Public Collection of Hidden Artworks – Chapter 1- December 18, 2014, 16:00 Amsterdam

‘Public Collection of Hidden Artworks’ is an artistic/curatorial project of Institutional Critique and an ephemeral exhibition first initiated in Amsterdam and planned to take place in different cities and places. In each place, the project seeks to show artworks that would otherwise not be shown by asking artists to leave their artworks in the social spaces of the street, forming a collection that purposely contradicts the Modern art Museum’s claims to being ‘public’ and critical towards itself. Being left on the street, the collection is meant to be ephemeral rather than eternal, exposed rather than sterile, and vulnerable to whatever might happen to it. It is a gesture suggesting at once what might happen if the museum was truly willing to question its authority and ask for the importance of the works in its collection, running the risk of irrelevance. At the same time, it is a gesture allowing each artist to give value to their own work by selecting it from their personal collections, placing it at their chosen spot, and making part of the larger framework of this project. The main implications of this project are firstly to bring artworks otherwise ‘hidden’ or unseen in contact with the public in a direct way, and secondly to provoke questions of recognition and value that are tied up in the relationship of artist, institution, collection, and audience.

The artists participating in chapter 1, December 18, 2014, 16:00, Amsterdam:

Benjamin Brandenburg, Maurice van Daalen, David Hanauer, Nina Janssen, Dafna Rehavia, Janina Schipper, Risja Steeghs, Simon van der Weele, and Cecile Wentges

Below, under each artist’s name, you will find a three to four photographs documenting their artwork in its chosen place outside

1 Nina Janssen
Concrete Bag on Chair
Chair on Feet/Dip chair
Museumplein outside fenced public garden