The Art World Works From Home: German Art Collector Julia Stoschek Is Digitizing Her Collection and Baking Chocolate Cake

The art world may be on lockdown, but it certainly does not
stop. During this unprecedented time, we’re checking in with
art-world professionals, collectors, and artists to get a glimpse
into how they are working from home.

The prominent German art collector Julia Stoschek is known for
her focus on time-based work, and video art in particular. Since
launching her public collection in 2007, Stoschek has mounted
numerous acclaimed exhibitions, including solo presentations of
work by artists such as Elaine Sturtevant and Arthur Jafa. Starting
last year, she also started sharing works from outside her
collection at her venues in Düsseldorf and Berlin.

Now that physical exhibition spaces are closed to the public,
Stoschek is working to ensure that many of the works in her
collection are now available
online, including video works by Wolfgang Tillmans,
Barbara Hammer, and Cao Fei.

Read on to learn how the collector is spending her time these
days, which online art platforms she’s tuning into, and how she’s
cultivating her newest hobby, baking.

Where is your new “office”?

To be perfectly honest, I spend
a lot of time in the collection, which is now closed to public, of
course. There I have my peace and quiet and can think and work
conceptually. At the moment, we have regular team Zoom meetings and
I have once again found that we are an excellent team.

What are you working on right now (and were any
projects of yours interrupted by the lockdown)?

We are making the collection
accessible online, this is our main project at the moment. There
are more than 850 works in my collection to date and we are trying
to show as many of them as possible online. This is an offer for
the friends of our collection who would like to view the works, but
unfortunately are not allowed to do so at the moment due to the
circumstances. I believe art must be accessible at any time and it
was always a vision of mine to put the collection online. We have
already uploaded more than 60 selected works onto to our
website. We receive
daily inquiries from all over the world.

Because of the pandemic, I’m
also producing a video series on Instagram called “Julias’s Most Wanted,” in which I
personally present my favorite works from the collection that can
already be streamed online.

How has your work changed now that you are doing it
from home?

Since I have the luck to be able
to work out of the collection, I can easily separate my private
life from work. At home, I am 100 percent mother and take care of
my son. However, I have noticed that due to technology I
communicate almost as closely and frequently within the team as
before. I like that.

What are you reading, both online and off?

I read the news online during
the day. That is unavoidable. I also enjoy reading the blog
Ribbonfarm by Venkatesh Rao because it
offers unusual takes on both familiar and new themes.

Sitting down and reading the
newspaper is an offline pleasure. Same with a book. Probably the
most spectacular one this year was Hilma af Klimt’s
biography, written by the former editor of the Frankfurter
Allgemeine Zeitung, Julia Voss. A wonderful book about a
fascinating and inspiring woman.

Have you visited any good virtual exhibitions
recently? 

I like following what Johann
König is doing with his gallery online during these times. I also
liked “Platform,” a gallery
initiative put up by David Zwirner to exhibit work online. It’s
very clear and thought through. 

What is the first place you want to travel to once this is
over?

I have an unquenchable longing
for Israel. For the people, the hospitality, the sounds, and the
smell of the kitchen. Sometime ago we had an exhibition in Tel Aviv
which was very well received by the public. Many warm encounters
from that time turned into real friendships. I am very grateful for
this.

If you are feeling stuck while self-isolating, what’s your
best method for getting un-stuck?

It helps me to know that the
people around me are always there for me, and I for them. The poet
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe wrote a classic called The Elective
Affinities (Die Wahlverwandtschaften). I think that’s
quite true.

What was the last TV show, movie, or YouTube video you
watched?

Unfortunately, I rarely get the
chance to watch movies. But I actually like movies and well-done
documentaries very much. I recently rediscovered Orson
Welles’s Citizen Kane. I had forgotten the plot
because it had been some time since I saw the film for the first
time. When you consider that the film was made in 1941 and how
topical it still is today, you know what a great filmmaker Welles
was.

If you could have one famous work of art with you,
what would it be? 

I have my favorite famous
artists at home already, like Sigmar Polke, Stephen Mueller, and
works by Isa Genzken and Wolfgang Tillmans. I am very grateful for
this.

Have you taken up any new hobbies?

My collection is my vocation. We
have two locations, one in Berlin and one in Düsseldorf, that need
to be maintained. So there is little time for other passions. But I
recently got into baking!

Favorite recipe to cook at home?

Best chocolate cake in the
world:

• 200g Butter
• 200g bittersweet chocolate (min
  70% cacao)
• 4 eggs
• 200g almonds
• 200g sugar
• 1 package vanilla
  sugar
• 1 pinch of salt
• ½ package of baking
  powder
• Icing sugar to
  decorate

First, melt the butter with the
chocolate. Then, mix this with all the other ingredients and put
the dough in the oven for 40 minutes at 320 degrees Fahrenheit.
Very easy, but amazing. 

What are you most looking forward to doing once social
distancing has been lifted?

Going out dancing. Going out to
eat. Meeting friends—everything that I like to do with other
people. It’s just that simple.

The post The Art World Works From Home: German Art Collector
Julia Stoschek Is Digitizing Her Collection and Baking Chocolate
Cake appeared first on artnet News.