Bob Rennie

Bob: Bob: Everybody uses the term off-grid. I don't know whether we could ever survive totally off-grid, but it sounds good. I wanted somewhere as non-urban as possible, though, so that when we are getting away, you're totally getting away.

I thought if I had something within two to two and a half hours of Vancouver, I would actually use it, but wanted to be truly out of the city at the same time.

Bob: It's funny you use the word cottage because that's what I wanted, a contemporary cottage; you nailed it.

I don't have any other homes for a very good reason (though my kids do have a place at Whistler Mountain). All my friends who have secondary homes become full-time caretakers of them. All they're ever talking about is the AC guy, the AV guy, the caretaker, and the maintenance of it all.

When I imagined this cottage, it had to be truly nothing - as little maintenance as possible. I could not imagine spending my life communicating with people about my solitude.

Bob: I wanted works that, even if you're not involved in the so-called “art world,” would create conversation and inspire people to think about them. I wanted to include meaningful favorites that will, of course, change over time, evidenced by the two strong works on each side of the dining table. On one side, you have a painting by Nicole Eisenman of Nash Glynn, and on the other, Andres Serrano’s “Piss Christ” from 1987.

That work by Serrano was so incredibly controversial in its time that the piece I have was actually vandalized in 2011 in France, and Andres was kind enough to trust us with this marker of social history. I had it in a show recently. We thought we needed to have security because of the associated controversy, but of course, times have moved on, and the veil of the church has been pierced over the last 35 years since Andres created this monumental work. It was actually two of Serrano’s more recent works that created the elevated conversations. Opposite “Piss Christ” we had Serrano’s photograph of Donald Trump from 2004 as well as the last sitting portrait, of Jeffrey Epstein taken four months before he died. Serrano has always been polarizing and thought-provoking, and I have found that “Piss Christ” has always engaged people in their beliefs.

I placed Nicole Eisenman’s “Nash” from 2022 on the other wall in that space. The subject of the painting, “Nash Glynn,” is a dear friend and also an artist in the collection. It is a work about identity and, for me, a representation of this beautiful woman, with no subtext of a GREAT painting of a trans woman, exactly where the world should be.

I also placed a Charlene Von Heyl carpet in the dining area. I had two of them commissioned; one that is only about 80% complete with all the spools of thread still attached and exposed. That one is in our family room at home, but I thought it would be excellent in the cabin on the brick wide-grouted floor that you knew I would love when you added it to the cottage.

Bob: Yes, exactly. In the ‘90s, I met my friend and artist Kerry James Marshall, (and I went on to collect Kerry James in depth), and it was Kerry James Marshall who said to me, if you go into a museum and you don’t see artworks with black figures in them on the wall, you begin to think that they don’t belong. I am paraphrasing, but Kerry James went on to say we’re going to change that… a much longer story; however, Kerry James and I debate the exact wording of this statement.

This really stuck with me as I was starting to collect works on social justice. These are the conversations that we have about art; these conversations can help move the dial and consciously make change.

Social justice, tough and extremely aspirational words, however, my goal here is really about raising artists' voices and their concerns and having the collection represent artists that are raising important and current conditions that we don't get to see enough of. Much of my collecting has been with this in mind. However, I think, in the end, it will be our focus on gender-specific conversations for which the collection will be recognized.

I think it is important to bring social issues to the breakfast or dinner table in a comfortable way, and great works of art do that for me.

If you stop and look at, Barkley Hendricks’ “Brilliantly Endowed” from 1977 here in my sanctuary, you have to consider that any museum will show a naked white woman, but can you imagine how hard it would have been in 1977 to get a museum to show a naked black man?

For about five years, every time I bumped into Barkley Hendricks, I would say, “Please, please sell me ‘Brilliantly Endowed.’” And he always said a polite no, as he wanted it to go to a museum. Eventually, after five years of asking, I was at a Tate dinner, and I went over, and I just sort of put my arm around him, and I said, “Barkley, I'm a fake museum, and I'll hang it in my dining room.”

I remember Barkley laughing and saying, “If you hang it in your dining room, it’s yours,” and Jack Shainman, Barkley's friend and my dear friend, a lovely dealer, made it happen.

As times have changed, “Brilliantly Endowed,” Barkley’s self-portrait, has become recognized for its importance, and it recently travelled with the “Soul of a Nation” show to museums all over the world and was away from the collection for quite a number of years.

Also, in the cottage, I just received this work back, Kerry James Marshall’s “Invisible Man” from 1986, which was hanging at the Guggenheim for what seems like over a year, so I decided to add both here. They are both so important in art history, brilliant works to create meaningful conversations forever.

Bob: Yes, we have several oxidation, or "piss" paintings. Even those unfamiliar with the art world are fascinated when I show them anything Andy Warhol, especially an oxidation painting. The notion that someone would buy art created with urine makes for an engaging discussion about what art is and Andy Warhol.

We used to have the Soup Cans, but I traded them for a Glenn Brown painting since they’ve become so synonymous with Warhol's work. When they were in the house, it was the only works people talked about. The Oxidation paintings, with their unique awkwardness, always captivate people, and I really wanted to include even just one example here.

I hung next to it a wonderful painting by Alice Neel, “Childbirth” from 1939. The title says it all: it is one of those works that I hope will never leave the collection and will be passed down to my great-grandchildren and beyond.

Bob: I bought 12 chairs by Frank Gehry in 1996 when I moved into my house in Vancouver.

Though we had removed them for a year once, and then brought them right back.

They have an awkward architectural look when grouped together, but they've been part of our lives for almost 30 years. I thought I would place them here in this space as I want to feel safe and secluded in this creation. The same goes with the Mary Heilmann dishes on the table.

Over the years, I have collected several ceramics, including several great works by Mary. The collection has an amazing painting from 1985 titled “October” that could easily of been part of this project. Mary works amazingly well with color and color interference; there's a real innocence to her paintings. But it was her ceramics that I wanted to be sure to include here. Whenever I can find her ceramics for sale, I acquire them.

For me, a lot of this goes back to memory. I had a rich aunt that I used to visit when I was young. She had six red cups and saucers sitting on a bay window in her kitchen.

They always fascinated me, and Mary’s remind me of my rich aunt’s cups and saucers. Having Mary Heilmann’s version here in this space provides me with a lot of comfort and familiarity. I’m very fortunate to have enough of Mary’s ceramics that they could be at the cabin and in our house. What you're seeing is that I am very OCD, and I surround myself with the things that are familiar and reassuring.

I am really a person of habit! In fact, I’m calling you from my breakfast table in the Wedgewood hotel restaurant, where I have breakfast five days a week—always in the same surroundings!

Bob: It’s a private space, not a hotel. So, would I let my grandchildren stay over? Absolutely. It's really a getaway, though. Guests can come for brunch or dinner, but there is no place to sleep. For grandchildren, there’s always room. I have six grandchildren under six years old.

I want to feel surrounded by elements of my life that I don't have to get to know.

Works and objects that are already family to me.

Bob: Actually, you've got me thinking that I really should go and realize this project in real life.

Bob: But the more I think about it, the more I think we will probably end up with a number of little buildings, probably each half the size of this structure, dotted around the main structure.

One that the grandchildren could stay in. So instead of a tent, you would have a very, very small cabin that's extremely utilitarian. Maybe it would have a little kitchen with a hotplate or microwave, just enough to get by!

Then, there would be other structures that would house works of art, probably themed spaces. But all structures with the same aesthetic.

Back to your question on sculpture…I would love to add sculptures from the collection, whether by Hank Willis Thomas, Thomas J. Price, or Wangechi Mutu – a sculpture park, something we’ve talked about doing in the City of Vancouver for a while now. We might need you to keep drafting!

Actually, I might add in one or more sculptures by Antony Gormley memes just before we finish.

Just so it's completely perfect.

My ex, Carey, and I built the collection together. Carey collects small bronzes, and always on his desk are three steel Antony Gormley Memes. I’ll just borrow them on a long-term loan.

I think they would be the perfect finishing touch for the space and the other works that I have brought there. This phase has been very therapeutic for me