Thanks for adding me to this page. I did say no to the Zabludowicz art collection three years ago when they wanted to buy my work. At that time I also heard about other artists who had refused to sell work to them or show in their space. However I am glad you are not targeting artists - i do agree this is not the way to go, and that these issues need to be opened out to wider discussions about the political power of elites and the role art plays here (eg see Tamares website for how contemporary art from their collection acts as a type of corporate branding) and the wider push towards replacing state funding of art with private philanthropy and corporate sponsorship. What is needed is analysis so artists can collectively address issues like these beyond cynical claims that theres no clean money or this has nothing to do with art etc. In relation to the current attacks in Gaza the biggest factor in relation to Zabludowicz is BICOM and political influence in the UK. In an article about art and neoliberalism published in Art Monthly last year me and Margareta Kern wrote the following: The political power of the financial elite, and their links to contemporary art is well illustrated in the case of Finnish billionaire Poju Zabludowicz who, together with his wife Anita, show work from their own growing collection of contemporary artists in the UK, where they are also big patrons of public galleries and museums. Zabludowicz heads Tamares, a Liechtenstein-registered investment company with holdings in commercial property built in an illegal settlement in the West Bank. Tamares utilises contemporary artworks as part of its corporate branding. An outspoken neoliberal who has praised his friend Benjamin Netanyahu for pushing the ‘correct’ policies of Thatcher and Reagan on the population of Israel, it is the political influence Zabludowicz wields in the UK which is most revealing. He is not only a major donor to the Conservative Party, and funder of Cameron’s campaign for leadership, he is also chairman and major financer of the powerful Israeli lobby group BICOM. It was however the scandal that led to the resignation of then Defence Secretary Liam Fox that brought Zabludowicz to wider public attention. Adam Werritty, Fox’s business associate and executive director of Atlantic Bridge – a network Fox set up linking a Tory hard-right with US neo-conservatives, corporate lobbyists and Tea Party leaders – had become a de facto member of government, attending defence meetings and accompanying Fox on official trips abroad. Some of these lavish trips, it turned out, had been funded by both BICOM and Tamares.
Posted on: Wed, 30 Jul 2014 22:13:21 +0000
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