Anita Zabludowicz has thrived in creating a varied program that allows emerging artists valuable visibility at her eponymous collection’s Chalk Farm space, a reconverted Methodist chapel. This fall, she’ll be presenting the collection’s annual commission—a performance-led solo exhibition by American artist Donna Huanca. Also on view will be a video and installation exhibition by U.K. artist Luke McCreadie. Whitewaller caught up with the mega collector and curator to talk about the inspirations behind her choices.
WHITEWALLER: You are currently showing works and performances by artists Donna Huanca and Luke McCreadie respectively. Why did you choose to feature these two specific artists during the strategic period that follows London’s contemporary auction week, and coincides with Frieze?
Donna Huanca
ANITA ZABLUDOWICZ: Our Annual Commission exhibitions always take place in the autumn to make the most of the large numbers of international artists, curators, and galleries that are in London for Frieze. We’ve been following Donna Huanca for a little while now and have been consistently captivated with her work. It feels like the right time to work with her on this exhibition and support her on a large-scale project to take her practice further.
Likewise, our autumn “Invites” exhibitions also focus on artists who we think would benefit from the increased exposure that this timing allows. We met Luke through our Master Class program and were impressed by the sophistication of his work. His interest in performance and the histories of objects have interesting crossovers with Donna’s work also.
Bellybutton
WW: You live in England but travel extensively between Finland and America. Do you think these distinctive places have an influence on your collecting practice?
AZ: With collecting, it is always important to see as much work as possible, and I spend most of my time traveling to see art. Because so much of my time is spent in Europe and America, these are the areas that are most strongly represented in the Collection. Whenever we have visited other parts of the world, we have always found artists that we have wanted to learn more about, and so the Collection grows as our experiences do.
2015
WW: You said several years ago that your favorite city to experience art was London, where you mentioned the Zabludowicz Collection in Chalk Farm and Tate Modern (of which you are a foundation trustee). Is London still your favorite art-experiencing
city?
AZ: Yes, definitely. Although, if I could roll London, New York, and Berlin into one, then that would probably be the perfect city!
Courtesy of the Zabludowicz Collection
WW: Do you think that London’s cultural art scene will suffer from Brexit?
AZ: It’s difficult to say at the moment since so much is still unknown and uncertain. I think it will be difficult for a while as people try and understand what Brexit actually means, and there will be a lot of negativity and xenophobia that we will have to overcome. But I think artists are resilient and have always found a way to thrive in the face of adversity.
To read more about Frieze London 2016, pick up the latest copy of Whitewaller in London this week.
