As is befitting of an exhibition of a corporate art collection at Tokyo's premier corporate gallery space, the Mori Art Museum has decked itself out in office chic: cool, understated spaces that feature the height of contemporary art to tickle the tired mind. Like the most privileged of office workers from the moneyed realms of the banking world, visitors to "Art is for the Spirit: Works from the UBS Art Collection Exhibition" are treated to some of the best works that cash can buy.
"Art is for the Spirit," showing at the Mori till April 6, brings together 140 works by 60 artists that are normally shown in 50 offices of the Swiss investment bank UBS that are located around the world. The opportunity to work with such financial backing and such a collection must surely have been a dream come true for the Mori's Mami Kataoka, the show's lead curator.
"The collection wasn't really made according to art history or following any particular movements," says Kataoka, "so I had a lot of freedom to make connections between works from different times, different regions and different media. Nevertheless, it was a challenge to make it work well."