A Collection with a View:
Ariane Grigoteit on the
"25" exhibition in the Deutsche Guggenheim
Dr.
Ariane Grigoteit has directed the Deutsche Bank Collection for nearly two
decades. As curator of the "25" exhibition in the Deutsche Guggenheim in
Berlin to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the collection, she has
invited prominent individuals who have accompanied the bank's art program
through the years to present their very personal perspectives on a quarter
century of art and company history. In this interview she elucidates the
unusual concept behind the exhibition and explains why art is at the heart
of the bank — and can be a challenge to many that encounter it.
Dr. Ariane Grigoteit, 2005,
Foto:
Lee Mawdsley, London
The Deutsche
Bank Collection is celebrating its 25th anniversary with a series of
events that include the jubilee exhibition "25". What awaits visitors to
the Deutsche Guggenheim?
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Exhibition design: Atrium at Deutsche
Guggenheim,
Photo: Mathias
Schormann
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Exhibition hall, Photo: Mathias Schormann
They will probably be surprised first of all, because the spectacularly
designed exhibition architecture extends the exhibition hall into the
adjoining premises. Our art has been "in the workplace" for the past 25
years, and this is precisely how this selection of works is being
presented: the biggest corporate collection in the world is being shown in
a single comprehensive museum presentation, together with its history, its
impact on the world of art, and its significance for the people who have
shared and shaped its life. We have traced its origins, and we have asked
why a financial institution such as the Deutsche Bank should have begun to
invest in art in the first place. We have asked friends and individuals
who have accompanied the bank's art program through the years to talk
about the collection, and we have invited 25 godparents to present their
personal perspective on the collection through their choice of outstanding
works from its ranks. In the course of the past 25 years, selections from
the
Deutsche Bank Collection have indeed been shown around the world in
travelling and thematic exhibitions, in the form of loans to museums, and
through guided tours in the bank's international offices. But never before
has such a comprehensive and at the same time personal perspective on the
bank's art—on the very essence of the collection—been shown.
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Beat Streuli, New York 01, 2002
Deutsche Bank Collection,
©Beat
Streuli, Courtesy Galerie Eva Presenhuber, Zurich
25 years, 25 friends—that sounds very symbolic.
"Symbolic" is
perhaps not the right term here. If you include the Curator's Choice and
Zaha Hadid's architecture, the exhibition actually comprises 27
perspectives in all — over 300 works by more than 140 artists. And the 25
godparents—whose number is admittedly inspired by the anniversary year —
have all in very special ways left their mark on the bank's art and
cultural activities. Thus not only museum directors, international
curators, gallery owners, art collectors and advisors to the collection of
many years' standing but also directors of the Deutsche Bank have been
asked to make a selection. After Herbert Zapp, those who have been
responsible for art in the bank have included Hilmar Kopper, Rolf-E.
Breuer, and today Tessen von Heydebreck. They have all commented on their
selections with characteristic individuality.
Anish Kapoor, Turning the World Upside Down III, 1996,
Deutsche Bank Collection, © Anish Kapoor, Courtesy Lisson Gallery
Thus the number 25 is if anything symbolic of the exhibition's democratic
character — also manifested by the very individual and at the same time
highly characteristic selections of the board members. We ourselves see
our commitment to art as something that is both democratic and inseparable
from our social and personal commitment. And the idea behind "Art at
Work", which is to make the bank's collection accessible to our staff
members and visitors, is an expression of this commitment. Naturally,
debates over content and controversial positions are all a part of this
process. For art is indeed uncomfortable — refusing as it does to fit into
neat categories. It demands a willingness to dare something new. Our
commitment to art cannot hope to suit all tastes. This is true both of art
within the bank and of the exhibitions in the
Deutsche Guggenheim. While exhibitions of artists such as
Kasimir Malevich,
Bill Viola, and recently
Jackson Pollock attract huge numbers of visitors, it must also be possible
to show artists such as the young Japanese photographer
Miwa Yanagi, whose art has been a revelation not only in Europe.
Miwa Yanagi, Untitled, 2004,
Deutsche Bank Collection,
©Miwa
Yanagi
Àpropos "within the bank": the
collection's special characteristic is that it does not function like a
traditional museum or art gallery. It has to assert itself in the work
place too. How is this fact reflected in the exhibition?
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