The voice that touched countless people around the world for decades still lives on in the spirit of The Goss-Michael Foundation (GMF), founded by the late George Michael and Kenny Goss. Based in the Design District in Dallas, Texas, GMF supports the art communities and some of most premier, world-renown artists in Texas.
Kenny Goss has been carrying the torch of “Listen Without Prejudice” for years — successfully cultivating the GMF’s unique flavor whole embracing talented young artists with open arms.
Kenny Goss (K): The late music icon George Michael and I decided to start The Goss-Michael Foundation in 2007 to showcase our amazing collection of British artists. At that time, the entire Collection represented one of the largest British-focused art collections in the world.
The art we collected was based on our interest and our friends in the YBA movement. Most individuals’ art collections consist of different formats and mediums – from works on canvas to sculpture and more. The topics often fell in line with themes in George’s music. But this wasn’t the focus of any purchase. We bought what we liked from the artists we knew and respected.
K: The Goss-Michael Foundation exhibits the artwork owned by Kenny Goss, which includes many important artists in contemporary art including Tracey Emin, Damien Hirst, Marc Quinn, and Sir Michael Craig-Martin. In addition, The Goss-Michael Foundation supports an Artist-in-Residence program, is actively involved in many charitable causes and events, and exhibits select international artists on a rotating basis while also working with significant, emerging Texas-based artists.
K: Contemporary
Educational
Supportive
Welcoming
K: The Goss-Michael Foundation is a vibrant part of the art community, both in Dallas and beyond. My collection contains 125 works of important contemporary art including pieces from my very talented friends Tracey Emin, Marc Quinn, Damien Hirst, and Sir Michael Craig- Martin.
As I continue to collect and acquire art, in addition to displaying my collection, The Goss-Michael Foundation supports an Artist-In-Residence program, exhibits select international and emerging artists on a rotating basis and works with local non-profit organizations by supporting their missions to bring cultural programming to the city of Dallas.
K: Art should be accessible for everyone, whether a collector or someone who has never been to an art museum or foundation.
K: The Goss-Michael Foundation selects artists who support our mission of showcasing contemporary British artists as well as exhibiting international artists on a rotating basis while also working with significant, emerging Texas-based artists.
K: Most definitely, a mixture of the performing and visual arts makes for a vibrant and interactive experience for everyone in attendance.
K: Yes, Dallasites are very open to new forms of art and culture. As the city has grown and new people have chosen the area as their home, they have brought a more open appreciation of all types of visual and performing arts.
K: Through August 16, The Goss-Michael Foundation is featuring Marc Quinn: History & Chaos, a curated selection of Marc Quinn’s newest work. Art in the show is for sale with a portion of the sales going to the educational programming at the Foundation.
“It’s a presentation of the History Paintings; plus, my recent Chaos Paintings – which are an evolution of the History Paintings. I guess they’re about how the news cycle is populating our minds. About how we see these things happening all over the world, and how we live with them as this kind of virtual reality of news becomes our reality. And about how overwhelming it all is,” Marc Quinn commented.
“I hope these images crystallize something into a moment or an image that when you freeze it the right way, you then have an image that unpacks its trick. Underneath, there is a new image but then the paint is so thick that it becomes this kind of madness,” added Marc Quinn.
K: The exhibition schedule for the remainder of 2019 includes:
i. Through August 16 — Marc Quinn: History & Chaos
ii. September 5- December 20 — Color Field Painting
iii. October 17- December 20 — Ryan Hewitt in collaboration with Unit London
K: The Goss-Michael Foundation regularly schedules interactive programming that syncs with the art which is on display. The Goss-Michael promotes these activities through many communication tactics.
In addition, we are actively involved online, via aggressive content-laden social media activities, media relations, PR and through email correspondence with our supporters.
K: We measure it in a variety of ways: through interaction and support of our social media platforms, direct email responses, and conversations with visitors who stop by the Foundation on a daily basis.
K: What drives people back are the amazing one-of-a-kind art exhibitions as well as the creative events and activities that are scheduled to emphasize the messages of a specific exhibition.
By staying relevant current issues and news of the day, I believe people will come back for more.
K: We find new artists through visiting with them at their studios, meeting them at art fairs around the world and through recommendations by museum curators and other foundation directors.
K: I look for artists who I know and have come to consider as friends. Emerging artists are just as important to me as internationally-known artists that I currently have in my collection including important artists in contemporary art including Tracey Emin, Damien Hirst, Marc Quinn, and Sir Michael Craig-Martin.
K: I am a huge fan of contemporary and modern art, especially artists from the UK.
K: We are actively engaged with our Artist in Residency program and re-invigorating our scholarship program. An important program is growing participation in the MTV RE:DEFINE Award, which was open to graduate students at the top 25 MFA programs across the globe in their final program year. In 2019, the first year for the Award, over 80 graduate students from around the world submitted one original artwork for consideration.
The winner of the first annual MTV RE:DEFINE Award, which went to Shohei Katayama, an MFA candidate at Carnegie Mellon University. i. Katayama’s winning submission, Kintsukuroi | Golden Repair, 2018 (Fractured glacier mended with emergency blankets, 98 feet) is a hauntingly beautiful and poignant examination of anthropogenic impacts on the environment, expressed through the Japanese concept of kintsukuroi, the practice of repairing broken pottery with a precious metal, “so that the repair reflects and honors the history of breakage,” says Katayama.
The 2019 internationally-recognized judging panel for the MTV RE:DEFINE Award included:
i. Marc Quinn, critically acclaimed artist, and 2019 MTV RE:DEFINE Honoree
ii. Simon De Pury, renowned auctioneer, collector, and co-founder of de-Pury.com
iii. Jeremy Strick, Director, Nasher Sculpture Center
iv. Elisabeth Karpidas, collector and Executive Director of the Karpidas Family Collection
v. Jonny Burt, Director of Unit London gallery
vi. Joe Kennedy, Director of Unit London gallery
vii. Arthur Peña, acclaimed artist, curator, and writer
viii. Joyce Goss, Executive Director of The Goss-Michael Foundation; co-host of MTV RE:DEFINE
ix. Kenny Goss, collector and founder of The Goss-Michael Foundation; co-host of MTV
K: MTV Staying Alive Foundation via our annual fundraiser MTV RE:DEFINE
The Family Place
North Texas Food Bank
UNICEF
AIDS Resource Center
Planned Parenthood
amfAR
Project Angel Food (in Los Angeles)
Marc Quinn: History & Chaos exhibition
Kenny Goss - Photo Credit: Caroline True
Installation: "Profound Identities"
Installation: Billy Childish
- Photos courtesy of The Goss-Michael Foundation