JPMorgan to bring its world famous art collection to Dubai

JPMorgan announced today that it will be exhibiting master artworks from the JPMorgan Chase Art Collection at a special exhibition in partnership with the Dubai International Financial Centre ("DIFC"). The exhibition, entitled Collected Visions, will feature 70 modern and contemporary works by leading artists of the twentieth century and will be on display at the Emperor's Hall at the DIFC from March 10 through May 1, 2008.

Started nearly 50 years ago by David Rockefeller when he was head of Chase Manhattan Bank, the JPMorgan Chase Art Collection is one of the oldest and most extensive corporate art collections in the world. This exhibition marks the first time the firm has displayed museum-quality pieces from its modern and contemporary collection in the Middle East and follows on from a very successful tour of the artworks at the Pera Museum in Istanbul, Turkey, from October 2007 to January 2008.

The Collected Visions exhibit will feature painting, sculpture, photography and works on paper that date from 1959, the year that the firm's art program began, by leading artists such as Milton Avery, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Zaha Hadid, Jenny Holzer, Roy Lichtenstein, Cindy Sherman and Andy Warhol. Several pieces are included because of their association with American pop culture, including Andy Warhol's silkscreened images of Marilyn Monroe, Richard Prince's appropriated cowboy photographs, Jeff Koons's iconic basketball sculpture, and Saul Steinberg's whimsical model of downtown New York. Of special interest is Christo's 1980 mixed-media work, The Mastaba of Abu Dhabi, Project for the United Arab Emirates, a drawing for a monumental project recently undertaken in the Emirate nearly 28 years after its first proposal.

Ghassan Abdul Karim, chief executive officer for JPMorgan in the Middle East and Africa (MENA), said: "Collected Visions will be a unique opportunity to view many of the distinguished artworks from the JPMorgan Chase Art Collection. JPMorgan has a long-standing history of serving clients in the region and as a leading financial institution we are committed to enriching the communities of the areas where we operate around the world. This exhibition also comes at a time of unprecedented economic growth in the Middle East and we are increasingly delivering all aspects of JPMorgan's global business platforms to our clients."

Commenting on the upcoming art show, His Excellency Dr Omar Bin Sulaiman, Governor of the Dubai International Financial Centre said, "This is a rare opportunity for Dubai and UAE's residents and visitors to savour such a rich collection of artworks from a range of world-renowned artists. This exhibition highlights our joint commitment to the integration of art and culture into the Centre's dynamic business environment. Hosting such a prestigious modern and contemporary art collection as Collected Visions underlines the DIFC's aspiration to enrich Dubai's cultural offering, and we invite everyone to the Emperor's Hall to appreciate this exhibition."

Lisa K. Erf, Director of the JPMorgan Chase Art Collection, said: "We are delighted to take this rare collection to the Middle East for the first time, and to share it with a much broader audience of clients, employees and communities."

As an integral part of the exhibition, a bespoke arts education programme is in development in partnership with the DIFC. The programme, comprised of workshops and tours, will be aimed at engaging school teachers, families and young people, many of whom have not had the opportunity to engage in arts education programmes before, or gain such a unique insight into a rare exhibition of this kind.