| Frank Cohen, one of the world’s top art collectors, following in the footsteps of Francois Pinault, has opened Initial Access, a 10,000–square foot exhibition space, to showcase his private collection to the public. However unlike Pinault in Venice, Cohen has chosen to display his extensive collection of modern and contemporary art hours from the art world buzz of a major city, in a large industrial space in England’s West Midlands region. Often referred to as “the Saatchi of the North” Cohen reinforces his ties to his Manchester roots by basing his collection closer to home. |
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Valerie Blair on Frank Cohen’s Unholy Truths
Frank Cohen, one of the world’s top art collectors, following in the footsteps of Francois Pinault, has opened Initial Access, a 10,000–square foot exhibition space, to showcase his private collection to the public. However unlike Pinault in Venice, Cohen has chosen to display his extensive collection of modern and contemporary art hours from the art world buzz of a major city, in a large industrial space in England’s West Midlands region. Often referred to as “the Saatchi of the North” Cohen reinforces his ties to his Manchester roots by basing his collection closer to home.
Despite being outside of the artistic hub of the UK’s capital, Cohen’s collection is neither behind the times nor provincial. His eclectic taste, combining popular English and American contemporary art with trendy new Chinese acquisitions, as well as forays into contemporary Indian art, make his collection one of the most unique in the UK. The third exhibition held in the space, Unholy Truths, on view until December 15, showcases the geographical variety of Cohen’s collection.
The show deftly blends painting, sculpture, and mixed media to fill the vast industrial “sheds” in which they are housed. As a man who made his fortune selling DIY materials out of similar industrial sites, the atmosphere is quite appropriate. As Cohen once remarked to the Guardian newspaper, "I had sheds. That’s what I did. If it works for people buying wallpaper, I don’t see why it shouldn’t work for people who want to see contemporary art."
Cohen began collecting in the 70s, and despite the fact that his collection includes many notable modern art pieces, the work in Unholy Truths focuses on work by a wide-ranging group of contemporary artists. The exhibition features renowned artists such as the England’s own Jack and Dinos Chapman, American Mike Kelley, and the renowned Chinese painter Yue Minjin. However the exhibition gives ample attention to lesser-known artists such as Indian Tallur L.N. and Andro Wekua from the former Soviet Republic of Georgia.
Binding these artists together is the exhibition’s thematic interest, depictions of the Gothic in contemporary art. The idea of the Gothic in contemporary art is twofold: it connotes both the uncanny, the otherworldly, the malevolent, and also notions the sublime and romantic.
The Chapmans’ work Unholy McTrinity, a centrepiece of the exhibition, takes on Gothic religiosity and the commercial fetishism of modern globalization. Directly related to the title of the exhibition itself, the piece consists of three crucifixes placed on wooden pedestals in which the image of Christ has been replaced by McDonalds characters. By inverting traditional religious imagery, the Chapmans subvert notions of idol worship and create a powerful, if obvious, critique of fast-food society and American cultural imperialism.
In contrast to the Chapmans’ overtly political sculpture, Yue Minjin’s painting of wide-smiling Chinese figures, Between Men and Animal, is composed of a group of red-faced, grinning, devilish, Chinese men. The figures’ Cheshire grins are so wide they are rendered grotesque, virtually disfigured. Each figure wears the same shirt, the same grin, and has an identical pair of devil horns, in what is certainly a reference to communist propaganda posters as well as a commentary on the uniformity imposed by the socialist Chinese state.
One of the most appealing aspects of Cohen’s collection reflected in Unholy Truths is his quite fashionable interest in collecting contemporary Indian artwork. Taller L.N.’s carved wooden sculpture of a baby elephant, Esophageal Reflex, is one of the most striking pieces in the exhibition. The rich, dark, burnt wood of the elephant’s body, contrasted with the delicate, silvery trail of faux-excrement creates a stark contrast of texture and color. Again L.N. inverts a traditional symbol of Indian culture, this time by representing the animal in a moment of physical vulnerability.
Having admittedly missed the boat for much of the early work of the YBAs in the 90s, Cohen is now focusing his attention on what looks to be the artistic wave of the future: Central and East Asian art. He claims he is not buying to follow fashion, but rather to set the trend.
Cohen is well poised right now, with the opening of Initial Access, the recent absence of Saatchi in the UK exhibition circuit, and his service as a jury member for the prestigious Turner Prize awarded by the Tate Britain. And in expanding his empire he has also founded the Frank Cohen Museum of Contemporary Art in Manchester, a large new private museum set to open in 2008, in order to showcase a larger cross section of his collection.
Not all critics are pleased with the expansion of Cohen’s influence. In 2004, a critic for the Guardian newspaper claimed Cohen’s taste is, “tacky, cheap, and risible,” and described an earlier exhibition as a “meandering trawl through the doldrums of the lesser art galleries.” This sort of criticism seems to be the price to pay for high profile art collectors willing to open their collections to public view. But Mr. Cohen should not take it too personally: just a few months ago The Times in London boldly put forth that even “Monsieur Pinault needs to hone his skills as a collector.”
Despite criticism, and despite the weaker aspects of Cohen’s collection, opening one’s private art collection to the public is not necessarily a self-aggrandizing act. By founding institutions outside of London, Cohen makes good on his desire to bring art to the people. Personal taste cannot be shared by all, but giving people access to a collection of this size and scope will allow visitors a chance to make up their own minds.
