Per Diem Part II: The Gerd Metzdorff Collection
May 27 – August 27, 2023
Curated by Lisa Baldissera
Opening Reception: May 26, 6:00-8:00PM
Per Diem Part II: The Gerd Metzdorff Collection features Vancouver collector Gerd Metzdorff’s international collection. Including German, American and Canadian highlights, this exhibition follows up on the 2022 Per Diem project, which featured primarily photo-based and print elements from the collection, along with selected sculpture. In this second part of the exhibition, painting in all its forms will be the focus along with selected sculpture and prints. From Damian Moppett, Sonny Assu, Ken Lum and Etienne Zack to Pia Fries and Sigmar Polke, the project also highlights sculpture and printmaking that nod to painterly and collage-based practices as part of their practice, including artwork by Robert Mangold, Lynda Benglis and Gathie Falk among others. Over sixty works will be featured in this broad selection, which will also include historical paintings by Gordon Smith and Jack Shadbolt.
Ranging from drawing, painting, photography, installation and sculpture, Gerd Metzdorff’s full collection was drawn together over a period of almost forty years. Originally derived from Metzdorff’s modest savings of the per diems provided to him by the airline where he was employed as a steward, he purchased work by some of the most important European and Canadian artists working today. The collection is presented to the public for the first time at Griffin Art Projects. With the passing of this remarkable Vancouver-based collector, this stunning collection features luminaries such as Linda Benglis, Jack Weldon Humphrey, Andy Warhol, Cindy Sherman, Donald Judd and numerous others.
Image: Ken Lum, Untitled, 1987, Enamel paint on wood
Marcel Dzama, Untitled, Edward Henderson, Untitled (7067), 1984, Untitled (7068), 1984, Untitled (7069), 1985, Raymond Pettibon, No title (Poetracery. The difference...), 1996, Tony Tasset, Domestic Abstraction, 1987, Tim Gardner, Crown Royal, 2015, Delia Brown, Guerilla Lounging no.5, 2001, After Party, 2001, Holger Kalberg, Untitled, 2003, Maxwell Bates, Three People at a Table, 1974, Carroll Dunham, Untitled, 1982, Untitled, 1982. Photo by Rachel Topham Photography.
Lynda Benglis, Lagniappe I, 1978, Pani Rang (Untitled), 1981, Pani Rang (Untitled), 1981, Liz Magor, Sleeper #2, Charles Clough, Untitled, 1983 Tod Wizon, Curves, 1980, Mesa, 1980, Jack Shadbolt, Dark Abstraction, 1961, Etienne Zack, Daytime Motion Picture, 2014. Photo by Rachel Topham Photography.
Jack Shadbolt, Dark Abstraction, 1961, Etienne Zack, Daytime Motion Picture, 2014, Gordon Smith, Coastal Town, 1960, Jack Weldon Humphrey, The Stone Gulley, 1966, Grant Mann, Forest Floor, 2019. Photo by Rachel Topham Photography.
Lynda Benglis, Lagniappe I, 1978, Pani Rang (Untitled), 1981, Pani Rang (Untitled), 1981, Ken Lum, Untitled, 1987, Gathie Falk, Saddle with Lilies, 1975. Photo by Rachel Topham Photography.
Donald Judd, Untitled, 1977–78 (Set of sixteen etchings in black), 1977–78, Meuser, Zola, 1987, Robert Mangold, Red / Grey Zone, 1997. Photo by Rachel Topham Photography.
Andreas Weishaupt, Ohne Titel, 1982, Donald Baechler, Rickey’s Rice Queen, 1990, Graham Gilmore, Conception & The Vatican, 1986. Photo by Rachel Topham Photography.
Pia Fries, Luxen—PF3554, 2001, Sambin, 2003, Liz Magor, Sleeper #2, 1999, Etienne Zack, Timing 16131, 2006. Photo by Rachel Topham Photography.
Charles Clough, Untitled, 1983 Tod Wizon, Curves, 1980, Mesa, 1980, Jack Shadbolt, Dark Abstraction, 1961. Photo by Rachel Topham Photography.
Andrew Dadson, Terra Firma, 2013, William Wood, Untitled, 1997, Lynda Benglis, Royal Lancer, 1990, Damian Moppett, Untitled, 2015, Gathie Falk, Picnic with Long Watermelon, 1977, Andy Warhol, Miriam Davidson, 1965, Sonny Assu, Chief’s Drum, 2006, Steven Shearer, Love Me for a Reason, 1994, Meuser, Drawing on Paper—Graphite and Collage, 1982, Untitled, 1975–1990, 1984, LAH C287, 1983, Untitled, 1982, Porfirio DiDonna, Untitled, 1975. Photo by Rachel Topham Photography.
Sonny Assu, Chief’s Drum, 2006, Steven Shearer, Love Me for a Reason, 1994, Meuser, Drawing on Paper—Graphite and Collage, 1982, Untitled, 1975–1990, 1984, LAH C287, 1983, Untitled, 1982, Porfirio DiDonna, Untitled, 1975. Photo by Rachel Topham Photography.