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First edition of a series of exhibitions showing the diversity of approaches in collecting contemporary art, in and out of Luxembourg. Every exhibition is a subjective view, by one or several curators of Mudam, on a private collection.
A collection is not develop in the same way by a museum than it is by a private collector. Unlike the museum (which seeks, regardless of the nature of its collection, a certain objectivity according to criteria defined by specific knowledge and occurring within an institutional framework related to structures of the same type), the private collector sets his own ground rules, the first of which is to follow his whims.
A private collection is a grouping which reflects the lifestyle and wishes of its author who, in daily life, surrounds himself with artworks and objects that are pleasing and enriching. In a way, the collector carries out a personal quest made unique by his knowledge, judgement, flair and audacity.
Collecting is therefore not just some insignificant activity. It involves, first of all, personal commitment. The collector establishes a collection which in return establishes himself. This is even more true in the case of a collector interested in contemporary art: very often acquiring a contemporary work of art involves meeting the artist and, consequently, a dialogue and a special relationship is established.
Mudam therefore wanted to present some of these particularly unique private collections of international contemporary art that can be found in Luxembourg or in the Greater Region. For the first part of Regard sur une collection privée, Mudam chose a collectors couple who, already a number of years ago, started to modestly gather artworks they liked. In their house, from one room to another, sometimes in corners, one comes across famous, even historic, artists such as Donald Judd and Andy Warhol rubbing shoulders with emerging talents. This makes for a extraordinarily free and eclectic collection, the central thread of which is the intuition of the person who carefully selects the pieces, but also the intimate relationship maintained with the artworks, an attachment that Tracey Emin’s piece aptly sums up: “Just Love me” murmurs the neon hanging over the kitchen door.
Showing this collection to the public already lends it a new dimension. But can the selection presented at Mudam preserve the feeling of pleasure associated with living with the artworks on a daily basis? The challenge is not to stultify the collection when it is presented in the museum, as well as the will for the collectors, who know these pieces so well, to rediscover them and perhaps be surprised again by their daily presence, once the exhibition is closed.
Thus, the fifty chosen artworks are linked to this domestic dimension - people and their habitat - through a selection concerning forms and architecture (Carl Andre, Richard Artschwager, Dan Flavin, Imi Knoebel...) or the body and its presence (John Baldessari, Sarah Jones, Hermann Nitsch...). Other works reproduce the idea of private space. The visitor is invited to wander through and encounter artworks worthy of a contemporary cabinet of curiosities containing the horn of Mark Dion’s unicorn, the graphic work of Bruce Nauman or Wim Delvoye, a Luc Tuymans painting as well as a small canvas by Marlène Dumas...
