The exhibition Jump into the Future – Art from the 90's and 2000's. The Borgmann Donation shows an extensive number of contemporary art works from the German collector Thomas Borgmann. Among the featured artists are Cosima von Bonin, Matt Mullican, Lucy McKenzie, Jutta Koether, Paulina Olowska, Wolfgang Tillmans, Christopher Williams, Cerith Wyn Evans and Heimo Zobernig. The exhibition will open during Amsterdam Art Weekend.
Jump into the Future - Art from the 90's and 2000's. The Borgmann Donation is a major exhibition that occupies no less than 2.540 m2 - all thirty of the first-floor galleries that surround the museum’s grand staircase. The group of works that will join the collection of the Stedelijk is made up of a donation, a purchase and long-term loan. The gift is the second largest in the history of the Stedelijk. The majority of The Borgmann Donation is included in Jump into the Future.
Jump into the Future – Art from the 90’s and 2000’s. The Borgmann Donation reflects the diversity of contemporary art produced during this pivotal decade. The ’90s were typified by various points of turbulence: the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Yugoslav Wars, conflicts in the Middle East and the September 11 attacks in the United States. It was also the epoch of the global digital revolution, the impact of which was unimaginable at the time. New economies began to blossom and a global art world emerged. A newfound sensitivity to gender diversity and queer identity politics shaped social debate.
According to Martijn van Nieuwenhuyzen, curator of contemporary art at the Stedelijk Museum and curator of this exhibition, “It was a time of blurring boundaries, also in the arts. Artists became more mobile, and studio practice changed. Artists created projects in situ, residences provided opportunities to travel the world, and traditional categories disappeared. The distinction between painters, sculptors and video artists dissolved; artists switched between different art forms, or used them in combination. The term ‘installation’ came to the fore, as the focus shifted from the individual art object to the spatial presentation of (groups) of works.”
The exhibition is designed to present the work of certain artists in a separate space, so visitors can experience them fully. Moreover, by featuring various other artists in several galleries, the presentation also highlights common threads and contrasts. One of the most prominent works is Matt Mullican’s Subject Driven, a mixed-media installation which is presented in full, in a series of five galleries on the west side of the first floor. Viewers will also encounter the enigmatic installation Kapitulation (2004) by the German artist Cosima von Bonin, installed in the IMC gallery at the head of the historical staircase. Particular attention has been lavished on the work of American performer and film artist Jack Goldstein, whose entire oeuvre of 16 mm films is on view. Another showstopper is the powerful wall painting, If It Moves Kiss It II (2002), by the Scottish artist Lucy McKenzie. One gallery space is devoted exclusively to Wolfgang Tillmans’s self-portraits.