A background in Neuroethics led Emilie to start building a collection with a focus on perceptual abstraction. Fascinated by cognitive enhancement issues and Phenomenology, she was drawn to wonder how the human body perceives an artwork in space. Dating from 2012, her first acquisition was an Incomplete Open Cube (1974) by Sol LeWitt. Since then, building on the eclectic collection of her grand-mother Claire De Pauw, she has been trying to gather works calling attention to the viewer’s experience, both on a sensory level and that of our consciousness. And if most of the acquired works are from the 1960s, she is keen to discover living artists who are pushing these groundbreaking approaches further. Also, given the nature of certain artworks – kinetic pieces, light or sound installations – Emilie decided a couple of years ago to host them in a house in Brussels, where she is from, and to welcome people who share these interests. In London, she is a member of the Whitechapel Gallery Commissionning Council.

Specializing in 20th-century art, Anne-Hélène Decaux led the Post-War and Contemporary Art Department at Sotheby’s Paris for over five years before joining the esteemed Gagosian Gallery in early 2021. An active curator, Anne-Hélène initiated her career at the Aga Khan Foundation and curated various exhibitions for Wild Touch, a notable French NGO recognized for its impactful efforts in promoting climate change awareness. Since 2020, she has been collaborating on Panoptès artistic projects. Also serving as President of Thanks for Nothing NGO since the beginning of 2021, Anne-Hélène continues to make significant contributions to the art world.