Leading Wellbeing Organization Therme Group Expands Relationship With Superblue
Therme Art Co-founder and CEO Mikolaj Sekutowicz Joins Superblue Board of Directors
Mollie Dent-Brocklehurst, Co-founder and CEO of Superblue, and Mikolaj Sekutowicz, Co-founder and CEO of Therme Art, announced today that Therme Art has expanded its relationship with experiential art company Superblue as Sekutowicz joins Superblue’s Board of Directors. The international art initiative of leading global wellbeing organization Therme Group, Therme Art’s increased commitment marks the strengthening of its alignment with Superblue, the ground-breaking new company dedicated to advocacy for and public engagement with experiential art. Within his new position on the Board of Superblue, Sekutowicz will amplify the expertise and resources that his experience leading Therme Art brings to Superblue, advancing their shared visions for the realization of interactive experiences that foster social awareness, civic engagement, and wellbeing.
This spring Superblue launched its first public center in Miami with presentations of new installations and iconic works by teamLab, James Turrell, Es Devlin, and DRIFT. Superblue’s centers are specifically designed for the long-term installation of large-scale and immersive works that activate with visitors’ participation, creating a new way for audiences to engage with experiential art that explores the pressing issues of our time and inspires new modes of thinking about ourselves and the world around us. Superblue has also been fostering opportunities for experiential artists to expand their practices and reach of their work through collaborations with museums, collectors, visual and performing arts festivals, architects, municipalities, and place-makers.
As Superblue moves forward in opening additional centers across the U.S. and globally over the coming years and creating other partnerships for its network of artists, Therme’s engagement will provide crucial programmatic resources and experiential expertise to enhance Superblue’s expansion into new markets. Therme Group and Superblue’s relationship builds upon their history of collaboration, which has included the co-commissioning and presentation of Franchise Freedom by DRIFT in cities around the world since 2017, as well as Therme’s provision of its extensive and highly customized operational experience and capabilities in high-volume ticketed experiences.
Therme Group’s vision is driven by the belief that “wellbeing is for all” and seeks to create the world’s most advanced resorts functioning at the intersection of nature, technology, and culture. Through its Therme Art initiative, Therme Group aims to connect the bridges that exist between urban development, architecture, the arts, and culture, by granting artists, designers, and architects opportunities to create spaces in which all these notions can be implemented into collective, heightened sensorial experiences. In the future, the concept of immersive digital art experiences will form part of Therme Group’s portfolio and will be made available in its wellbeing resorts.
“Therme Group believes that the best results come from insightful collaborations, strategic alliances, and joint ventures. In our mission to deliver models that present a conscientious City of Wellbeing, partnerships such as the one we have with Superblue provide the necessary reinforcement and support to implement high culture into people’s lives,” Therme Group Founder, CEO and Chairman Dr. Robert Hanea stated.
“This new stage of collaboration between Superblue and Therme Art represents our shared dedication to advancing global engagement with the experiential art movement and the work of its leading practitioners in transforming how we understand each other and the world around us,” said Marc Glimcher, Co-founder and Board Chair of Superblue.
“The deepening of the alignment between Superblue and Therme Group reflects our companies’ shared values and vision and the synergies between our work in the experiential and wellbeing industries,” said Dent-Brocklehurst. “Therme’s expanded commitment to Superblue will provide invaluable resources and expertise to advance Superblue’s mission at this pivotal moment in our global growth.”
“Superblue and Therme Group are advocates for artists who confront the issues facing us as individuals and a society to foster personal and social wellbeing, which are intrinsically linked,” stated Sekutowicz. “The goal of enhancing our relationship is to accelerate Superblue’s growth and, in doing so, increase the number of people we engage and amplify the impact of our artists.”
ENDS
About Superblue
Superblue is a ground-breaking new enterprise dedicated to supporting artists in realizing their most ambitious visions and engaging audiences with experiential art. Its network of artists encompasses the leading practitioners of experiential art, whose practices catalyze engagement with the most pressing issues of our time and generate new perspectives on our world.
Through its experiential art centers, which are specifically designed for presenting large-scale, immersive art installations, Superblue provides artists with expanded opportunities to transport audiences to the new worlds they create. Superblue additionally acts as an advocate and agent for experiential artists by fostering opportunities for them to expand the reach of their work through collaborations with museums, collectors, visual and performing arts festivals, architects, municipalities, and place-makers. Superblue provides these partners with unparalleled expertise and support for the production, installation, and presentation of large-scale experiential works, through collaborative presentations, public and private commissions, and acquisitions.
In the coming years, Superblue will open new experiential centers across the U.S. and internationally and is developing augmented and virtual reality platforms for artists who are exploring our rapidly evolving relationship with the digital realm.
About Therme Art
Therme Art works with internationally renowned artists and architects, as well as emerging talents, to commission and develop site-specific artistic projects that challenge the limitations of conventional exhibition spaces and redefine contemporary art viewing. Therme Art provides the resources and means required to fulfill artists’ visions which cannot be realized in galleries or museums, regardless of their complexity, production, installation, and long-term maintenance. Therme Art’s artists challenge the limitations of conventional art spaces, whether it be playing with the architectural elements of an environment, developing entire ecosystems, or creating immersive installations that transform visitors’ experiences.
Therme Art’s most recent collaborations include its acquisition of the 2021 Serpentine Pavilion, designed by Sumayya Vally and Counterspace, marking its third consecutive year in partnership with Serpentine to support its annual architecture program, its development of three major projects at the 17th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, The Garden of Privatised Delights, co-curated by Madeleine Kessler and Manijeh Verghese; Mutual Aid by Pnat and plant scientist Stefano Mancuso; and Resurrecting the Sublime, an immersive installation merging art and biotechnology by Sissel Tolaas. Coming up is Jeppe Hein’s artistic project Today I Feel Like… Manchester 2021, as part of Therme Art’s collaboration with Manchester International Festival.
About Therme Group
Therme Group is a leading global wellbeing provider designing, constructing, and operating the world’s largest wellbeing facilities. Its contemporary urban development proposition incorporates environmental concepts to re-integrate nature into everyday life. Therme Group’s facilities combine its innovative sustainable technologies with human-oriented design. Drawing upon the tradition of ancient thermal baths, which were designed to be healing, social, and egalitarian settings, Therme Group builds environments that nurture the mind and body for visitors of all ages and demographics, creating healthy and resilient communities.