A true collector does not only ‘display’ their art, they live with it… Art is integrated into every aspect of their life and they demonstrate their patronage through many different approaches.
Image from collectors agenda
I have known Johanna and Friedrich Gräfling for many years – you could say we go way back. I first met Johanna when we both were attending the Sotheby’s Institute. She always had impeccable style, and has said her husband was more into fashion than she was.
Hanging on the walls are paintings by Grace Weaver of the Gräflings as newlyweds
They both live and breathe art and their collection reflects this – it is in essence an artistic documentation of themselves. Every detail in their lives is interwoven with art and a style that focuses more on the fictional than reality. Their wedding – the origin of their dynamic partnership and a prelude for what was to come – was an artistic affair. Alicja Kwade designed their engagement ring and Grace Weaver painted the couple at their wedding. Michael Sailstorfer also created a new work based on the guests on the dancefloor. They even had Christian Jankowski shoot a video piece on the day, for which he deployed a Dustin Hoffman lookalike amongst the wedding guests. Yves Scherer created a room installation in the dinner tent, for which he arranged the room decor, flowers and sound as well as the uniform of the staff and even the menu. It created a whole immersive atmosphere. In essence, their wedding was a group show in itself.
Image from Architectural Digest
At every point they seem to be ahead of the curve, anticipating what and who will be the next big thing… They were one of the first to work with German artist Gregor Hildenbrant, providing Hildebrandt with their first project space, the slaughterhouse, to curate a show using works from their own collection. The slaughterhouse was the first experimental project space by the Gräflings which they opened in a disused former slaughterhouse in 2010 in Freidrich’s hometown, Aschaffenburg. Once a year, they would invite a different artist from their collection, or indeed themselves, to curate. This was much before Hildenbrandt was anywhere near as well known as today with exhibitions by Perrotin, Wentrup and Almine Rech. For the exhibition, Hildenbrandt created a curtain of magnetic tape which he used to frame the works of art. It was the first time in his career that he had experimented with such a technique but it soon became commonplace in his work.
Yves schemer(top right)
Analia Saban & Anne Hardy (bottom right)
Image from LARRY’S LIST
When you take a look at their collection as a whole it’s easy to see that they have applied their natural talent for looking ahead of market trends and even other influences such as Yves Scherer, Simon Fujiwara, Laure Prouvost and Jorinde Voigt. Unlike others, they aren’t chasing for financial investment returns but rather with the intention to grow with these artists. They tend to go in depth with their selected talents, buying from different periods of their work. When I visited Johanna last year she was just unwrapping a few new works from Grace Weaver – at this point they own a great deal of her work from different periods in her career.
Image from ART VIEWER
The couple seem to have this old-school, romantic interaction with artists that influences each and every piece in their collection. The works speak of the couple’s personal stories, memories and lives. The Alicja Kwade ring is a notable piece, a bordstein jewel in the form of a ring which Johanna always carries on her person. The ring was a surprise from Freidrich – Alicija’s ‘Bordsteinjewelen’ are a series of works for which she collects stones from the street and sends them to a gem cutter who treats the stones as raw diamonds, selecting the cut with the least amount of material loss. For this ring it was Friedrich who selected the stones which were then cut to fit the ring – he sent her stones from the gravel driveway of their house in London and let Alicja determine the rest. The ring itself is gold with a brown, diamond-like stone.
Image from Kunstverein Wiesen website
The couple not only employ artists to work for them, but also use a more unusual collecting technique wherein they actually work for the artist. This began as a means to an end, it allowed the couple to be a part of the art discourse itself as well as amongst the creators, but it also added to their collection. This really took the immersement (which so many collectors claim to have with their art and artists) to a new and unprecedented level. For the Gräflings it was the perfect introduction to begin organising exhibitions and external collaborations.
Image from Architectural Digest
Perhaps the most unusual outcome of one such agreement was allowing Michael Sailstorfer to destroy their house. What would be to many an incredibly traumatising event has actually been described by the couple as one of their happiest memories of collaboration with an artist. As part of the production of his video-work ‘Tränen’ Sailstorfer used a wrecking ball in the shape of a tear to demolish the couple’s house. The locals were completely unaware of the project and the small village had no idea what to make of the artistic intention behind the concept and why a bulldozer couldn’t just be deployed for a quick result… This reaction was quickly withdrawn once the video gained much attention which was also brought to the community and its inhabitants who soon became immensely proud of the piece. The work has been exhibited internationally, in New York, London, Berlin and Hamburg and is currently in the permanent collection of the Städel Museum in Frankfurt.
Image from LARRY’S LIST
The Gräflings have said that the key word to describe their collection is time. It’s true, we can see that each piece in their collection or that they have been involved with is intrinsically related to understanding the human nature of attempting to grasp at its tangibility but also the acceptance of its ephemerality and the inevitable passing of time. How time can translate into an artwork is an interesting concept and often it is not only through the artistic intention behind an artwork but the history of interaction with it – whether it be physical or emotional.
Their collection is an immersive artistic process in its own right; documenting a myriad of aspects from their lives, spanning their love and indeed their loss (of their house).
Image from Architectural Digest
I visited them last summer at Salon Kennedy, where they were living. The Salon actually functions like a salon of times gone by, the kind that would have displayed the great artists of the 19th century stacked up on high walls. The Gräfling’s salon facilitates the exchange of ideas, conversations, creations, collaborative events and of course exhibitions in a very similar vein.
At Salon Kennedy, I was particularly struck by a piece which left a strong impression on me. It was a work by Simon Ujiwara, a sculptural piece which is in fact made from Angela Merkel’s makeup. The work itself consists purely of the powder that Merkel wears that is produced especially for her and prevents the white casting which typically shows up in camera flashes. Many politicians and celebrities wear such a powder, but Merkel’s is specific as it makes her appear to not be wearing any makeup at all. A commentary that Freidrich claims to show the perversion of the western word. The expense and research of such a small and irrelevant product that is made completely unique to Angela Merkel.
Image from Architectural Digest
While the couple provide countless platforms for artists and even loan works from their collections to museum shows around the world – such as the recent Laure Prouvost piece for the Venice Biennale – they do not refer to themselves as an institution.
Time will inevitably and unfortunately ‘fly by’ but, like the Gräflings, we too can collect and preserve our own ‘time’ through art; by being immersed and involved and occasionally even lending a house. Perhaps despite our inevitable fate we can leave some traces of ourselves in art along the way.
-the end-
ext: Luning
Copyedit: Rosie
