Art Commissions at 1301 Avenue of the Americas

2  Swiss Re | Art Collection in New York

Facts and Figures on Swiss Re’s Art Collection

Global collection focusing on contemporary art 4000 works by around 830 international artists Placed in more than 20 group-wide locations Various commissioned art works, being the most 

prominent artistic expression of the collection

Please explore our website: www.art.swissre.com

Swiss Re | Art Collection in New York  3

Why would a global reinsurer like Swiss Re ever engage in art, build a prominent collection and even commission art projects? Reinsurance is first and foremost about enabling risk, encouraging progress and making societies more resilient. Swiss Re is acknowledged for its thought leadership and is one of the most admired companies in its industry. It has a long tradition, a strong identity and extremely loyal employees. 

Reinsurance products and services, however, are complex, intangible and require explanation. That is one of the reasons why Swiss Re has always engaged in art and architecture. Both help project the company’s ability to face the unknown, to deal with future challenges but more importantly, they help create an emotional profile. Art and architecture express the core values of the corporation, support its brand recognition, establish a link to society and offer great identification for employees around the world. Moreover, clients and other stakeholders benefit from the experience of the unique atmosphere and quality of Swiss Re’s workplaces and its iconic buildings. But there is more to it. While art and architecture have become an important visual expression of the company’s identity, they also underpin Swiss Re’s commitment to offering a stimulating work environment and to bringing cultural responsibility to life – every day.

For the opening of its new Headquarters Office at the Avenue of the Americas, Swiss Re has been partnering with the Swiss Institute / Contemporary Art, New York to commission permanent installations on three floors. It is a privilege that we could recruit three outstanding female artists for this endeavor – Louise Lawler, Sarah Morris and Sarah Ortmeyer – three women from three different generations with three different approaches and ambitions, but unified by several other features. For instance, their relationship with the city of New York or their interest in cultural and social topics. Selected artworks from the collection complement the commissioned permanent installations.

Anne Keller Dubach

Head Art & Cultural Engagement Swiss Re

Our Art Collection – supporting a stimulating work environment

4  Swiss Re | Art Collection in New York

Art Commissions at 1301 Avenue of the Americas: Louise Lawler

One of the foremost members of the Pictures Generation, Louise Lawler has played an indelible role in shaping how we consider images. Following her groundbreaking retrospective at MoMA, Louise Lawler’s contribution to Swiss Re’s collection is an image from the “Adjusted to Fit” series, in which a photograph she took is torqued or stretched to fit the location of its display. Resonating with the prominent presence of Sol Lewitt’s work in Swiss Re’s collection, the photograph depicts the installation of a Sol Lewitt wall drawing that will be adjusted to fit an expansive wall on the 43rd floor.

Artist: Louise LawlerTitle: Black and White and Blue (Adjusted to Fit)Medium: Adhesive wall materialDimensions: 9’6“ x 38’11“ © 2017, Louise LawlerPhoto credit: Daniel Perez

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Art Commissions at 1301 Avenue of the Americas: Louise Lawler

Louise Lawler (b. 1947, American) lives and works in New York. 

Lawler was recently the subject of a one-person retrospective, WHY PICTURES NOW, at the Museum of Modern Art, New York. She has had additional one-person exhibitions at Museum Ludwig, Cologne; Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, Ohio; Dia: Beacon, New York; and Museum for Gegenwartskunst, Basel. 

She has been included in numerous group exhibitions, including at the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston; MoMA PS1, New York; MUMOK, Vienna; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; and the Whitney Museum, New York, which additionally featured the artist in its 1991, 2000, and 2008 biennials.

6  Swiss Re | Art Collection in New York

Sarah Morris adds to her presence in Swiss Re’s collection with a vibrant and boldly geometric painted mural on the 44th floor.

Since the late 1990s, Morris has produced a large body of work using both painting and film, which create a new language of place and politics that focuses on the frameworks of cities and social typologies as they relate to systems of control. Known for their distinct use of color, Morris’s paintings streamline a way of perception as much as a virtual architecture.

Art Commissions at 1301 Avenue of the Americas: Sarah Morris

Artist: Sarah MorrisTitle: Untitled, 2017Medium: Household gloss paintDimensions: 10’6“ x 161’6“ © 2017, Sarah Morris Photo credit: Daniel Perez

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Sarah Morris (b. 1967, American) lives and works in New York. 

She has exhibited internationally including solo exhibitions at the Kunsthalle Wien, (2016), Museum Leuven (2015), Kunsthalle Bremen (2013), Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus (2012), K20 Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Dusseldorf (2010), Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt (2009), Museo d’Arte Moderna di Bologna (2009), Lenbachhaus, Munich (2008), Fondation Beyeler, Basel (2008), Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam (2006), Kestner Gesellschaft, Hannover (2005), Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2005), Moderna Museet, Stockholm (2005), Kunstforeningen, Copenhagen (2004), The Nationalgalerie in Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin (2001), Kunsthalle Zurich (2000), Museum of Modern Art, Oxford (1999).

Art Commissions at 1301 Avenue of the Americas: Sarah Morris

8  Swiss Re | Art Collection in New York

Deepening Swiss Re’s collection of the work of Sarah Ortmeyer, the artist has created an oversized chess-board mural on the wall adjacent to the stairwell on the 45th floor. 

For the past decade, Ortmeyer has immersed herself in research related to chess. The first official chess club was founded in Zurich, Switzerland, and New York has been named the World’s chess city for both the 20th and 21st centuries. Ortmeyer’s painting for Swiss Re will be her largest GRANDMASTER series piece to date. In addition to the black squares on Ortmeyer’s chessboards, her GRANDMASTER paintings contain hues of blue to grey, reflecting the various shades observed in the Zurich and New York skies.

Art Commissions at 1301 Avenue of the Americas: Sarah Ortmeyer

Artist: Sarah OrtmeyerTitle: GRANDMASTER ZURICH NEW YORKMedium: Aluminum plates, aluminum frame, paintDimensions: 72.8“ x 72.8“ © 2017, Sarah OrtmeyerPhoto credit: Daniel Perez

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Sarah Ortmeyer (b. 1980, German) lives and works in Vienna, Austria. 

She earned an MA from Offenbach University of Art and Design and studied under Wolfgang Tilmans at the Städelschule in Frankfurt am Main until 2008. Her work is in collections of Stedelijk Museum voor Aktuele Kunst, SMAK, Gent, Stiftung des Vereins der Freunde der Nationalgalerie, Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin. Selected solo shows include BADEN BADEN, Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden, 2016; and MACHO AMORE ROMA, Instituto Svizzero, Rome, 2016. Recent group shows include The St. Petersburg Paradox, Swiss Institute, New York City, 2014; and Champs Elysees, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, 2013.

Art Commissions at 1301 Avenue of the Americas: Sarah Ortmeyer

10  Swiss Re | Art Collection in New York

Since his early affiliation with the Fluxus movement in the late 1960s, Swiss artist John M. Armleder has employed painting, performance, sculpture and drawing to explore the intersection of art and ornamentation. Often exposing the methods of the work’s production, Armleder playfully destabilizes notions of modernism and abstraction. Here, a series of glossy dots uniformly cover the surface of a white canvas, a gesture that conflates the highbrow aims of the monochrome with decorative painting’s mass appeal. Armleder’s encyclopedic visual vocabulary prompts a revaluation of the ways in which we live with objects and how art assimilates into our daily lives. 

John M. Armleder (b. 1948, Swiss) lives and works in Geneva and New York. In 1969, he gained notoriety for his founding role in the Fluxus-affiliated Group Ecart. For nearly five decades Armleder has internationally exhibited his diverse, ever-changing practice. Solo exhibitions have been staged amongst other at the Instituto Svizzero di Roma, Rome (2017); Musèe National Fernand Lèger (2014) Dijon; the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice (2011); Kunstmuseum St. Gallen (2010); Musée d’Art Moderne, Paris (2007); Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston (2006) and Philadelphia (2006). His work has been featured in the Swiss Pavilion at the 42nd Venice Biennale in 1986.

Selected collection pieces: John M. Armleder

Artist: John M. ArmlederTitle: Untitled, 2002Medium: Varnish on canvasDimensions: 70.8“ x 70.8“© 2006, John M. Armleder

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Internationally renowned American artist Christopher Wool is recognized as one of today’s most influential painters. Throughout his career, Wool has investigated the complexities of abstraction though language, humor and diverse production methods. His paintings are often characterized by their bold contrast between black and white. In their visual intensity, Wool’s abstractions assume a communicative power. Here, even an ordinary floral pattern, one that would be used in wallpaper or as curtains, is imbued with a pulsing vitality. 

Christopher Wool (b. 1955, American). He studied at Sarah Lawrence College, New York, and The New York Studio School, New York. Wool’s work has been exhibited extensively in solo and group exhibitions internationally.  Solo exhibitions include the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, California (1989); Museum Boymans-van Beuningen, The Netherlands (1991); Eli Broad Family Foundation, Los Angeles (1992); Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (1998, traveled to Kunsthalle Basel, Switzerland); Le Consortium, France (2002); Camden Arts Centre, London (2004); Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, France (2012); The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York (2013, traveled to The Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois); Museum of Modern Art, New York (2015); Foundation Louis Vuitton, Paris (2017).

Selected collection pieces: Christopher Wool

Artist: Christopher WoolTitle: Untitled, 1993Medium: Enamel on aluminumDimensions: 42.9“ x 29.9“©  2006, Christopher Wool / Courtesy 

of the artist and Luhring Augustine

Swiss Re Management LtdFloors 43, 44 and 45 1301 Avenue of the AmericasNew York, NY 10019 

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