Experts' pick: Curators on their dream on board artworks

21 September 2018

A superyacht is the perfect place to display your fine art collection but, with limited space and unique conditions, choosing your pieces wisely is key. Here five expert curators reveal the pieces they would love to set sail with...

Loring Randolph, artistic firector (Americas) of Frieze

Lawrence Weiner, At the Level of The Sea, 2008; Marian Goodman – courtesy MACBA

I would love to have Lawrence Weiner’s text work from his poster for Marian Goodman’s show in 2009, At the Level of the Sea, made into a multi-line, curvaceous text work for the exterior of the hull of the yacht. It would effectively turn the boat into a kinetic, floating sculpture.

Giorgio Pace, curator and co-founder of Nomad

Off-Cut Table designed by Martino Gamper for Nilufar Gallery

“I think Martino Gamper’s table is the perfect choice. The material and the colour make it a perfect fit for an elegant boat. The table can be divided in two or can be longer to accommodate more people.”

Available at Nilufar Gallery, Milan, nilufar.com

Stephanie Schleiffer, director of Marlborough Fine Art

Julius von Bismarck, Landscape Painting (Desert), 2015

Julius von Bismarck engaged local agricultural workers in the Mexican desert first to paint a section of landscape white, and then overpaint the same section from memory to make it look real. This fake reality is what you see on the photograph. I find this intersection of nature and culture fascinating and quite fitting for my fantasy yacht.

Visit marlboroughlondon.com

Maria Rus Bojan, curator and chairman of the board at the European ArtEast Foundation

Mike Kelley, More Love Hours Than Can Ever Be Repaid, 1987 – courtesy Whitney Museum of American Art, New York

My ultimate boat experience would include Mike Kelley’s 1987 masterpiece More Love Hours Than Can Ever Be Repaid. When I first saw it at the Whitney Museum of American Art I wanted to immediately lean against it and feel its embrace. This corpus of stuffed animals, dolls and blankets creates an uncanny composition filled with pure love and emotion. During a tempestuous night at sea, with this work around I would feel emotional but safe, thinking of all those parents who spent more hours of love than can ever be repaid.

Visit europeanarteast.com

David Gill, owner of the David Gill Gallery

Zaha Hadid, Liquid Glacial coffee table, 2012

The Zaha Hadid “Liquid Glacial” collection freezes the movement of water. Fashioned here in yellow, Hadid’s coffee table would starkly resonate with the water that surrounds the yacht. It is an aquatic fantasy.

Visit davidgillgallery.com

Maliha Tabari, director of Tabari Artspace

Khaled Zaki, from the Resurrection series

I’d choose Khaled Zaki, a major pioneer of modernist sculpture in Egypt. In his new series the artist’s marble works explore the relationship between form and material. I remember seeing his works for the first time in his illustrious workshop in Pietrasanta, Italy – a town famous for its carving workshops since the 15th century – and falling in love with them. They exude a sense of elegance and calm.

Visit tabariartspace.com

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