Mary Rozell tells us about her work as Global Head of the UBS Art Collections and UBS's partnership with Art Basel, which resulted in the "Threads" exhibition and a public art co-commission in Basel.&nbsp;

&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not typical corporate art,&rdquo; Mary Rozell says about UBS New York Gallery's latest show on Lucien Freud, featuring 54 etchings and paintings by the late artist. Headquartered in Zurich, the investment banking company has long held a collection with a gravitas reaching far beyond the typical corporate-art sector. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s a great history of commissions at UBS since the 1970s,&rdquo; shares Rozell, noting site-specific installations in UBS offices across the globe by artists including Pipilotti Rist, Sol Lewitt, and Jenny Holzer. In their Swiss headquarters, Dan Flavin once lined the windows of a traditional barn with fluorescent tubes. Rozell, who was appointed as the Global Head of the UBS Art Collections in 2015, is proud to continue the tradition. She cites a vibrantly colored triptych by Jeffrey Gibson crafted for the new UBS Hockey Arena in Elmont, New York (it made its debut at Miami Art Basel 2023 in the UBS lounge). In the London office, a Rana Begum installation of mesh clouds floats from the lobby ceiling.&nbsp;

The prominence of the collection is largely thanks to the late chairman of UBS, Donald Marron, who acquired over 850 artworks while at the helm of the company during his 19-year stint. &ldquo;He was very astute and had high standards,&rdquo; says Rozell, who followed the financier&rsquo;s career as a young Masters student. &ldquo;He shaped the collection according to his own tastes.&rdquo; Marron greatly preferred figuration to minimalism, for one, which lent itself well to a fruitful selection of Freuds for the exhibition.&nbsp;

Now, Rozell is focused on Art Basel, where UBS is the global lead partner. Their exhibition, taking place in the lounge, is called Threads and features a group of textile-based works. &ldquo;The use of textiles&mdash;traditionally and culturally a predominantly feminine craft&mdash;has recently gained more recognition in the realm of fine art, garnering much attention from collectors and institutions alike,&rdquo; says Rozell. Although she remains critical when it comes to buying based on trends&mdash;&ldquo;We are playing the long game,&rdquo; she says&mdash;she has long been an active advocate of under-recognized practices. Earlier this year, UBS&rsquo;s booth at Singapore SG included a custom commission by the Indonesian textile artist Eko Nugroho. At Art Basel Hong Kong in March, there were also a few earlier textile acquisitions on display, such as an Alighiero Boetti from the 1990s. &ldquo;We hope to shine a light on how artists from around the world engage with this versatile medium,&rdquo; she says.

For the few spare moments she has at Basel, Rozell opts to spend her time at the local galleries&rsquo; booths. &ldquo;As opposed to the international galleries that are at every fair, I try to focus on what is happening in that region,&rdquo; the global head shares. &ldquo;I think it gives you special insight.&rdquo; Outside of the fair, Rozell looks forward to seeing Petrit Halilaj&rsquo;s installation on the facade of the Hotel Merian come to fruition, which was co-commissioned by UBS to celebrate their thirty year partnership with the fair. Titled &lsquo;When the Sun Goes Away we Paint the Sky,&rsquo; the piece features five illuminated stars projecting from the building's facade in various directions, lighting up the evening sky. It was originally made for the Grand Hotel Prishtina in Yugoslavia, after the luxury hotel&rsquo;s facade and glowing stars went dark for many years after the socialist republic collapsed in the 1990s. In response, Halilaj brought the stars back to life on the building in 2022, as an emblem of faith. With its Basel debut, the piece takes on a symbolic transnational optimism. &ldquo;We are excited this installation will be on view for the city of Basel to enjoy, lighting up its skyline with a timely message of collective hope,&rdquo; she says.&nbsp;

Art Basel and UBS celebrate 30 years of partnership with Petrit Halilaj’s co-commissioned artwork ‘When the sun goes away we paint the sky' installed on the façade of the former Hotel Merian in Basel, Switzerland (Photo credit: Peter Macdiarmid)

Amid a busy fair season in 2024, Rozell predicts a long-term shift in attendees gradually scaling back, considering personal well-being and sustainability. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s easier now that we have somewhat of a parallel digital world,&rdquo; she explains. One fair Rozell doesn&rsquo;t recommend sitting out in the annual circuit, however, is Frieze Los Angeles. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s such a destination right now in terms of the gallery growth,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s really going to have an impact on the US.&rdquo;&nbsp;

<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; text-align: justify; letter-spacing: 0px;">And after Art Basel is over? Rozell will still be busy with a newly-vastly-expanded collection: in 2023, UBS announced that its collection would merge with that of Credit Suisse, whose works largely focus on Swiss and emerging artists. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m thinking about how we can honor and celebrate their collection within our larger one,&rdquo; Rozell says. &ldquo;Maybe a show of Swiss constructivists, for example!&rdquo;

Mary Rozell on the future of UBS’s collection and Art Basel

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