First major publication about UBS’s renowned art collection in nearly a decade – UBS Art Collection: To Art its Freedom, published by Hatje Cantz – debuts at Art Basel in Miami Beach

Accompanying display in UBS lounge will showcase seminal works featured in the new UBS publication including those by artists Cy Twombly, Alex Katz, Ed Ruscha, Tracey Emin, Sarah Morris and Doug Aitken

UBS, global Lead Partner of Art Basel, celebrates the opening of Art Basel in Miami Beach by releasing its first major print publication on the UBS Art Collection in nearly a decade. UBS Art Collection: To Art its Freedom is a 274-page, deluxe hardback overview of the UBS Art Collection that includes a text on the history of the collection written by Mary Rozell, Global Head UBS Art Collection, as well as an essay by noted scholar Dieter Buchhart. The volume features more than 200 color illustrations of works by acknowledged masters such as Cy Twombly, Alighiero Boetti, Mary Heilmann, Ed Ruscha and Christopher Wool alongside a number of the collection’s recent acquisitions and works by emerging artists.

This publication, which will be launched at Art Basel in Miami Beach, provides the inspiration for the selection of artworks on view within the UBS lounge.

UBS has been an active contemporary art collector since the 1960s and takes a dynamic approach to its collection, continuing to grow and evolve its holdings, acquiring works from around the globe in accordance with the geographical reach of its business. The range of artwork featured in the publication and in the UBS lounge underscores the company’s long-standing commitment to contemporary art.

As further evidence of its commitment, UBS marks almost a quarter of a century of partnering with Art Basel this year, supporting the organization on a global level and across all three shows in Basel, Miami Beach and Hong Kong.

“Our long-term partnership with Art Basel is at the core of our broad involvement with contemporary art, as art collectors and art partners,” stated John Mathews, Group Managing Director, Head of Private Wealth Management and Ultra High Net Worth, UBS Wealth Management Americas. “We are delighted to release this extraordinary publication about the UBS Art Collection, which visually captures our more than 60-year collecting history, for our clients and guests in Miami Beach and we look forward to presenting many of the works in our lounge for visitors to see firsthand.”

“UBS Art Collection: To Art its Freedom is the result of a dynamic exchange of some of the most intriguing and influential artists and ideas from the 1960s to the present,” said Mary Rozell, Global Head UBS Art Collection. “The selection includes works that offer insights into the history and evolution of the UBS Art Collection along with new acquisitions that reflect the current moment in contemporary art practice.” 

UBS Art Collection: To Art its Freedom will be available for purchase through publisher Hatje Cantz in January 2017. The 24 × 30 cm, portrait format, hardcover volume will be available in English at www.hatjecantz.com as well as through select retail outlets.

UBS Art Collection at Art Basel in Miami Beach
This year’s selection of works from the UBS Art Collection in the firm’s VIP lounge, inspired by the new publication, is entitled UBS Art Collection: A History and a Moment. The selection showcases 30 artworks by 25 artists that offer insight into the history and evolution of the Collection, as well as new acquisitions that reflect the current moment in contemporary art. The display, curated by Mary Rozell, includes seminal works by Alighiero Boetti (Mappa Del Mondo, 1978), Carroll Dunham (Large Shape with Bands, 1989), Mary Heilmann (Lupe’s Friends, 2001), Alex Katz (Red Coat, 1983), Sarah Morris (Midtown-PaineWebber (with Neon)), 1998), Ed Ruscha (Now Then As I Was About to Say, 1973), Cy Twombly (Untitled, 1981) and Christopher Wool (Untitled, 1989). These works provide the foundation and context for a number of new acquisitions by Doug Aitken (FREE, 2016) and Wolfgang Tillmans (Headlight (e), 2012, as well as by emerging artists such as Sam Lewitt (Paper Citizen 4324, 2010) and Wardell Milan (The Flower No. 16, 2016). The selection is intended to juxtapose compositions of rigorous formality with painterly abstractions and create interplay between conceptual photography and word art, resulting in a dynamic exchange of some of the most intriguing and influential artists and ideas from the 1960s to the present.

In addition to its well-known artworks, the UBS Art Collection also includes a notable group of 274 photographs dating from the 1850s to 1999 on the theme of “Land Use in America” that was assembled by photographer, curator and critic John Szarkowski, former director of photography at the Museum of Modern Art. Also on view, in the UBS lounge are five works that have not been on public displaybefore, which were created by some of the most celebrated names of modern photography: Robert Adams, Harry Callahan, William Eggleston, Eadweard Muybridge and Robert Weston.

This year, UBS hosts the UBS Planet Art Lounge, a public space in Hall D that will be open to all visitors throughout the duration of the show, through 4 December. All guests are invited to

• relax and enjoy complimentary espresso;
• explore UBS’s signature art news app, Planet Art;
• watch Facebook Live conversations with art world leaders, conducted and produced by Artsy – the online resource for art collecting and education – in partnership with UBS;
• watch the UBS Artcast to explore videos and download a customized playlist of UBS’s contemporary art projects, including:
• The Guggenheim UBS MAP Global Art Initiative, a program that creates direct access to contemporary art and education on a global scale
• SI: Visions, UBS’s collaborative film project with the Swiss Institute that shares engaging insight into the work of some of today’s most forward-looking artists, including some with work on view at Art Basel
• WOMEN: New Portraits, an international tour of newly commissioned photographs by world-renowned photographer Annie Leibovitz