News — Mar 19, 2013

The Stedelijk Museum proudly announces the acquisition of 15 works for its permanent collection, all selected from the inaugural exhibition Beyond Imagination.

INAUGURAL EXHIBITION

Celebrating the reopening of the Stedelijk, from September 23 through November 11, 2012 the exhibition Beyond Imagination, curated by Martijn van Nieuwenhuyzen and guest-curator Kathrin Jentjens, presented work in a variety of media and disciplines. Videos, films, performances, and installations by 19 artists and artist duos were installed throughout the entire museum. Many of the works were created specifically for the occasion.

Beyond Imagination garnered a huge response from visitors and the press alike, and many commented in particular on the role of the museum as a home for contemporary art. Dutch art journal Metropolis M wrote: “Beyond Imagination ushers the museum into the dawning century where a new, vital generation guides the way. Male, female, western, non-western, everything blends together. Here speaks the art that thinks beyond the biases of history.”

Thanks to a special grant provided by the municipality of Amsterdam, the Stedelijk was able to acquire 15 works that embody the hybrid, multimedial character of the exhibition. The selection comprises pieces by both emerging and established artists.

GIFTS

The acquisitions were greatly enhanced by two very special donations. Dutch collectors Joop and Charlotte van Caldenborgh generously donated the funds to acquire Fiona Tan’s video installation Diptych (2006–2011).

Fiona Tan, Diptych, 2006-2011, HD installation, with the support of the Baltic Art Center, Visby. Courtesy of the artist and Frith Street Gallery.

In turn, Tan herself generously gifted her early film installation Calendar Girl (1993–1999) to the museum’s collection. Ann Goldstein, director of the Stedelijk Museum: “We are thrilled to add these extraordinary art works to our collection. These acquisitions represent the relationship between the Stedelijk Museum and the latest developments in the visual arts – we are proud to embrace the artistic experimentation that has distinctively flourished here in the Netherlands. We are tremendously grateful to Joop and Charlotte van Caldenborgh and Fiona Tan for their generosity."


ALL ACQUISITIONS FROM BEYOND IMAGINATION


James Beckett
´Park-Life: Serial Killer Hides Bodies in Tree´, 2012, installation
´Park-Life: Girl Crushed to Death by Falling Branch´, 2012, installation

Bell & Frick (Eric Bell and Kristoffer Frick)
´Hunting in Heaven´, 2012, video installation

Rossella Biscotti
´Yellow´, 2010, 16mm film installation

Egle Budvytyte
´Magicians´, 2011, video installation

Christian Friedrich
´Untitled, 2011´, video installation

Sara van der Heide
´Abstract Background with One or Two Figures´, 2012, performance

Snejanka Mihaylova
´Practical Training in Thinking´, 2011, artist book

Rory Pilgrim
´Open´, 2012, sound piece, banner, composition, documentation

Falke Pisano
´Disordered Bodies Fractured Minds (Private M., Patient A. & Traveller H.)´, 2012, video installation

Julika Rudelius
´Rituals´, 2012, video installation

Fiona Tan
´Diptych´, 2006–2011, video installation, gift of Joop and Charlotte van Caldenborgh
´Calendar Girl´, 1993–1999, 16 mm film installation, gift of the artist

Vincent Vulsma
´New Northway´, 2012, engraved rubber
´WE455 (IX)´, 2011, woven textiles on stretchers