Over a champagne breakfast on Thursday, hosted by Director of Tate Britain Penelope Curtis, the Tate celebrated the acquisition of works that will be joining the museum’s impressive collection thanks to the charitable foundation Outset/Frieze Art Fair Fund.
This year, £150,000 had been made available for the fund, enabling the Tate to scour Frieze in advance of its opening to secure purchases of both emerging and established international artists. With the help of guest selectors Chief Curator of the Miami Art Museum Tobias Ostrander, and Director of the Kunsthalle, Zurich Beatrix Ruf, the Tate chose four outstanding works: Muffled Drums (from Darkwater), 2003, a sculpture by Terry Adkins; The Dies, 2008, a mixed media by Christina Mackie; Not Blacking Out, Just Turning the Lights Off, 2011, a video installation by James Richards; and an additional video piece by Sturtevant titled Trilogy of Transgression, 2004.
Founded in 2003, Outset is a philanthropic organization dedicated to supporting new art, and has worked with the Tate frequently over the years. Nicholas Serota, Director of Tate, praised the fund’s generosity: “Outset’s work in championing emerging and re-emerging artists has become a vital component of the contemporary art world… We are once again excited to be able to select work from Frieze Art Fair in London, so that a broad public at Tate can experience new art as it emerges.”
