Mood Images of a Generation
Interview by Simone Schimpf with Annette Stadler
The American artist Grace Weaver (born 1989) uses a few lines and precise observations to tell the everyday life of a young, mostly female generation. 20 of her works will be exhibited in the New Museum from June 30th. The pictures come from the collection of the Munich couple Annette and Rainer Stadler. Director Simone Schimpf spoke to Annette Stadler about her passion for collecting.
Ms. Stadler, how did you become aware of Grace Weaver?
In 2017 we saw the first works in her Berlin gallery. My first reaction: “Is this art or a comic?” It wasn’t until much later that we realized Grace Weaver’s strength through the charcoal drawings. In autumn 2019 we visited her exhibition at the Kunstpalais Erlangen, after which the decision was made to buy her first canvas work.
Last year, the New Museum showed works from your collection in its six façade rooms. The works on display were all non-representational – very different from the dynamic and very narrative images of Grace Weaver. What fascinates you about her paintings and drawings?
With just a few brush strokes she captures everyday life, mundane scenes of urban life, atmospheric images of a generation. The works tell stories that our eyes continue. The colorful and lively aspects of everyday life interest us and has developed into a further focus of the collection in recent years.
It is important to you that you also personally know the person behind the works you collect. Are you also in contact with Grace Weaver? How are you experiencing her steep rise in the art world right now?
Direct contact is important to us, so it also happens that I go to an exhibition opening in London to meet the artist. The exchange is always a great enrichment. The next meeting is in Berlin in September, then Grace also plans to come to Nuremberg.
The Kunstpalast in Düsseldorf has just purchased a large work by her. This is a nice confirmation of our passion for collecting. It is a great pleasure for us to show Grace Weaver to a wider public, combined with a great program for children too.
GRACE WEAVER
06/30/2023 - 06/16/2024
New Museum Nuremberg
The interview appeared inIssue 78 of the museum newspaper from June 15, 2023
GRACE WEAVER
30.06.2023 - 16.06.2024
Neues Museum Nürnberg
Das Interview erschien in Ausgabe 78 der Museumszeitung vom 15.06.2023