Art Fund Collect
COLLECT 2012 marks the fifth year of Art Fund Collect, a partnership scheme from the Crafts Council and the Art Fund offering UK curators the chance to buy contemporary craft for their institutions. Curators from museums and galleries across the country are invited to apply for exclusive preview access to COLLECT, Europe’s leading art fair for contemporary objects, in order to select a work for their museum, paid for in full from the £75,000 made available by the Art Fund. To date, Art Fund Collect has provided over £275,000 of new work for public museums and galleries around the UK.
Art Fund Collect will take place on Thursday 10 May 2012, the preview day of COLLECT, organised by the Crafts Council and which is now in its ninth year, with the winners to be announced at 7pm that evening. COLLECT 2012 takes place at London’s Saatchi Gallery and is open to the public 11 – 14 May 2012. Curators have until 14 March 2012 to submit their applications; visit the Art Fund Collect website for more information. The shortlist, compiled by the judging panel, will be announced in April.
For now, here are works selected in previous years
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Fiona Slattery and Martin Ellis with Yukiai (Encounters), Naoki Takeyama,2011. Photo: Mark Crick
Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery
Fiona Slattery and Martin Ellis, Curators of Applied Arts at Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery selected Yukiai (Encounters), 2011 by young Japanese maker Naoki Takeyama, represented by the Yufuku Gallery. This crinkling vessel-shaped form is made from a single sheet of hand-pinched copper, which is then folded before layers of enamel are painted on. The piece is black with yellow flecks on the exterior, with a vivid turquoise interior.
Vendor: Yufuku Gallery
Cost: £7,950 -
Rachel Conroy with Homura I (Inferno), Takahiro Yede, 2011. Photo: Mark Crick
National Museum Wales - Amgueddfa Cymru
Rachel Conroy, Assistant Curator at National Museum Wales – Amgueddfa Cymru picked Homura I (Inferno), 2011 by Japanese maker Takahiro Yede, also at the Yufuku Gallery and worth £7,150. This organic, sculptural piece is made from nickel-silver and bronze strips, painstakingly intertwined and hammered into place. Yede created this work spontaneously. Because it resembles the licking of flames, he chose the title Inferno after the making process.
Vendor: Yufuku Gallery
Cost: £7,150 -
Penny Sexton, Curator and Holly Morgenroth with Secret Life of Plants, Steffen Dam, 2010. Photo: Mark Crick
Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter
Penny Sexton, Curator and Holly Morgenroth, Assistant Curator of Natural History at the Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter, picked Secret Life of Plants, 2010 by Danish maker Steffen Dam at Joanna Bird Pottery, costing £8,820. The delicate, hand-blown objects encased within this glass panel are inspired by half-decayed bulbs and funghi.
Vendor: Joanna Bird Pottery
Cost: £8,820 -
Polly Putnam with Amalthea, Michael Eden, 2011. Photo: Mark Crick
Leeds Museums & Galleries
Polly Putnam, Assistant Curator of Decorative Arts at Leeds Museums & Galleries chose Amalthea, 2011 by Cumbria-based British maker Michael Eden. This pair of digitally created, spiralling works is made from a high quality nylon material with unique mineral soft coating. The cornucopia shape of the piece is inspired by the wealth of knowledge available on the World Wide Web.
Vendor: Clare Beck at Adrian Sassoon
Cost: £18,000 -
James Beighton, Curator, with Brooch, Stefano Marchetti, 2010. Photo: Mark Crick
Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art
James Beighton, Curator and Vicky Sturrs, Education Officer at Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art selected Brooch, 2010 by Italian goldsmith Stefano Marchetti, costing £5,300. Trained at the famous Padua school, Marchetti is known as a ‘radical goldsmith’ because of his cutting-edge approach. This playful piece represents a human tongue and is constructed to move as the wearer does. Inspired by the tradition of holy reliquary, this piece relates in particular to St Anthony of Padua.
Vendor: Galerie Marzee
Cost: £5,300 -
Francesca Vanke, Curator, with Kangaroo and Emu Lost in Chintz, Robin Best, 2010. Photo: Mark Crick
Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery
Francesca Vanke, Curator of Decorative Arts and Dr Andrew Moore Keeper of Art and Senior Curator at Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery chose a pair of vases, Kangaroo and Emu Lost in Chintz, 2010 by Australian ceramicist Robin Best. These works are inspired by traditional, Oriental ceramic work as well as modern Western design, and the painting technique was developed at the renowned Meissen porcelain centre in Germany.
Vendor: Clare Beck at Adrian Sassoon
Cost: £8,800 -
Pamela Wood, Keeper of Decorative Arts with Brooch, Giovanni Corvaja, 2010. Photo: Mark Crick
Nottingham Castle Museum & Art Gallery
Pamela Wood, Keeper of Decorative Arts at Nottingham Castle Museum & Art Gallery selected Brooch, 2010 by Italian jeweller Giovanni Corvaja. Like Stefano Marchetti, Corvaja was trained at the celebrated Padua school of goldsmithing. This astral, meditative piece is made from gold and platinum gossamer and platinum wire. The gossamer is as fine as human hair and is scattered with drops of coloured enamel. Another piece by Corvaja was won at Art Fund Collect in 2009 – Bracelet, 2009 was selected by James Beighton at mima.
Vendor: Clare Beck at Adrian Sassoon -
Alison Cooper, Assistant Keeper of Art, with Hakutai (A Thousand Years), Naoki Takeyama, 2011. Photo: Mark Crick
Plymouth City Museum & Art Gallery
Alison Cooper, Assistant Keeper of Art at Plymouth City Museum & Art Gallery won Hakutai (A Thousand Years), 2011, another enamelling work by Naoki Takeyama at the Yufuku Gallery. This object differs from Birmingham’s win with its asymmetric shape, cobalt blue colour and finishing touch of hand-painted flecks of silver leaf.
Vendor: Yufuku Gallery
Cost: £6,000
For information about Art Fund Collect and collecting craft generally, please contact Annabelle Campbell, Exhibitions & Collections Manager, Crafts Council.
a_campbell@craftscouncil.org.uk