Interview with Martin Bethenod, director of Palazzo Grassi,
Venice
As the private gallery of the French billionaire collector
hosts its first solo show by a living artists, we speak to the director about
its future plans
By Cristina Ruiz. Web only
Published online: 14 May 2012
The Palazzo Grassi in Venice
The exhibition, curated by Caroline Bourgeois, includes
loans from collectors such as Peter Brant in the US ,
John Kaldor in Australia and
Maja Hoffmann in Switzerland
The announcement of the new exhibitions follows criticism
in Venice that the two venues run by Pinault (following his 2006 purchase of
Palazzo Grassi, the luxury goods magnate beat off competition from the
Guggenheim Foundation to secure the city’s old Customs House, Punta della
Dogana, which was renovated by the Japanese architect Tadao Ando and opened to
the public in 2009) were catering only to the international art crowd which
descends on the city for the Venice Biennale every two years and that the
shows, largely drawn from the Pinault collection, changed infrequently.
We spoke to the Palazzo Grassi director Martin Bethenod
about the current and future role of the private gallery.
Does this exhibition signal a shift in direction for
Palazzo Grassi?
Martin Bethenod: It’s the first in a new sequence of
programming at Palazzo Grassi. After five years in which we’ve set up the
institution and established the identity of the collection, now it’s time to
open it to other projects which complement the shows of the collection. So we
have decided to balance the thematic shows drawn from the Pinault collection
with solo shows of artists who are important or linked to the collection. We
will host two exhibitions at Palazzo Grassi every year: a thematic one drawn
from the collection and one solo show by a living artist. After Urs Fischer,
the next one-person show opens at the beginning of next year.
Meanwhile at Punta della Dogana we host a thematic show of
the collection every 18 months, so that for every Biennale we have a new
installation there.
Will the artists who are shown here always be strongly
represented in the Pinault collection?
This is not really the point. An artist needs to be
relevant to the collection but I can imagine an artist who is not yet
represented being invited to show here. His or her work needs to be able to
create a dialogue with the identity of the collection and the personality of our
patron.
The relationship between a private collection and
foundation and contemporary art is not only about what a collection buys and
owns and shows, it’s also very much about the relationship between the
institution and contemporary artists. It’s about imagining projects with
artists and enabling them to create them. This is a key aspect of what we do
and will become increasingly important to the identity of Palazzo Grassi.
Who is the next artist?
I can’t tell you yet. We are working very closely with this
artist and also with the one for 2014 because it’s a very big challenge for an
artist to show here. Although Urs wanted to use only the first floor of the
building we are also working with artists who want to use the entire Palazzo,
which is more than 35 rooms, and a show on this scale needs at least two or
three years to prepare.
In the past, Palazzo Grassi was known for its historic
survey shows like the Etruscans. Is it no longer a place for exhibitions like
these?
When these big shows were staged, Palazzo Grassi had no
collection, it was a place whose only identity was its capacity to do
exceptional shows. This is not the same anymore because today the identity of
Palazzo Grassi is linked to a collection of contemporary art.
When you look at the number of visitors going to museums in
Venice
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