Guy Ullens was a pioneer at heart, always drawn to discovering new areas, both in art and in life. He began collecting kinetic art in the 1960s, guided by legendary gallery owner Denise René, a great talent scout. In the 1980s, while traveling on business in China, he encountered a new generation of artists who fascinated him. This led to his extensive Chinese collection and the UCCA (Ullens Contemporary Center for the Arts) in Beijing, which became the premier venue for contemporary art in China (the Chinese equivalent of the Guggenheim) and is known to the Chinese as “Ullens.”
The Guy & Myriam Ullens Foundation
Installation view of Leo Villareal, “Immaterial/Re-material,” UCCA Beijing, 2020.
It also led to the creation of the Guy & Myriam Ullens Foundation in Switzerland, with his wife Mimi, dedicated to supporting emerging artists. Guy Ullens also collected Indian artists, American artists (the young Los Angeles scene in the 2010s), David Hockney, Anish Kapoor, Rachid Johnson, Thomas Houseago, Pascale Martine Tayou, and others. He had very eclectic tastes because he bought with his eyes, what touched him, and not with his ears. What do all the artists he collected have in common? They are inventors of forms who have all attempted to reinvent their art in their own way, to offer a new style, and sometimes even a new practice.
An Historic Art Collection
“Sterling Ruby in the Ullens Collection, Beyond Boundaries” (Dubai, Al Serkhal Foundation, 2022).
That’s why his last major collection is devoted to computing art. It’s a historic collection, spanning from the 1960s (Véra Molnar, Manfred Mohr, etc.) to Refik Anadol, John Gerrard, Ryoji Ikeda, and Miguel Chevalier. These artists, who were exploring new frontiers in art, had fascinated him since he visited the Artists & Robots exhibition at the Grand Palais in 2018. Guy Ullens inspired the major exhibition Immaterial/Re-Material: a brief history of Computing art, presented at the UCCA in Beijing in September 2020, which brought together some 30 artists from around the world and was accompanied by a scholarly catalog including an essay by philosopher Yuk Hui.
Supporting Artists and New Frontiers in Art
His latest purchase is a piece by Katie Morris, found in the digital section of the Paris Photo fair last November: a composition based on a Google Earth view reworked by a program developed by the artist as an impressionist painting of the AI era. The last exhibition he visited was the inaugural exhibition of Diriya Art Futures in Riyadh at the end of November, which presented his collection of computing art under the title Art must be artificial, including works by Saudi artists such as Muhammad Shonno, who interested him greatly.
Guy Ullens was honored at the opening of this first art center dedicated to new media in the Middle East. He walked the cutting edge of innovation and contemporary trends until the end of his life. His life looks like the embodiment of the pioneering spirit.
—Jerome Neutres, chief curator, Guy & Myriam Ullens Foundation
Peter Kloger installation in l’exposition ART MUST BE ARTIFICIAL at Diriyah Art Futures (2024-2025).
Miguel Chevalier installation in l’exposition ART MUST BE ARTIFICIAL at Diriyah Art Futures (2024-2025).
