian Suter.
Across the street, the gallery presents an exhibition curated by former artistic director of Documenta, Adam Szymczyk. The show is dedicated to Elisabeth Wild, whose colourful geometric collages, made from found magazine clippings, contrast against works by Raúl Itamar Lima and Sophie Thun.
The Swiss response to London’s Mayfair gallery scene, is the area between the infamous Kronenhalle restaurant and the soon-to-be opened, David Chipperfield-designed Kunsthaus.
Opening on Friday afternoon, ZAW-visitors were invited to discover shows by Georg Baselitz (Levy Gorvy with Rumbler), Mira Schor (Fabian Lang Gallery), Jannis Kounellis (Larkin Erdmann), Matt Mullican (Galerie Mai 36) and Sarah Slappey (Gallery Maria Bernheim). Galerie Eva Presenhuber opened a new gallery on Waldmannstrasse, with a solo exhibition of large, colourful works by the American painter, Joe Bradley.
Next door, at Tobias Mueller Modern Art, visitors are greeted by wall-mounted installations and large paintings by American artists, including Julian Schnabel, Terry Winters, Virginia Overton, Philip Taafe and Tim Rollins & K.O.S (Kids of Survival). Climbing up the stairs to Galerie Bernhard on the second floor, we find an intimate display of new works by the Swiss-born, Berlin-based artist, Tobias Spichtig, whose paintings of sunglasses and resin sculptures of languid figures radiate the sense of primitive coolness inherent to underground youth culture, which creates the perfect transition from the elegant showrooms of uptown Rämistrasse to the local scene of artist- and curator run off-spaces that would round off my Zurich Art Weekend after a good night’s rest.
VARIOUS OTHERS, MUNICH
On Monday I left for Munich to catch the end of “Various Others”, a slightly different response to the Zurich and Berlin gallery weekends. The event is organized and hosted by VFAMK E.V., the Society for the Promotion of Munich’s External Perception as a Cultural Location. In this year’s edition the organizers asked local gallerists to host cooperative art projects together with other foreign gallery friends.
Galerie Nagel Draxler invited Lars Friedrich (Berlin) to its recently opened Munich dependence, for a sensual exhibition of paintings by the German abstract painter, Stefan Müller and a group of large scale leather leaves by the South Korean artist Min Yoon.
Other visiting galleries include Thomas Dane (at Jahn und Jahn), Sultana and Peres Projects (at Nir Altman), Emanuel Layr (at SPERLING) and Esther Schipper (at Walter Storms Gallery).
The highlight of my trip to Munich, however, was the impressive collection display at the Museum Brandhorst, and the fantastic mini-retrospective by Glaswegian artist, Lucy McKenzie (1977).
Walking into the museum, I stared down the barrel of Patty Hearst’s machine gun, in one of my favourite works by the American artist, Cady Noland. The menacing sculpture is placed against a huge backdrop by Louise Lawler and is flanked by two St. Petersburg-style displays of works by Andy Warhol. The Brandhorst collection spans the period from 1950 to the present day and boasts not only the largest collection of works by Warhol, but also substantial holdings of works by Cy Twombly that fill the entire upstairs galleries.
Walking down the large staircase into the museum’s belly, the first thing I notice is a long painting by Lucy McKenzie, entitled “Mooncup”, originally designed to mimic a multi-storey advertising banner. It leads into the artist’s first retrospective exhibition, which curator Jacob Proctor structures along the artist’s successive artistic phases. The show begins with a salon display of paintings, reminiscent of McKenzie’s Dundee diploma show in the late 1990s and moves through different iconic bodies of her work. The interest in painting and its conceptual potential was strongly influenced by German painters like Kai Althoff and Martin Kippenberger, whom McKenzie discovered during an Erasmus exchange in Karlsruhe. Her blown-up architectural maquettes reference the work of early modern architects like Charles Rennie Mackintosh and Adolf Loos. McKenzie creates fantastically immersive spaces that shrink the viewer and invite reflections on the power shared by architecture, design and authoritarian regimes. McKenzie’s further studies at the Van Der Kelen School for decorative painting in Belgium resulted in a series of “Quadlibet-”paintings. McKenzie uses these arranged inorganic still lives as powerful moodboards on which to experiment, juxtapose and confront themes of social and political tension. In one such moodboard McKenzie imagines the task of an interior designer, balancing colours, materials nd surfaces for a Fascist bathroom, with a glass door aptly labelled “Avanti”.
Delighted by the humorous, thought-provoking and enormously skillful display of Lucy MkKenzie’s work, I leave the museum in search of a typical Munich “Wirtshaus” and the hope that I will continue to be able to travel and experience more great exhibitions as the months get colder.