The Collector

Recreating the 1968 Parisian apartment of an anonymous art collector is the set to Helly Nahmad gallery’s installation at the Frieze Masters fair. The gallery statement offers “an imaginary journey through one man’s life and spirit . . . a diary so intimate and personal, the collection is a mirror of the man”.
The gallery’s stand in the fair was spotted by a London loyal Garçonnière (Hi Gili! thanks for the photos) and received many praises by the international press, highlighting the trend to design a gallery-booth as a piece of performance art.

The fictional collector is described as Bourse de Paris employee who listens to Stockhausen and Berio and fills his apartment (including the kitchen and bedroom) with art: Giacometti, Ernst, Schwitters, Dubuffet and many other modernist giants.
Reading the Nachmad family biography one can imagine how the collector was actually known to the creators of this booth and it is this blurred line between fiction and reality that makes this installation so brilliant.