BMW Art Guide by Independent Collectors

Rik Reinking

WAI - Woods Art Institute, Wentorf bei Hamburg, Germany

Rik Reinking. Photo: WAI/HX
Rik Reinking. Photo: WAI/HX

How important is having the title of “collector” to you?

Titles aren't really my cup of tea. I think the name of an exhibition I did in Denmark a few years ago sums it up best: CALL IT WHAT YOU LIKE.

Does your collection, the Reinking Collection, follow a specific theme or particular artists?

Life, death and the process in between are my main focus. I'm very much interested in just about everything, particularly the human condition in relation to the trinity of past, present and future. Whatever feels real tickles me in a peculiar way. I want to know more. Dig deeper. The theme is whatever interests me.

WAI Forest. Photo: WAI/HX
WAI Forest. Photo: WAI/HX
Lars von Trier, The House that Jack Built, 2018. Architecture Bjarke Ingels. Photo: Kunsthal Charlottenborg; Anders Sune Berg
Lars von Trier, The House that Jack Built, 2018. Architecture Bjarke Ingels. Photo: Kunsthal Charlottenborg; Anders Sune Berg

Pre-Covid, were you traveling frequently for the purpose of following the art world?

Yes. I was traveling a lot.

Maybe too much..

But I was fine with this as travelling it is the most important part of collecting.

Are you actively visiting online viewing rooms during this crisis?

No. Art is a real life experience for me.

I appreciate what is happening online while the real doors to many institutions remain shut during this pandemic. But I hope that this is a temporary solution to a temporary problem and that soon we will get to experience the beauty of art with all of our senses again.

WAI Galleries. Photo: WAI/RR
WAI Galleries. Photo: WAI/RR

Last September (2019) saw the opening of the WAI Galleries at the Woods Art Institute located amongst a historical & listed park in the Sachsenwald Forest, on the cusp of Hamburg. Tell us about this initiation, your collection engagements and how the preservation of the parklands all comes together.

It is a great pleasure to spend some time curating and working in the arts interrupted by tree care and classical (necessary to be done) forest work. Here we have an art collection mirrored by a tree collection ... that’s just perfect.

What are your general feelings about this intensive pandemic-related digital shift of the art world? Do you think it is somehow possible to translate an experience of visiting a nature destination like the WAI, into a digital realm?

No. Absolutely not. This place needs to be experienced physically. Believe me, something happens when you enter the WAI premises. Hard enough to explain with words and impossible to translate digitally.

What has been the most challenging work of art in your collection, either for yourself or the public?

TIM. It is the only piece in my collection that is growing old together with me. We're the same age. When I acquired the tattoo we were both in our late thirties. Now we're in our mid-forties. Wim's artwork is still the same. Everything else has changed. There's a constant evolution in progress here which isn't theoretical, but as real as possible.

Wim Delvoye, Tim, 2006 - 2008. Photo: WAI/RR
Wim Delvoye, Tim, 2006 - 2008. Photo: WAI/RR

What is a beautiful moment from the WAI or your life as a collector that you would like to share with us?

When installing the Room with works by Ed and Nancy Kienholz while watching the Buzzards learn to fly and hunt.

Which publicly accessible private collections would you recommend visiting?

Woods Art Institute near Hamburg. Just incredible...

Gregor Gaida, Echo Virilis, 2016. Photo: Franziska von den Driesch
Gregor Gaida, Echo Virilis, 2016. Photo: Franziska von den Driesch
Terence Koh, What is Belief? Truth?, 2007. Photo: Peres Projects
Terence Koh, What is Belief? Truth?, 2007. Photo: Peres Projects
WAI Galleries; Thomas Judisch, Poseidon, 2017. Photo: NEWS & ART
WAI Galleries; Thomas Judisch, Poseidon, 2017. Photo: NEWS & ART

All images courtesy Woods Art Institute, Wentorf bei Hamburg

More Information on WAI - Woods Art Institute and on Independent Collectors

Collectors (77)

Narda van 't Veer

The Narda van 't Veer Collection – Monnickendam, Netherlands

Rashid Al Khalifa

RAK ART FOUNDATION – Riffa, Bahrain

Olivier Chow

The Olivier Chow Collection – Lausanne, Switzerland

Valeria Napoleone

Valeria and Gregorio Napoleone Collection – London, UK

Matteo Novarese

SOF:ART – Bologna, Italy

Martin Steppacher

Gallery Durchgang – Basel, Switzerland

Carmelo Graci

Graci Collection – Mantova, Italy

Dr. William Lim

Living Collection – Hong Kong

NICOLA ERNI

Nicola Erni Collection – Steinhausen, Switzerland

Lukas Jakob

Jakob Collection – Gundelfingen, Germany

Claus Busch Risvig

Bech Risvig Collection – Silkeborg, Denmark

Joseph Awuah-Darko

The Terra Collection Of African Contemporary Art – Accra, Ghana | London, UK

INGRID AND THOMAS JOCHHEIM

Ingrid and Thomas Jochheim Collection – Berlin, Germany

Michał Borowik

Michał Borowik Collection – Warsaw, Poland

Bernardo Paz

Instituto Inhotim – Centro de Arte Contemporânea e Jardim Botânico – Brumadinho, Brazil

Tony Salamé

Aïshti Foundation – Beirut, Lebanon

Nadia & Rajeeb Samdani

Samdani Art Foundation (SAF), Dhaka, Bangladesh

Lord David Cholmondeley

Houghton Hall – King's Lynn, Great Britain

Galila Barzilaï-Hollander

Galila's P.O.C., Brussels, Belgium

Martin Margulies

The Margulies Collection at the Warehouse – Miami, United States of America

Christine and Andrew Hall

Hall Art Foundation - Reading, USA & Derneburg, Germany

Qiao Zhibing

TANK Shanghai and Qiao Space - Shanghai, China

Christen Sveaas

Kistefos Museet, Jevnaker, Norway

Noemi Givon

Givon Art Forum – Tel Aviv, Israel

Michael Buxton

Buxton Contemporary - Melbourne, Australia

Seth Stolbun

The Stolbun Collection – Houston, USA

Jochen Zeitz

Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Zeitz MOCAA) - Cape Town, Africa

Dominique & Sylvain Levy

DSLCollection – Paris, France

Andrea von Goetz

Sammlung Blankenburg – Hamburg, Germany

Gordon Elliott

The Elliott Eyes Collection - Sydney, Australia

The Vague Space

Christian Kaspar Schwarm on the first solo presentation of his collection at the Weserburg Bremen

Anita Zabludowicz

Zabludowicz Collection – London, United Kingdom

Anastasios A. Gkekas

The Office Collection - Nicosia, Cyprus

Maria Didrichsen

Didrichsen Art Museum – Helsinki, Finland

João Carlos de Figueiredo Ferraz

Instituto Figueiredo Ferraz (IFF) - São Paulo, Brazil

Julia Stoschek

Julia Stoschek Collection – Dusseldorf, Germany

Maurizio Morra Greco

Fondazione Morra Greco, Naples, Italy

Christian & Karen Boros

Sammlung Boros – Berlin, Germany

Timo Miettinen

Salon Dahlmann – Berlin, Germany

Marli Hoppe-Ritter

Sammlung Marli Hoppe-Ritter – Waldenbuch, Germany

Désiré Feuerle

The Feuerle Collection – Berlin, Germany

Gudrun & Bernd Wurlitzer

Wurlitzer Pied A Terre Collection – Berlin, Germany

Corbett Lyon

Lyon Housemuseum – Melbourne, Australia

Geert Verbeke-Lens

Verbeke Foundation – Kemzeke, Belgium

László Vass

Vass Collection – Veszprém, Hungary

Daisuke Miyatsu

Dream House – Ichikawa, Japan

Samara Walbohm & Joe Shlesinger

Scrap Metal Gallery – Toronto, Canada

Charles Riva

Charles Riva Collection – Brussels, Belgium

Venke & Rolf Hoff

KaviarFactory – Lofoten, Norway

Alain Servais

Servais Family Collection – Brussels, Belgium

Ivo Wessel

Sammlung Ivo Wessel - Berlin, Germany

Ramin Salsali

Salsali Private Museum – Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Vittorio Gaddi

Collezione Nunzia e Vittorio Gaddi – Lucca, Italy

Miguel Leal Rios

Fundação Leal Rios – Lisbon, Portugal

Gertraud and Dieter Bogner

Kunstraum Buchberg – Gars am Kamp, Austria

Bob Rennie

Rennie Collection at Wing Sang – Vancouver, Canada

Heiner Wemhöner

Sammlung Wemhöner – Herford, Germany

Lin Han

M WOODS – Beijing, China

Kenny Goss

The Goss-Michael Foundation – Dallas, USA

Karsten Schmitz

Arbeitswohnung Federkiel – Leipzig, Germany

Devon Dikeou

The Dikeou Collection - Denver, USA

Thomas Olbricht

ME Collectors Room Berlin/Stiftung Olbricht – Berlin, Germany

Mera & Donald Rubell

Rubell Family Collection – Miami, USA

Pétur Arason

Safn – Berlin, Germany / Reykjavík, Iceland

Steffen Hildebrand

G2 Kunsthalle – Leipzig, Germany

Frédéric de Goldschmidt

Frédéric de Goldschmidt – Brussels, Belgium

Daniel Teo

The Private Museum – Singapore, Singapore

Claudio Cosma

Sensus – Luoghi per l’arte Contemporanea – Florence, Italy

Michał Borowik

Michał Borowik Collection – Warsaw, Poland

Herbert Gerisch

Herbert-Gerisch-Stiftung - Neumünster, Germany

José Berardo

Museu Coleção Berardo – Lisbon, Portugal

Bärbel Grässlin and Karola Kraus

Sammlung Grässlin - St. Georgen, Germany

Joëlle and Eric Romba

Rocca Stiftung – Berlin, Germany

Myriam and Amaury de Solages

Maison Particulière – Brussels, Belgium

Friedrich Gräfling

Sammlung Fiede - Aschaffenburg, Germany