Dennis and Debra Scholl have saved the new Miami Art Museum from swallowing "a single person’s taste as well as his name" to use the words of one Artnet blogger.
The Miami-based collectors have donated 300 of their impressive pieces to the museum, now named the Pérez Art Museum of Miami after real estate developer Jorge Pérez donated $20 million cash and $15 million in Latin American art.
The fascinating Scholl collection was previously housed at World Class Boxing, where two years ago, Miami artist Jillian Mayer chewed off her own arms in a video piece.
The donated work is just as provocative.
It includes work by Black Flag artist Raymond Pettibon; Aernout Milk, whose videos show border police arresting undocumented immigrants; Simon Starling, who translates Puerto Rican housing plans into installations resembling birdhouses; and Mariko Mori, a former Japanese fashion model who performs as a Cyber-fairy.
"Our collecting is very personal," said Debra Scholl in a release. "We have always acquired works that represent a new dimension in how art is created."
“We just want people to know that we think the Pérez Art Museum of Miami is a wonderful place,” Dennis Scholl, vice president/arts at the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation told the Miami Herald. “ I think we’ve made it clear with this gift how we feel about this institution as a repository for great art.”
The Scholls previously donated more than 30 works to MAM, including photographs from Matthew Barney's "Cremaster 2" series and Lorna Simpson's photo installation, "Magdalena."
"The development and maturity of Miami’s unique art community is in large part due to their dedication to fostering the growth of grass-roots-artist projects, and encouraging the more established cultural institutions to take risks," museum director Thom Collins said in a statement.
The Scholls' donated pieces will now be part of PAMM's permanent collection at the new 29-acre spot in Museum Park on Biscayne Bay.
The new museum, designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architects Herzog & de Meuron and costing $220 million, is slated to open in December.
Click below for some of the works the Scholls donated to PAMM:
