Per Diem Part II: The Gerd Metzdorff Collection

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Ken Lum, "Untitled," 1987

graphic and screen paint on plexiglass. Courtesy of the Gallery.

Per Diem Part II: The Gerd Metzdorff Collection features Vancouver collector Gerd Metzdorff’s international and diverse painting collection that includes German, American and Canadian highlights. This exhibition follows up on the 2022 Per Diem project, which featured primarily photo-based and print elements from the collection, along with selected sculpture. In this second part of the exhibition, painting in all its forms will be the focus along with selected sculpture and prints. From Damian Moppett, Sonny Assu, Ken Lum and Etienne Zack to Pia Fries and Sigmar Polke, the project also highlights sculpture and printmaking that nods to painterly and collage-based practices as part of their practice, including artwork by Robert Mangold, Lynda Benglis and Gathie Falk among others. Over sixty works will be featured in this broad selection, which will also include historical paintings by Gordon Smith and Jack Shadbolt. 

Ranging from drawing, painting, photography, installation and sculpture, Gerd Metzdorff’s full collection was drawn together over a period of more than thirty years. Originally derived from Metzdorff’s modest savings of the per diems provided to him by the airline where he was employed as a steward, he purchased work by some of the most important European and Canadian artists working today, often starting at the beginning of their careers and developing lifelong friendships with them. The collection is presented to the public for the first time at Griffin Art Projects. With the passing of this enigmatic and remarkable Vancouver-based collector who collected art beginning in the 1980s, and with more than 200 works to choose from, this stunning collection features luminaries such as Linda Benglis, Andy Warhol, Cindy Sherman, Donald Judd and numerous others.