FABIAN KLUTH IS THE FOUNDER OF ONE., ONE OF THE WORLD’S NEWEST PRIVATE CONTEMPORARY ART COLLECTIONS AND PLATFORMS. HE PURCHASED HIS FIRST ARTWORK AT THE AGE OF 15, USING MONEY HE HAD SAVED FROM PART-TIME JOBS. NOW 18, HE HAS BUILT ONE. INTO A COLLECTION OF MORE THAN 45 WORKS BY INTERNATIONAL ARTISTS.
The idea at the heart of one. is that art, in whatever form, belongs in the public sphere. The reason behind it is simple: only when art is made visible can it become the basis for a broader conversation about the future – and that future must include everyone.
When I began searching for a name for the collection, I wanted something short and universally understood – a word that would resonate just as much in New York as in a small village. one. is intentionally open-ended: the full stop leaves space for what comes next, and at the beginning, even I didn’t know where it might lead. But simply accumulating artworks soon felt limiting. Today, one. is not only a collection, but a platform that connects people across a wide range of fields. The one.voice podcast is part of this. Each episode opens with the question “What is one.?” – a starting point for conversation, and a way for me to see one. through the eyes of others. And The variety of responses shows just how differently people and generations interpret it. What becomes clear is that one. is not a fixed concept, but an open space. It is rooted in progress – not nostalgia or archiving, but an ongoing engagement with the present. The work of the Danish artist Oliver Bak (*1992) reflects this approach. His painting Boy Holding Himself (2024) exists somewhere between reality and imagination. The boy could belong to Generation Z, or just as easily to a timeless, undefined realm. What fascinates me most about Oliver’s work is its stance in the present moment. In a world shaped by AI and metaverses, he turns to an analogue form of expression. Painting – a medium often de- clared obsolete – is reworked and challenged in his practice. His works are built up in layers, applied and partially removed again, a slow and deliberate process that stands in contrast to the speed of contemporary life. The exhibition ‘one of one.’ in Berlin, created in collaboration with the creative studio PRESENCE, marks the beginning of an expansion of the platform. Oliver Bak’s work became a point of departure for me – something I could respond to both conceptually and curatorially. I organise these exhibitions to bring people together and to shift perspectives – to make things visible in ways that differ from how they have been seen before. It’s not unlike scraping back layers of paint in Oliver’s work: it takes courage to reveal what lies beneath. one. speaks to those who challenge, disrupt and rethink – to those willing to push against convention. Those who are seen as mad change the world – and one. is just mad enough. Fabian Kluth is the founder of one., one of the world’s youngest private collections and platforms for contemporary art. He acquired his first work at the age of 15, funded through part-time jobs. Today, one. includes over 45 works by international artists.