Mercedes-Benz Art Collection now on permanent display

The Mercedes-Benz Art Collection is now on permanent display at the brand's Stuttgart museum, with a new art collection, titled Now on View, set to feature highlights and acquisitions by the Collection within changing exhibits.

Focused on abstract-constructive pictorial concepts and critical-engaged art, the Collection also consists of representative works and commissioned works on automobility, design and construction. 

The Mercedes-Benz Art Collection creates recognisable benefit for the common good alongside committing to art and culture in Stuttgart

As for what's on display currently, the current exhibition primarily comprises photographic work, and follows the success of a previous special exhibition, titled Moving in Stereo.

This photographic work, in turn, is targeted at storytelling in a variety of ways. 

Examples of exhibits that visitors can now find in the Now on View include Speaking to the Penguins, Jaipur Self-Portraits and a series by Joachim Bandai.

Speaking to the Penguins is a colourised infrared photograph by Philippe Parreno, which features the artist giving a two hour long reading to a colony of penguins a beach in Patagonia. Parreno says this was done to symbolise that in certain circumstances, language, despite being the predominant medium of communication, can become a medium of failed communication.

Speaking to the Penguins is one of the exhibits that visitors can find in the collection

In Jaipur Self-Portraits, Pamela Singh, the artist, places herself in everyday situations in her home. In the images, she remains in black and white while other areas are reworked in colour. The visual is intended to depict the artist's clarity of where she stands within and outside today's Indian society. 

The photo series by Joachim Bandau, on the other hand, features five sheet steel sculptures produced by the artist in 1973. Interestingly, these sculptures, Cabin Mobiles, were created alongside the Mercedes-Benz Group itself, then known as Daimler-Benz AG. These sculptures contain characteristics of a car and reference human posture while driving, with the entire larger piece questioning the mechanisation of human beings.

While the idea of fusing an art exhibition into an automotive-themed space may not make sense at first, Mercedes-Benz says that the Collection is representative of its social commitment to art, culture, and education in Stuttgart. Guided tours of the exhibition have been open since 10 March 2024, and will take place every Sunday at the Mercedes-Benz Museum.