About #32: An Online Magazine for the Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen

Marion Ackermann
February 10, 2014

A new website lies before us: colorful, dynamic, big, and challenging. In the background, coarse-grained photographs of our three venues, the K20, the K21, and F3 (a reminiscence of a perhaps obsolete print aesthetic), on top of them, varicolored tiles that are updated regularly. A digital magazine, and ambitious platform for art, culture, and the Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen – with #32, we are launching a new project.

Whence the name Number 32? We considered many titles before discovering the perfect right here, in the art housed in our museum. I'm holding the catalog of our permanent collection in my hands, the heavy tome entitled Einblicke. Das 20. Jahrhundert in der Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen (Insights: The Twentieth Century in the Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen). Under “Jackson Pollock: Number 32, 1950,” we find the following apt description: “The dense weave of trails and knots of paint seems to negate the boundaries of the canvas. Nor is any center or focal point identifiable; this drip painting is de-compositional […] It is laid out in an unhierarchical way; in place of a pictorial center is a series of foci having equal value, [...].”

The Pollock title captures the concept of our online magazine in words. His monumental Number 32 is an iconic painting within our collection, perhaps the work that is best-loved by our visitors. With its minimalist interplay of black paint on a pale ground, this gigantic painting is the most striking example of his art worldwide. It is full of movement. During each viewing, it is just as fresh and immediate as the day it was created.

Found in #32 starting without delay will be texts, interviews, essays, photos, and videos on themes related to the Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen – and beyond. “making of” provides readers with glimpses behind the scenes of our exhibitions and projects. “artists, live” is devoted to our creative personalities. We ask them questions, allow them to speak for themselves, place them in the spotlight. Launching this series are Susan Philipsz, Roman Ondák, and Thomas Schütte. Over the past two years, all three have engaged intensively with the galleries in the bel etage of the K21. But we are also on the move internationally for our readers: in “worldwide,” we visit museums and artists around the world. The section entitled “scouting” offers enthralling insights into the national and international art scenes – traveling for the premiere issue of #32 were Ansgar Lorenz and Julian Heynen.

Our online magazine is neither an optional hash tag, nor a digitalized print magazine. #32 is an independent homage to a great work of art. Just like Pollock’s work, it will hopefully have a validity that goes beyond the moment while nonetheless retaining its immediacy. With a wink, one could say: #32 always bears the same number, and is nonetheless continuously in movement.

Marion Ackermann is Artistic Director of the Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen.