We have just been given an assignment in which we were asked to curate an exhibition at the New Museum in New York. In another phase of our invitation to manifesto we have been told that we have unlimited resources to do something, anything, at the Whitney, with unlimited time, staff, and budget.
The Rubell Family of Miami, FL completes an undertaking that combines elements of both of these endeavors every year. They mount a large scale show in their own contemporary art museum. The museum is located in a former FBI confiscated goods wearhouse and has a great deal of space. All of the work that they show is from their personal collection. Each year the show is arranged around a central theme and includes a wide variety of contemporary artists.
There are a number of institutions that work this way in Miami. Other examples are the Marguiles Collection and the Cisneros foundation, both located in former warehouses near the Rubell Family Collection in the emerging (or pretty much emerged) Wynwood arts district.
Ever have a conversation with Huck about "rippin' stuff off" from other artists, or "appropriating appropriated imagery?". If you were in my last crit, you know that I have..... Anyways, the next show at the Rubell Collection, Beg Borrow, and Steal deals with these themes directly. Take a look, and see how some major collectors have gone about organizing shows throughout a long career. Many of the artists on our list are represented in their holdings.....
(The above picture shows the collection's largest gallery, as it was seen in last year's show, 30 Americans. Thats a ginormous woodcut by Kerry James Marshall along the back wall.)
