Chelsea Art Museum Makes A Space Outside the Commercial Galleries…
Reimaging Chelsea
by Lee Klein
Chelsea Art Museum Makes A Space Outside the Commercial Galleries
This November a new museum opens in Chelsea. French action painter Jean Miotte and Dr. Dorthea Keeser open the Chelsea Art Museum, a 20,000 square-foot open space conceived as a "Kunsthalle" bringing medium-sized museum shows from around the world. The permanent collection emphasizes abstract expressionism, kinetic art, and emerging artists from Germany and New York. The museum’s own exhibitions will showcase thematic overviews with juxtapositions of historical and contemporary works in both traditional and non-traditional media.
The new not-for-profit organization will further broaden the scope of the Chelsea neighborhood by extending the area’s role from an art district composed almost exclusively of commercial galleries into a more educational and cultural center, joining The Dia Art Foundation and other forthcoming visual arts institutions.
To foster the Chelsea Art Museum as a living work place, both Jean Miotte and a yearly-appointed emerging artist will have a studio there along with an exhibition of the young artist’s work. The museum will be located in a former industrial building (built in 1859 by the author of "`Twas the Night Before Christmas," Clement Moore) and will offer educational programs, dialogues, film, video, new media, and live performances.
The first shows will be: Samadhi: The Contemplation of Space, curated by Robert C. Morgan; Memoir of Freedom: An Artistic Memory of the 20th Century where artists respond to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; and Sliding Glimpses: Aspects of the Permanent Collection which includes–Hans Arp, Arman, Georges Braque, Jean Fautrier, Sam Francis, Per Kirkeby, Henri Matisse, Henri Michaux, Joan Miro, Joan Mitchell, Bernar Venet, and Ossip Zodkine.
The museum board includes: Timoteus Pohl, former director of Mercedes North Americ; Ingo Bartsch, director of the Museum am Oswall, Dortmund; Karl Ruhber, former director of the Ludwig K�ln Museum; Dorthea Keeser, founder of the medical laboratory Dr. Keeser/Prof Arnt Hamburg; and Miotte, artist and cofounder of INFORMEL.
