Dairy Art Centre is finally here! Opening on last Wednesday, newest addition to London’s long list of art spaces is the joint effort of the British collector Frank Cohen and Danish collector/advisor Nicolai Frahm. They transformed a former dairy in central London, near British Museum, into a vast exhibition space – such conversions are quite popular and give the most astonishing results, think of Tate Modern, a former power station, and even the artist Rashid Johnson converted an old sausage factory to his studio in south London.
The Dairy founders Frank Cohen and Nicolai Frahm
Cohen and Frahm are following the footsteps of other collectors who have their own exhibition spaces in London, such as David Roberts, Anita Zabludowicz, Charles Saatchi and Alex Sainsbury. The former milk depot taken over by Cohen&Frahm is set to inject something new to London art scene with its bar, lounge, bookshop and summer outdoor cinema. Cohen says that the aim is to create an art center where events and performance are as much a part of the programme as exhibitions. Overall it is meant to be a welcoming fun place to hang out and it is free entry!
Cohen is frequently compared to another famous British collector, Charles Saatchi, who has his Saatchi Gallery in London. The usual cliché is to call him ‘the Saatchi of the North’ – Mr. Cohen is probably (and quite rightly) tired of this comparison, especially now that he too has an exhibition space in London! In a recent interview Cohen said: “Look, Charles and I have been friends for years and we have a good laugh about this. He couldn’t give two hoots what I’m up to. And anyway, what we’re doing would be completely alien to him. People always ask me about him and it’s boring; we don’t even collect the same things.”
Milk Float at the private view
Founders of the Dairy have significant collections of modern and contemporary art, focusing on art from the late 1970s through Cindy Sherman and Jeff Koons to the latest works from all the way from India, China or Korea. However, their collections will only form a small part of what will be on view at the Dairy — again another difference with Saatchi and his space. Here Cohen and Frahm aim to present emerging and established artists together with those they feel should be reconsidered.
Busy getting ready for the big opening, in front of a work by Ugo Rondinone
One such example is the inaugural show by the Swiss John Armleder, who has been around since the 60s working between furniture, fashion and art installation. As the Dairy founders explain, Armleder has been extremely influential on the contemporary scene today including artists such as Anselm Reyle, Jorge Pardo, Tobias Rehberger and Liam Gillick, who all worked on blurring the line between art, display, commercial devices and common objects.
For the current exhibition Armleder has been invited to take over the entire space, creating ‘a newly designed installation of works from our collections, the reconstruction of previous works, new commissions, and film, music and video that have been rarely or never shown’, says Cohen.
The resulting show seems to have a bit of everything: from surfboards to neon lights, nylon tassels and disco balls to wall paintings and flower sculptures! You have plenty of time to go and see it yourselves, as it is on this spring and summer.
John M Armleder, “Convallaria Majalis” (triptych), 2003, Mixed media on canvas, 240 x 180 cm
John M Armleder, “Untitled” 2008, Mirrors & guitar, 200 x 330 x 5 cm
