During the bustling Shanghai Art Festival in November this year, UBS Group, as the chief partner of the West Coast Art and Design Expo, presented immersive video works by Danish artist Jakob Kudsk Steensen in the UBS VIP lounge to celebrate the 10th anniversary of this top tier art expo.
The video work "Catharsis (2020)", which was recently purchased by UBS Art Collection, takes viewers into the pristine forests reshaped by digital technology, drawing attention to the natural world and emphasizing the importance of protecting our common environment. And this work is actually just one of UBS's over 30000 art collections.
UBS Group has a long history of sponsoring art projects. At important global art events such as the Basel Art Exhibition every year, attentive viewers will find the logo of UBS Group, which serves as the main sponsor, visible everywhere. As a financial institution, why is UBS closely related to art collections? Why do companies like UBS bother collecting expensive contemporary art? Recently, 21st Century Business Herald interviewed Cai Yiling, the art collection manager (Asia Pacific region) of UBS, and asked her to share with us the inseparable relationship between UBS and art and collection, starting with UBS Group's corporate art collection.
Art Collection Three in One
In fact, collecting corporate art is not something new. The development of corporate art collections is closely related to the globalization of the art market.
As early as the late 1950s, American billionaire David Rockefeller pioneered art collection for businesses with his avant-garde sense of trends and family art influence. In 1959, one of the sources of J.P. Morgan, JPMorgan Manhattan Bank, launched its art collection project under the leadership of bank chairman David Rockefeller, incorporating contemporary art into its procurement deployment plan. Today, JPMorgan Chase Art Project manages over 30000 pieces of art in 450 company offices worldwide, focusing on modern and contemporary painting, sculpture, paper-based works, and photography, adding a humanistic touch to the office while showcasing the company's core values of innovation, creativity, and innovation.
UBS Group, on the other hand, is recognized as the most important collection of contemporary art. Similarly, UBS's collection history can also be traced back to the 1960s. According to Cai Yiling, the current UBS Group was formed by the merger of renowned investment banks in the United States, Paine Webber, UBS, and UBS. The artworks collected by these companies were merged in 2000 and officially included in UBS in 2004, forming the world's most important corporate collection.
UBS currently has a collection size of over 30000 pieces, including paintings, photos, paper works, sculptures, installations, and video/digital art. UBS Group has approximately 60000 employees worldwide, which means that every two employees own an artwork. The early collection direction was mainly focused on art from Europe, America, and Switzerland. Now, with the expansion of UBS's business globally, art collection is also moving towards globalization.
After nearly half a century of accumulation, many of the artists purchased from UBS's art collection have transformed from rising stars to recognized masters of art. The reporter noticed that among these artworks with insurance amounts of hundreds of millions of dollars, there are iconic works of art by famous figures such as Jean Michel Basquet and William de Cunningham over the past half century, and contemporary Chinese art is also an important component of its collection system. Works by renowned artists from mainland China, such as Cao Fei, Ding Yi, Song Dong, Yang Fudong, Yin Xiuzhen, Zhang Enli, etc., are all included in his collection.
Similar to private collections, in addition to inheriting existing collections, corporate art collections also have a constantly evolving part - inviting artists from different backgrounds around the world to create, and keeping up with the times to incorporate the latest contemporary artistic expressions into their own collections. Cai Yiling introduced to reporters, "A major feature of UBS Art Collection is its close collaboration with living artists to create large-scale commissioned works in specific fields. UBS has a long history of supporting contemporary art, and recently commissioned Singaporean artists Hilmi Johandi and Dawn Ng, as well as artists Zeng Jianhua and Huang Jinxi from Hong Kong, China, to create works, reflecting the close connection with Asia. This initiative also extends globally, including commissioned American artists Jeffrey Gibson and Sarah Morris, as well as Swiss artists John Armleder and Ugo Rondinone to create works of art."
"We live in an era of rapid change. Therefore, UBS is not only committed to adapting to the present, but also aims to promote innovation and development. UBS Art Collection is no exception. As a vibrant collection, UBS Art Collection must constantly adjust and change, reflecting its mission of reflecting contemporary perspectives and showcasing the profound cultural and historical background provided by art." Cai Yiling emphasized that UBS's art collection has always revolved around the purpose of "art that reflects the era we are in", trying to find truly exciting works that can reflect the current human situation.
"Flowing" Collection Management
According to Cai Yiling, UBS has long been committed to purchasing art in the primary market, that is, after the art is created and sold for the first time. "This is one of the ways UBS directly supports and cultivates artists through its gallery system."
The scope of works purchased by UBS Art Collection covers emerging, mid career, and established artists. After completing transactions through the primary market, artists and galleries are often the most important beneficiaries of this transaction. Whether or not you choose the right and most worthwhile work to invest in, it can also provide assistance and support for the career development of artists. But buying art in the secondary market is relatively speculative, and investing in the wrong work is not very beneficial for art production and the artist themselves.
In fact, as UBS's art collection continues to grow, how to manage it has become a complex and important topic. It is understood that currently, most of the artworks purchased by UBS are placed in UBS offices around the world, providing artistic inspiration for employees while decorating the space. At the same time, UBS can share its passion for art and collection with customers and the public.
Cai Yiling stated that by showcasing artworks in offices around the world, not only does it beautify the office environment, but it can also give employees and customers positive energy through the artworks in the office. And she also mentioned that due to many artworks ultimately being placed in the office area, the team needs to consider whether a certain piece of work is suitable for collection from multiple aspects such as theme, material, and media. She said, "The office is never a pure artistic space and cannot have constant temperature and humidity conditions. Therefore, if a piece of work is fragile and difficult to preserve for a long time, or if some installation works are relatively large in size, they are difficult to display in the office and may not be suitable as our collection choice."
In addition, UBS also tends to adopt a dynamic approach to managing collections. UBS not only showcases these purchased artworks in VIP halls held during major art exhibitions, but also lends collections to large art museums and cultural institutions for public exhibitions, further carrying out daily exchange activities. For example, in 2019, UBS Group opened the UBS Art Gallery in its headquarters building on 1285th Avenue in New York, hoping to provide the public with more opportunities to engage with art by hosting various special and permanent exhibitions.
Cai Yiling added that in recent years, UBS Group has also published a book called "Reimaging: New Perspectives", which selects more than 120 new collections exploring how environmental, social, and technological changes have had an impact on today's human society. The book details the evolution and development of UBS collections and curation directions in recent years.
Assist in the development of the Chinese art market
In the past decade, UBS has also been closely and continuously monitoring, sponsoring, and supporting the Chinese market, and is very optimistic about the future of the Chinese art market.
In addition to the inclusion of works by contemporary Chinese artists in the collection system mentioned earlier, UBS Group has been a major partner of the Hong Kong exhibition at the Basel Art Fair since 2014; Later, UBS also sponsored several important regional art exhibitions, such as the Taipei Contemporary Art Expo and the Shanghai West Coast Art and Design Expo, to promote contemporary art creation and the establishment of an art market ecosystem.
Cai Yiling told reporters, "Although the current economic situation is full of uncertainty, as shown in our recently released" 2023 Basel Art Exhibition and UBS Group Global Art Collection Survey Report ", the enthusiasm of Chinese and Asian collectors for art remains undiminished. When considering purchasing works, mainland Chinese collectors are one of the most willing to consider alternative works. 94% of collectors said they would consider other works of artists they are interested in, and 28% said they would consider works of alternative artists, which is more than twice the overall average level. From the attitude of exploration and openness, as well as consumption data above the average level, it can be seen that mainland Chinese collectors will become increasingly important in the international market in the coming years." The power of. "