GLASGOW.- A film by Hito Steyerl, Abstract (2012), has been acquired by the Contemporary Art Society for Glasgow Museum of Modern Art (GoMA), becoming the first work by the artist to enter a public collection in the UK. Steyerl is one of the most acclaimed artists of her generation, representing Germany at the 2015 Venice Biennale. Recent institutional solo shows include The Art Institute of Chicago, the Van Abbemuseum, the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) and The Reina Sofía Museum in Madrid.

Abstract (2012) is a two-channel video commemorating a childhood friend of Steyerl’s called Andrea Wolf, who became an activist and revolutionary and was eventually killed in the Kurdish region of Turkey in 1998 when fighting for the PKK.

Wolf was already subject of Steyerl’s films November (2004) and Lovely Andrea (2007), and Abstract (2012) shows Steyerl visiting the site where her friend died, examining ammunition casings that most likely killed her. Instead of including any pictures of Wolf, the Kurdish guide recounts the circumstances surrounding her death. On the other screen Steyerl is in Berlin, taking cell phone pictures of an office of Lockheed Martin, manufacturer of weapons sold by the German government to the Turkish Army. Combining cinematography, globalisation and warfare, it reveals how the political and private are closely interconnected.

GoMA has been researching and acquiring documentary media by influential female artists since 2007, increasing the representation of women working in this field within the city’s collection and highlighting the contribution of female artists to contemporary art practice overall. Abstract (2012) relates thematically and intellectually to a number of key recent acquisitions including work by Fiona Tan, Emily Jacir, Barbara Krueger and Jenny Holzer.

Councillor Archie Graham, Chair of Glasgow Life, said: “As both a powerful piece of documentary film work in its own right and the first work by the artist to enter a public collection in the UK, this is a wonderful acquisition for GoMA. GoMA’s aim is to build a world-class collection of contemporary visual art through the acquisition of important national and international works of art. The addition of a piece by such a distinguished artist as Hito Steyerl marks an important moment in this journey and has enabled Glasgow Museums to secure a brilliant and poignant work for the city and Scotland. We would like to thank the Contemporary Art Society for their invaluable support in making this possible.”

Abstract (2012) was purchased through the Contemporary Art Society’s Collections Fund, an annual £25,000 scheme that draw together the expertise of the Contemporary Art Society’s Patrons with that of museum curators in an intense programme of research leading to an acquisition. The other editions of Abstract (2012) are in the collections of the Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven and the Guggenheim Museum, New York. Previous Collections Fund acquisitions include Simon Fujiwara’s Rebekkah (2012) for Leeds Art Gallery and Ben Rivers Ah, Liberty! (2008) for Royal Pavilion & Museum, Brighton & Hove, and Bristol Museum & Art Gallery.