Isabelle Deschamps

“Art is often about pushing boundaries, trying new things, having a perspective, and engaging with what we see. This is what we’d like to encourage our colleagues to do at AkzoNobel!”

Isabelle Deschamps, General Counsel and Member of the Executive Committee AkzoNobel

Congratulations on winning the ‘Gender Diversity Lawyer of the Year” at the Chambers inaugural Diversity & Inclusion Awards in 2019! How do you experience diversity and inclusion at AkzoNobel?

Thank you! Diversity & Inclusion is an important part of AkzoNobel’s DNA. We know that we’ll only reach our goals and ambitions and deliver high performance when everybody can bring their best self to work. This means creating a diverse and inclusive working environment.

For AkzoNobel that means creating an organization where people feel included, respected and engaged, attracting talent from across all demographics and making sure our workforce reflects the societies and markets in which we do business. We hope everyone will make it part of their own DNA and every day think about little or big actions that can help.

AkzoNobel is a multicultural company that aims to master diversity within society. The Art Foundation has a diverse selection of artists and artworks contribute to that. How do you think this contributes to inclusiveness within the working environment?

Art is by definition diverse and, whether or not you like certain artwork, enables—or even better— invites the viewer to take a point of view. This invitation to have a point of view is at the heart of inclusiveness and translates completely to the working environment. Art is often about pushing boundaries, trying new things, having a perspective, and engaging with what we see. This is what we’d like to encourage our colleagues to do at AkzoNobel!

What do you think is the power of a corporate art collection?

A corporate art collection is an act of commitment toward the societies and communities in which we live and operate. It’s about supporting individual points of view and perspectives in all their forms of expression! It’s about being inclusive and being ready to be inspired, but also challenged. In Amsterdam, our art collection is everywhere in our offices – to be enjoyed by our colleagues.

Also, at AkzoNobel, paint is an integral part of our company identity. And art is a wonderful catalyst for our business – whether it’s on a plane artistically painted with AkzoNobel coatings, a historic building renovated with one of our powder coatings, or through our involvement in the renovation of a masterpiece like Rembrandt’s Night Watch. The connection between our art collection and our business is and should be strong.

Do you collect privately?

I do, but certainly not professionally! I love many forms of expression, so I am also an eclectic collector… My family laughed terribly when one day I came back home having walked 1km with a painting that I fell in love with one day in London. I bought it on the spot, but before realizing it was too big to fit in a taxi… I walked home with this painting, which measured 1m x 1m…. Today it hangs in my dining room reminding me every day that you don’t achieve anything without putting your energy and passion into it. So every day I put my energy into what I do! Every artwork means something to me and has a story to tell.

What is your affinity with art and how/when did it start? What role does art play in your life?

My mum studied art and painted all her life. I used to draw and paint with her during the holidays as well as being her model! My parents collected art, mostly by Canadian and European artists. As a young adult I decided to study law but, but never forgot my love for art. I was part of a small group who created an art club in our law faculty, and I was in charge of exhibiting and starting the art collection. Obviously it was a much smaller scale than the AkzoNobel Foundation, but it enabled me to continue to connect with art and support young artists. It was an amazing experience!

Today how do I connect with art? What role does it play in my life?

I’m an avid art lover - I go to museums and galleries. When traveling, I try to see at least one museum or gallery. I used to live next to the Tate Modern in London and I spent many hours there myself and took my two daughters from a young age too. My daughter loves painting too.

Moving to The Netherlands last year, I was delighted to be able to access the long tradition of Dutch art and I have never seen so many museums, foundations and galleries per square meter – it’s a delight! Art makes me reflect, but also cry and laugh at times.

Anything you are particularly looking forward to in the coming year?

Yes! Our Art Foundation is celebrating their 25th anniversary in June 2020, with a very exiting exhibiting with highlights from the collection and young talents. I hope everyone will come to the AkzoNobel Art Space to see that exhibition.

Zanele Muholi | Zamile, KwaThema, 2016
2016 | silver gelatin print
78 x 100 CM

"Zanele Muholi is a photographer and activist known for her work about the identity of the black LGBTQI community in modern-day South Africa. What drives Zanele Muholi? “The key question that I take to bed with me is: what is my responsibility as a living being—as a South African citizen reading continually about racism, xenophobia, and hate crimes in the mainstream media? This is what keeps me awake at night.” I am intrigued with how Muholi’s self-portraits reference specific events in South Africa’s political history."

Dan Asher | Zonder titel
1998 | C-print
104 x 74 CM

"Dan Asher’s iceberg photographs are taken during a South Pole expedition. I immediately felt overwhelmed by the immensity of these mountains of the sea and of the variety of shades of blue that glint from them. I think the texture of the ice, and the compositional frames Asher has chosen, give his works remarkable layers."

Monali Meher | Golden Paithani on Chaise Longue
2006 | digital C-print
55 x 72 CM

"Monali Meher is interested in creating new identities and giving expression to the feeling of belonging somewhere, or lack thereof. Aiming to depict the cross-fertilization between cultures, which Meher regards as complementary, she plays with concepts of identity, diversity and time, showing the differences between cultural traditions and identities, while uniting them in a single image. That is exactly what we aim for in a multicultural society within AkzoNobel."

Shirin Neshat | Offered Eyes
1993 | silver print, ink
28 x 36 CM

"Shirin Neshat was seventeen when she left her native country, not to return for more than sixteen years. Her videos and photographs incisively explore the conceptual tensions between man and woman, between the sacred and the profane, between reality and magic. Neshat’s use of Islamic culture’s visual language is powerful and this work inevitably brought me to reflection."

Meschac Gaba | Take care of yourself
1999 | plaster, paper
35 x 37 CM

"In his work, Meschac Gaba reflects upon the exchanges and interactions between people, (in)equality between cultures, giving short shrift to the West’s dominant role vis-à-vis Africa. In his art, he lays his finger on the lack of any true economic equilibrium in the world and on how neocolonialist capitalist structures function, for example by presenting strongly-devalued African currency in a work alongside Western banknotes that have been through the Dutch central bank’s shredders."

Bernard Frize | Vingthuit
1996 | acrylic paint, resin on canvas
140 x 140 CM

"I am attracted by the beautiful strong color grid, from a distance it almost looks like a fluent, softly woven cloth. Frize is a master with paint, as is the chemical composition of his paint. He sometimes even uses brushes that were intended for painting boats. You can imagine that all these techniques and use of materials is very recognizable for us at AkzoNobel."

Julie Cockburn | Lagoon #1
2013 | hand embroidery on found photograph
25.2 x 31.5 CM

"In this particular work, we see a lagoon landscape which reminds me of the surroundings and nature in Canada, where I was born. Julie Cockborn uses photographs she finds, which she later embroidered with colorful balls. Adding this traditional embroidery is also a careful process that accentuates and solidifies time. By doing so, she brings nostalgic photos back to life, adding new stories to them!"