NEW YORK, NY.- Faurschou Foundation announced that it will expand its global footprint—which already includes permanent exhibition spaces in Copenhagen and Beijing, and a biannual pop-up space in Venice—to New York City, with the opening of a permanent exhibition space in Brooklyn’s Greenpoint neighborhood in November 2019.
The newly renovated 12,000 square-foot industrial warehouse in Greenpoint, will give the Foundation a new platform to showcase large-scale installations and experiential works from Faurschou’s collection, thematic group shows centered on the human condition and experience, and solo presentations of acclaimed artists from across the globe.
The Foundation hopes to further enhance the rich cultural landscape of New York City by providing unique experiences for local, regional, and international visitors—engaging them with topical ideas and themes through artistic practice. Jens Faurschou, Founder of Faurschou Foundation explains:
“New York City has been an important artistic capital of the art world since the early 20th century, so we’ve always been interested in the idea of opening an exhibition space. Now that we’ve found the perfect venue —raw and industrial in aesthetic and vast enough to accommodate the large-scale installations we often collect and present—we are excited to establish a permanent presence in one of the world’s foremost cultural capitals. We are energized by the challenge and opportunity posed by the complex cultural landscape of NYC, and we look forward to presenting our exhibitions to this highly sophisticated audience and cultivating cross-cultural exchange and dialogue between Europe, Asia and the Americas with our three unique spaces.”
The Foundation will inaugurate Faurschou New York with The Red Bean Grows in the South, a group exhibition centered on concepts of dreams and longing, featuring major large-scale and experiential works. Many of the works are from the Foundation’s collection, and are by a diverse array of international artists, including Ai Weiwei, Georg Baselitz, Louise Bourgeois, Cecily Brown, Cai Guo-Qiang, Tracey Emin, Omer Fast, Anselm Kiefer, Edward and Nancy Reddin Kienholz, Christian Lemmerz, Paul McCarthy, Richard Mosse, Yoko Ono, Robert Rauschenberg, Alison Saar, Danh Vo, and Yu Hong. Works in the exhibition span a variety of media and explore conceptual themes such as violence, war, politics, idealism, and escapism, as well as hope, dreams, desire, lust, and longing. The idea of longing, in particular, is manifest throughout the exhibition in different ways, be it a sense of longing for someone (as in a loved one) or for something (as in a better future). The works resonate strongly as individual pieces, but also take on new meaning when placed in dialogue with one another.
The exhibition’s title references the first verse of a Chinese Tang Dynasty poem, Red Bean, which is known to express deep longing. While the scope of the exhibition is broadly international, the curatorial conceit for the Foundation’s first New York show reflects a core tenet of the Foundation’s identity—its longstanding relationship with China, and its desire to engage Western audiences with important concepts, themes, and works from the region.
In addition to temporary exhibitions, some large-scale works from the Foundation’s collection will regularly be on view, allowing Faurschou to make more of the works in its collection publicly accessible. As with all of Faurschou Foundation’s permanent exhibition spaces, Faurschou New York will be free and open to the public.
