The Scholl Collection

In anticipation and celebration of Miami Art Museum’s December reopening as Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM), Debra and Dennis Scholl, longtime collectors and supporters of the arts in Miami, have donated nearly 300 works of art to the Museum’s permanent collection. The works range in medium and are by artists of international, national and regional significance including Vito Acconci, John Baldessari, Walead Beshty, Ólafur Elíasson, Liam Gillick, and Catherine Opie, among others. The Scholl’s gift comes as the Museum prepares to move to its new and expanded facility designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architects Herzog & de Meuron.  Opening as Pérez Art Museum Miami in recognition of a major donation of cash and art from Jorge M. Pérez, the new building will feature vastly expanded exhibition space to present its growing collections, in addition to special exhibitions. Spanning the period from 1960 to the present, with an emphasis on works created since 1990, the Scholl's collection gift is particularly strong in the areas of large-scale installation, video art, photography and works by Miami-based artists. The collection supports the Museum's desire to present art from around the world that reflects the specific cultural diversity the community, while nurturing experimental and local artists. Among the highlights are:

• Raymond Pettibon’s first video animation enlivens icons of his well-known graphic drawings and paintings on paper, adding motion, narrative, and audio;
• A two-part video installation by Aernout Mik, an important large-scale work by the artist that exemplifies his work with staged or fictive scenarios that point towards larger political realities;
• A major installation by Simon Starling that poetically translates a post-war Puerto Rican housing plan into spaces akin to birdhouses—conflating and restructuring artifacts from modernist history;
• Two examples of Liam Gillick’s sculptural architectural pieces that use colored Plexiglas and metal structures to transform space and offer a site for social interaction;
• Ólafur Elíasson’s Your Perfect Lovers, an intimate sculptural installation that expands upon the artist’s interest in physical phenomenon and perception, overlaid with a sense of deep personal meaning;
• And a slideshow and selection of 20 photographic prints by American photographer Zoe Strauss, recently the subject of a mid-career retrospective at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

 

Resources

• Press Release: “February 5, 2013: Pérez Art Museum Miami Announces Major Gift of Nearly 300 Works From the Collection of Debra and Dennis Scholl”
• Miami Herald: February 5, 2013: “With Scholl donations, Pérez Art Museum’s collection grows by hundreds”

 

1. Simon Starling, Inverted Theme, USA (A House of a Song Bird), 2002. Wood, iron, tree trunks, and birds. 133 x 122 x 140 inches. Collection of Miami Art Museum, gift of Dennis and Debra Scholl. © Simon Starling. ● 2. Aernout Mik, Training Ground, 2006. 2 channel video installation. Courtesy: carlier | gebauer. Collection of Miami Art Museum, gift of Dennis and Debra Scholl. Image credit: Florian Braun. ● 3. Liam Gillick, Revised Negotiation Screen, 2001. Plexi glass and aluminum. 82 x 60 x 12 inches. Collection of Miami Art Museum, gift of Dennis and Debra Scholl. ©Liam Gillick. ● 4. Mariko Mori, Miko no Inori, 1996. Video. Running time: 29 minutes and 23 seconds. Collection of Miami Art Museum, gift of Dennis and Debra Scholl. © Mariko Mori. ● 5. Carolee Schneeman, Eyebody #24, Eyebody #5, 1963. Silver gelatin print. 14 x 10-3/4 inches. Collection of Miami Art Museum, gift of Dennis and Debra Scholl. © Carolee Schneeman.