The Arts Club wouldn’t be The Arts Club without one thing. The art of course! The prestigious club’s curators Amelie von Wedel and Pernilla Holmes of Wedel Fine Art have created an exciting and comprehensive collection which highlights the best of modern art including temporary exhibitions emerging new artists.
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Q and A with Wedel Fine Art
The curators of The Arts Club’s collections discuss the outstanding pieces
By Jon Sharpe, Chief Creative Officer
Q: How did your relationship with the Arts Club begin?
We were working with one of the owners on their private art collection, and he had the vision to have leading contemporary art hanging in The Arts Club.
Q: What was the brief for the Club's permanent collection?
We have no strict curatorial remit – it was really about finding works that felt right. However a few loose themes emerged.
We liked the idea of having works by artists who have been very influential to younger artists, such as John Stezaker, Stephen Prina and John Baldessari. In reference to the portraits of esteemed members that historically hung on the club's walls, we wanted to play with contemporary notions of portraiture, such Allan McCollum's conceptual take and our room of George Condo paintings – an artist who paints a twisted cast of characters and inner psyches. And we wanted to play with the space itself. For example, where traditionally you would have had a grand chandelier over the staircase, artist Tomas Saraceno – whose heady works dream of sky-bourn utopias – selected a large hanging sculpture.
Q: In what way does the goal for the temporary collections differentiate from the permanent collection?
With the permanent collection we wanted to create a collection of substance that might inspire wonder when people first saw it, but that also the works would feel like old friends to the regular members. With the exhibition programme we are keen to keep the space dynamic, introducing members and the public to some of the many amazing artists and movements, emerging and established, out there. That said, we would happily collect all of the artists we show for any permanent collection – we need more space.
Q: If there was one piece of the Club's collection that you'd advise anyone to visit, what would it be?
It's too hard to choose! Come and see them all.
Q: What would be your dream exhibition commission for the Club be?
Every exhibition we do is our dream exhibition – so right now it's Marie Lund and Samuel Levi Jones.
Q: Which artists are you loving right now?
We are generally looking a lot at art from the 60s and 70s, looking outside the limited narrative of modernism as a western white male phenomenon and expanding it to include some of the many amazing artists working in this period from around the globe. And we are always loving and keeping a very keen eye on emerging artists.
