I hope you are ready, because today we have something a little different. Today we delve into the world of Ulrich Seibert: a Collector, Investor in liquid assets, Facebook-philosopher, Actor in very bad B-Movies and, as he insists, a very serious man. In August of 2019 Ulrich Seibert established the Seibert Collection, a showroom dedicated to his passion for pop surreal and lowbrow art. This collection offers a highly immersive experience to visitors as he utilises artistic furnishings, lighting and mural work to create a supreme art experience that extends far beyond the individual works themselves.
Since opening, the Seibert Collection has continued to grow into its own artistic being, offering the Berlin art scene a taste of something different with its quirky, lowbrow events, art catalogues, and its artist residency open to those who feel a special connection to the collection. In this interview, we chatted to Ulrich to learn more.
Into the world of Ulrich Seibert
You are a special Sponsor for the Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize 2025, allowing us to offer the Seibert-Collection Honourable Mention award. Why?
I’ve turned to collecting niche art, lowbrow art, and pop surrealism. It’s a reaction and a move against mainstream art, which in a way makes me very unpopular with some official art scene people. Of course, I have no interest in this niche itself becoming mainstream. But I am happy that there are a few galleries in the world that represent my taste, like Corey Helford in Los Angeles, or the Haven Gallery, the Dorothy Circus Gallery in Rome and London, and a few others.
And I’m also very happy, of course, that Beautiful Bizarre Magazine promotes exactly this movement and represents exactly this taste. And that’s why I think the artists in this field, and Beautiful Bizarre Magazine, are absolutely deserving of support, and that’s why I’m happy to be on the jury selecting the 2025 award winners. It’s an exciting task. And never forget: we do it for the fun.
Why did you start collecting?
I actually never started collecting, I think few people proclaim one day that they are going to be a collector. Not the best probably. As a student I once bought a picture from a penniless artist friend, I still like it! I continued to buy more from time to time, each time by different artists. After about 30 years or so, I realised that this could be called a collection.
The crucial thing is that I opened a showroom for my collection. I’ve had some good ideas in my time, but this was one of the best. The collection is of course just an excuse to socialise, it attracts wonderful people, and we have a lot of fun here. Lots of good conversations and good vibrations, which are the real reason for this whole project.
The Seibert Collection is no ordinary showroom, it’s a dynamic installation with its murals, bold furniture and sculptural lighting. Is your showroom a physical manifestation of your mind?
I believe that I have a very beautiful mind and consider myself an aesthete; I like beauty in art, but above all in people. And as a child I probably read too many comics. For example, Tintin, Blake & Mortimer (Edgar P. Jacobs), the Belgian la Ligne Claire, MAD, and Magic Lantern, these all had a big influence on me.
Can you tell us about some of your favourite pieces from your collection and why they resonate with you?
I am often asked which piece from my collection is my favourite, which is a standard question asked alongside how long have you been collecting. To this question, my answer stays the same: I don’t have a favourite. Similarly to how I don’t have a favourite child. If I were to say that one piece from my collection is my favourite, then all the other artworks would be very sad! And we don’t want that, do we?
Moreover, I find that an individual painting is only part of the overall composition of my complete Gesamtkunstwerk. Frames, lamps, furniture, and murals are all parts that make the Seibert Collection what it is. Everything merges into one another in the so-called Petersburg hanging. Each painting corresponds with one another and, if I may say so, the composition, arrangement, environment and light are all my artistic contribution.
Little Man With Live Instagram Video Comment Tattoos, 2019
You are continuously surrounded by wonderful creations and by extent, wonderfully creative people. Have you ever been inspired to create your own artworks or are you purely a collector?
Yes, of course I have! When I was younger, I considered becoming a philosopher or a cartoonist but, since I was penniless at that time, I told myself it would be better to do something that provided a decent and secure income. It seemed better to have a regular income than to be someone who only has a fascinating personality – as Oscar Wilde said. I do not regret it; you can let others paint instead of painting yourself. In my next life I will become a painter, of course.
How do people tend to react upon visiting the Seibert Collection?
Well, I’m lucky that I have a lot of funny, beautiful and extravagant people from the art scene who often visit my collection. I always hope that when a visitor steps in, it raises their mood, and those good vibrations hit them. So far, I have to say that this goal has always been successful but there are, of course, exceptions. Some people in the mainstream art scene turn their noses up at my collection, but if they wouldn’t do that, I’d have done something wrong.
The Seibert Collection also offers an artist residency apartment. Can you tell us more about this and the kind of artists it attracts?
Oh, that’s a very nice thing about the residency, it is mostly for my friends from the art scene who suddenly face a problem and need a home or a studio space. You should never say that a friend in need is rare. You barely have a friend and he’s already in need – well I took that from chubby old Arthur Schopenhauer. I’m always happy to help as my friends are really wonderful people. I love them, they’re such a joy to be around and I get a lot out of the residency too in that respect.
I understand you are quite the contrarian. Tell me, what are some of your most contrarian views on the art world?
Yes, if the official art scene says something, then maybe it’s right, maybe it’s not. Mostly not. Have you ever considered that the Mona Lisa can also be seen a totally boring, moderately pretty and completely insignificant girl? She’s a sphinx without any secrets.
Or Alex Katz, what is with his flat, two-dimensional paintings of ladies from the Hamptons? Nothing against the Hamptons of course. Beautiful Indian Summer.
And Banksy, he’s such an embarrassing kitsch artist. I love kitsch, but Banksy’s is unintentionally kitsch and I’m afraid he means it seriously.
If you could add any piece of art, historical or modern, to your collection, what would you choose and why?
Spontaneously, I’d say I would take The School of Athens by Raphael, as it features Plato and Aristoteles, Socrates, Pythagoras, Archimedes, Heraclitus, and Zarathustra among others. This painting wouldn’t really fit into my collection and it’s also a fresco so it’s hard to transport from the Vatican to Berlin, but this work has really made me shed some tears. It moves me to see so much wisdom and hope for understanding the world in one painting which made me, for a very short moment, believe a little bit in humanity — but only for a very short moment.
Your collection is exclusively made up of pop surreal and lowbrow artworks, but I’m curious, what are some of the things that we would never see in your collection?
Outside of the lowbrow movement and my collection, there is a lot of really wonderful art, some of it even better than the stuff I own. That being said, what I don’t particularly appreciate is explicit political art. If I wanted to express political views I could hang up a poster instead. We all know of the terrible things that are going on out there in the world — do I have to have that in my art collection too?
In my opinion, art is not particularly well suited to effectively conveying political statements. And pornographic art — I don’t need all those vulvas that are currently flooding the art market, and I don’t need penises on my walls either. I don’t need conceptual art that you have to spend hours explaining — art that you have to explain is boring anyway. I don’t need gestural, abstract expressionism either. It can be fantastic. But since Kandinsky and the post-war period we have seen so much of this, so many different variations which, while great at its time, doesn’t need to be painted all again. It’s totally boring but many people seem to find it easier and quicker to do than a classic academic oil painting.
Just to be clear though, there is so much beautiful, wonderful art — I, however, have decided to stick to collecting lowbrow art and I believe in staying consistent. I’m not opening a general store. This way, my collection has something unique to offer, containing works that may be plentiful in the US but hardly found within Germany or the rest of Europe.
Tell us about the last piece you purchased for your collection!
I don’t buy new works of art very often because I find it quite difficult to spot something suitable for my collection. I mostly find works online via social media, often somewhere on America’s West Coast.
The last painting I bought was by Carl Dobsky. This piece is painted in a very old-masterly style. It shows a man sitting on the floor lighting his sock on fire while it is still on his foot. It is a really well done piece and I find the painting to be a bit mysterious, which is what art is always supposed to be. If the good man were to set himself completely on fire as a protest rally, then it would be obvious political art and quite uninteresting. But lighting a sock on fire makes me think, wtf is the point of that?
What would you say to those who are looking to become art collectors? Do you have any words of wisdom that you can impart on them?
Firstly, you should be clear about what you want to achieve with your art collection.
Want a good investment? Then I’d recommend buying art only over $100,000 and do your due diligence to keep an eye on which galleries and museums these artists trade in, what collections they’re part of, their physical and mental state, and so on.
Maybe you want to use your collection to increase your social status in certain circles? Then buy (very expensive) works of art that everyone will recognise as soon as they step foot in your Manhattan apartment or Bel Air villa — if there’s a Marilyn-Warhol, a Richter, a Butterfly-Damien Hirst hanging above the fireplace, it’ll definitely have the effect you’re going for.
If you want to be recognised in middle-class circles as a person with good taste, then buy decorative abstract paintings, beautiful colour compositions, textile-art from emerging markets and so on — it doesn’t have to be expensive.
But it could also be that you want your peculiar friends to think you’re great because you’re such a weird bird with strange taste — then you can buy lowbrow, pop surrealism or something similar, and it doesn’t cost too much either.
This interview has been updated from the original interview published in Issue 47 of Beautiful Bizarre Magazine, as interviewed by Samantha Dexter.
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