NEW YORK, NY.- Today at Frieze New York, the Brooklyn Museum (New York) acquired Untitled (1978-80), a large-scale abstract painting by the American artist Ed Clark, which will join the museum's permanent collection through The LIFEWTR Fund. LIFEWTR, a premium water brand committed to advancing and showcasing sources of creativity, contributed $100,000 to support the Brooklyn Museum's acquisition purchased at Frieze New York. The LIFEWTR Fund, which launched at Frieze New York 2017, follows a tradition of museum acquisition funds at Frieze Fairs, with the 2003 establishment of the Tate Fund at Frieze London, which has supported the acquisition of more than 100 works for the national collection.

The Brooklyn Museum acquired the painting, Untitled by Ed Clark from Weiss Berlin Gallery which is currently presenting a solo show of the artist’s paintings at Frieze New York 2018. The gallery is participating in the fair's Spotlight section which is curated once again this year by Toby Kamps (Blaffer Art Museum, University of Houston) and dedicated to 20th-century artistic pioneers.

The acquisition was selected by the 2018 panel including the Brooklyn Museum’s Shelby White and Leon Levy Director, Anne Pasternak; Deputy Director & Chief Curator, Jennifer Chi; along with curators Eugenie Tsai, Catherine Morris, Ashley James, and Carmen Hermo. The fund is chaired and organized by Olga Osminkina, Vice President, Hydration & Innovation, Global Beverage Group, PepsiCo.

The Brooklyn Museum is both a leading cultural institution and a community museum dedicated to serving a wide-ranging audience. The Museum contains one of the nation's most comprehensive and wide-ranging collections, spanning 5,000 years of human creativity from cultures in every corner of the globe. Launched last year, The LIFEWTR Fund made possible the Museum’s acquisition of Untitled (1971) by Virginia Jaramillo.

Anne Pasternak, Shelby White and Leon Levy Director of the Brooklyn Museum, said: “We’re so grateful to Frieze and LIFEWTR for the continued partnership and opportunity to acquire this important work by Ed Clark from the late 1970’s—the first work of the artist’s to enter our collection. The acquisition further deepens our commitment to African American artists and we’re thrilled to include the painting in our upcoming exhibition, Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power, which will also include the work by Virginia Jaramillo that we added to our collection last year through the support of the fund.”

Olga Osminkina, said: “LIFEWTR is committed to advancing emerging artists in everything we do. We are so proud that The LIFEWTR Fund can make a lasting impact and deliver on our purpose of supporting the creative community. Frieze and the Brooklyn Museum are wonderful partners, now close members of our family, and together we are committed to supporting creativity one initiative at a time.”

Loring Randolph, Artistic Director, Frieze Fairs added: "Following the fund’s exceptional acquisition last year by Virginia Jarmaillo – the work of which has been touring from Tate Modern to Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, and soon will be at the Brooklyn Museum – it is not surprising to me that LIFEWTR has the vision and desire this year to deepen its commitment to the fund with a $100,000.00 contribution. I want to personally thank LIFEWTR for their partnership with Frieze, especially for their contribution to Frieze New York and to the Brooklyn Museum with the large increase of the dollar amount for the acquisition fund. This is an enormous contribution to the cultural fabric of this city – and the Brooklyn Museum could not be more deserving of this gift.”