Reuters News
January 24, 2008 Thursday 6:11 PM GMT
By Sarah Marsh
LONDON, Jan 24 (Reuters Life!) - Gordon Cheung is surrounded by top corporate and legal advisers, basking in critical acclaim and still virtually unknown outside the art world.
Cheung, 32, is one of a number of hot young artists sought after by the crafty corporate collectors trawling through London's art fair this month for diamonds in the rough.
Gallery directors at the fair, showcasing modern and contemporary art, said up to a third of their clients were corporate collectors, whose investments provide a framework of support that helps nurture young talent.
"Corporate involvement in the arts allows the fermentation of young artists like myself, it helps us survive, as well as widening the spectrum of art and culture," said Cheung.
While it would be easy to imagine corporate collectors investing big bucks in art, the reality is that corporate curators tend to stick to a strict budget - and lesser-known artists.
"They don't spend a great deal of money but it forces them to think very hard and make very informed decisions before starting to collect artists' works," said Jonathan Burton, director of the fair.
Stephen McCoubrey, Art Collection Curator at UBS, takes bank employees on regular "twilight tours" of the artworks gracing the bank's London offices and pointed out a lush floor-to-ceiling oil painting by British artist Dee Ferris.
"She was probably the second artist we bought and she has now become genuinely unaffordable for us," McCoubrey said.
"I think I can say we have been some real assistance in the development of her career, not only from a financial perspective but also by offering some wider public exposure (including a current loan of her work to Art Now at Tate Britain).
UBS is one of the growing number of companies seeking to promote up-and-coming artists. And it's not only through the acquisition of their work.
Law firm Simmons and Simmons, which bought work by Michael Raedecker and Wolfgang Tillmans long before they were nominated for the Turner Prize, also provides legal services to artists; in 1991 it advised Damien Hirst on the Woodstock Street venue for his seminal "In and Out of Love" show.
But one of the best ways to promote young artists is to provide them with a public forum - and that -- contrary to common perception -- is what corporate collections offer.
"There is more access to works in corporate art collections in many cases than there is to works in a museum," said gallery curator Helen Waters, pointing out that companies have vast areas to hang their artworks up.
"I used to work in the museum world and it's only a very small percentage of works in a collection that goes on a show at any one time."
Public institutions face not only spatial limitations, but financial ones too, said Fabienne Nicholas at Contemporary Art Society, a non-profit agency for independent advice on contemporary collecting.
"Given the limited acquisition budgets that many institutions are facing, there is a role for companies to provide a "home" for the work of living artists."
She added that companies raised awareness among their staff and clients about contemporary art:
"Consider[ing] that some have many thousands of employees - they are bringing new audiences and a deeper understanding to the field"
Many corporate collections are not holed up in the ivory towers of the city. Plenty of firms exhibit their works in museums at home and further afield to burnish their brand image.
UBS has recently exhibited its work at the Tate in London and the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne, and a new UBS exhibition will open at the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo on Feb 2.
Other firms have taken their collections into the urban arena. The Economist Group has commissioned sculptures for a London square and the Hiscox insurance company exhibits its artworks in the Hiscox Art café in the capital's financial hub.
And if you thought that corporate art meant pastel watercolors - think again. Companies are not afraid of investing in controversial and critical art.
Cheung's works depict black and white landscapes against psychedelic spray-paint skies and his art is inspired by the perception in the media that the corporate world is always teetering on the edge of destruction.
The reception room for Deutsche Bank's London headquarters is dominated by a giant painting from American pop artist James Rosenquist, which examines the costs of consumerism.
(Editing by Paul Casciato)