Jump into the Future – Art from the ’90s and 2000s

The Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam presents Jump into the Future – Art from the ’90s and 2000s. The Borgmann Donation. This extensive group of works gifted by German collector Thomas Borgmann will be integrated into the museum’s collection over a three-year period. It involves a donation, an acquisition and long-term loan. The gift is the second largest in the history of the Stedelijk. The largest private gift was made in 1949 and 1962 by the Association for the Formation of a Public Collection of Contemporary Art (VVHK), which was founded in 1874 and initiated by amongst others the Van Eeghen family. 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.

Jump into the Future – Art from the ’90s and 2000s. 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, biennales and residences provided opportunities to travel the world. 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.”

Jump into the Future occupies all 30 first-floor galleries that surround the grand staircase: a total surface area of 2,540 m2. The show includes most of the pieces in the Borgmann donation, including the acquisitions and several of the long-term loans. 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 (2014) 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.

The exhibition is a journey through time. Borgmann called his visits to the Stedelijk in the 1960s “an escape into the future.” For him, there was no better place than the Stedelijk to discover the latest in contemporary art. The exhibition’s title, Jump into the Future, refers both to the collector’s early relationship with the Stedelijk and to the activity of art collecting. After all, building a collection is a true adventure, particularly when the focus lies on innovation and young art—in which case collecting is, by definition, a leap in the dark.

The catalogue offers a complete overview of the donation and acquisitions from Thomas Borgmann. Softcover | Language: English with German language insert | Dimensions: 230 x 300 cm | 224 pages | design: Roger Willems | in collaboration with Walther König | ISBN:978-3-96098-283-8