Trump, Putin, Israel, Ukraine? At this year's Art Cologne, there is no danger of being bothered with political crisis scenarios. And if you are, then it is hidden in the "New Positions" segment, where Fabian Knecht, for example, uses blue and brown cables protruding from the wall in the Alexander Levy gallery to point to the looming danger of a shift to the right.
return of the 80s
However, history is more present thanks to the return of the 1980s in the exhibition halls. It is visible in pictures of Mülheimer Freiheit, for example at the stand of Berlin-based Michael Haas, where a "Man with a Candle" (1982) by Walter Dahn with a stretched physique attracts confused glances. The Sprüth Magers Gallery is also following the trend and is showing Walter Dahn's spray work "Baselitz Pop". The former Cologne resident Michael Werner, whose supply of "wild" painters is probably enormous, is showing himself to be able to connect and has Jörg Immendorff represent the decade with the painting "There is no hell" from 1982.
With so much nostalgia, one cannot help but think of the glory days of the longest-serving fair for modern and contemporary art in the 1980s: an era that did not yet have to contend with global competition. As the leading fair for the German art trade, however, Art Cologne is still indispensable and defends its position with reliable quality, even if internationally renowned participants such as Hauser & Wirth and David Zwirner are once again absent.
More Young Galleries
For this, fair director Daniel Hug has expanded the "Neumarkt" section to 26 young galleries. There was no sign of a gloomy mood among the approximately 170 participants at the vernissage. Safe "flatware" dominated, and one had to look out for video art. At least many galleries filled their stands with molded, cast or sewn items, such as Berman Contemporary South African Art from Johannesburg, which focuses on textile art by women.
In the lower hall, with its selection of post-war art and classical modern art, which is becoming smaller every year, the Galerie von Vertes from Zurich shone with works by Erich Heckel, Alexej Jawlensky, Gabriele Münter and Emil Nolde. The Utermann gallery in Dortmund also relied on Nolde. The painting "Autumn Evening on Alsen" from 1903 is by them. The price is 1,350,000 euros, which is now a rare category for Art Cologne. The top seller is Frank Stella's double picture with concentric squares for 5.9 million US dollars at the Samuelis Baumgarte gallery.
Important Collectors and Institutions
The Thaddaeus Ropac Gallery, the top dog in the Contemporary segment, is satisfied: "We look forward to Cologne every year because the visitors to Art Cologne always include important German collectors and institutions. Here we have repeatedly been able to place works in different price categories." The first sales included the work "Previously and Today" by Georg Baselitz for 850,000 euros as well as a sculpture by Jack Pierson (150,000 euros), a ceramic by Miquel Barceló for 65,000 euros and a drawing by Marc Brandenburg (33,000 euros).
Karsten Greve was impressed by the successful mix at the spacious stand. Delicate drawings and colorful large-format works by Leiko Ikemura and a monumental Zen picture by Qiu Shihua are grouped around the huge terracotta "figure" by Norbert Prangenberg. The huge mushroom cloud by Anne Imhof at Daniel Buchholz's stand was also easy to meditate away. It comes from the series that were on display this year in the "Wish You Were Gay" exhibition at the Kunsthaus Bregenz.
