December 2007
Matthew Barney
With the fast pace of the current art market, and wavering investors who speculate on art like real estate, the old-fashioned connoisseur has reemerged as a vital figure for artists hoping to build a career. Ingvild Goetz is one of those buyers who have the courage to support an unknown artist’s oeuvre beyond the market’s transience. Perhaps more impressive, Goetz is also one of very few private collectors who acknowledge their obligation to publicly display their acquisitions. One of the artists Goetz has been following for years is Matthew Barney. Long before Barney gained prominence through his liaison with Icelandic singer Björk, Goetz collected the budding multi-media artist’s earliest works. Through March 29, a comprehensive selection of Barney’s installations will be shown at the Sammlung Goetz, representing his creations from 1992 to 2006. This exhibition will be one of the rare opportunities to explore the extensive cross-references that characterize Barney’s work. Developing his art in cycles, systems and series rather than in isolated pieces, the San Francisco native seeks relations and interdependencies between mythology, biological models, modern body culture and rituals. Apart from tabloid interest in Barney’s relationship with Björk, the collaboration between the two artists is surely one of the exhibition’s highlights. The art film Drawing Restraint 9 is a disturbing meditation on the untamed act of creation and the cruel methods of whaling, contrasted to the strictly choreographed decorum of a Japanese tea ceremony. To obtain a deeper understanding of Barney’s art, the Sammlung Goetz will offer a German guided tour on December 8 at 11:30 am. Visitors are required to register not only for this tour, but for all attendances: 95 93 96 90. For detailed information including screen times for Matthew Barney’s films, see
www.sammlung-goetz.de. <<<
