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17/4/2007

Art Cologne 2007

Cologne Trade Fair Centre, Koln

International modern and contemporary art. 190 galleries from 20 countries

In 2007, Art Cologne - the International Fair for Modern and Contemporary Art - will run from 18 to 22 April at the Cologne Trade Fair Centre. With the change from autumn to spring scheduling, fine-tuning in the interests of quality continues. The list of exhibitors has been optimized in terms of gallery calibre and numbers of foreign participants. Focused planning to improve design and layout has gone hand in hand with increased emphasis on the Fair's traditional strengths.

This year's 41st Art Cologne welcomes 190 galleries from 20 countries. In addition, 25 young galleries will be exhibiting in the frame of the ‘New Contemporaries' programme sponsored by Sparkasse KölnBonn. The ‘Open Space' project - which has attracted a great deal of international attention - has exhibition space for 40 exhibits. The ‘New Talents' programme - Art Cologne's longest-established sponsorship programme for young artists - will provide space for 25 young artists from all over the world. These young artists will be showcased by the Art Cologne exhibitors representing them. ‘Hidden Treasures', the new programme launched at last year's event, was a great success. Art Cologne exhibitors will again be staging solo shows of the work of five to six artists who have their niche in art history but are currently neglected and undervalued by the market.

Art Cologne's supporting programme features special exhibitions of art from Mallorca and works from Viennese private collections, an environment by Anthony McCall, a video installation by Gary Hill (235 Media), a show focusing on Galerie Erhard Klein (ZADIK), the traditional photography exhibition staged by the Photographische Sammlung/SK Stiftung Kultur der Sparkasse KölnBonn and the Fourth Arts Sponsorship Conference. Prize-giving ceremonies, symposia, discussions and numerous other events in and around Cologne provide further highlights. Two of these highlights are ‘KölnSkulptur 4' at the Cologne Sculpture Park and ‘KölnShow2' in 18 Cologne galleries.

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Open Space for the third time: Contemporary art in an urban context

Open Space is also a platform for projects outside the gallery scene

Growing popularity thanks to springtime Art Cologne dates

Featuring six galleries from London and Glasgow, two each from New York and Switzerland, and a large contingent from Berlin, Open Space is set to continue its success story as an alternative trade fair format at the 41st ART COLOGNE (18th to 22nd April 2007). More than 40 galleries from around the world will be presenting individual works and projects of contemporary art in 2,500 m² of exhibition space on the ground floor of Hall 4.

The list of galleries and artists can be subdivided in different ways. To begin with a few statistics, 46 galleries will stage 43 presentations of works by 54 artists. A total of 32 galleries are exhibiting solely at Open Space, while 14 are also exhibiting at New Contemporaries or another section of the Art Cologne trade fair. The German galleries number 28 in all, and seven of those are from Berlin (including NEU, Johann König and newcomers such as Bürgel and Schubert). Eight of the galleries are from Cologne (BQ, Buchholz, Capitain, Frehrking Wiesehöfer, Linn Lühn, Mirko Mayer, Rehbein and Sprüth/Magers). A total of 18 are from outside Germany, including three from London (Cabinet, Hotel and Bartlett), three from Glasgow (Sorcha Dallas, Mary Mary and The Modern Institute), two from New York (Kapernekas and Schlechtriem) and two from Switzerland (Art & Public and Mark Müller).

As in 2006, Open Space 2007 will once again provide a platform for showcasing projects that go beyond the gallery environment to reflect points of reference for contemporary art within an urban context. In order to create as comprehensive an overview as possible, most of the participants come from the same city. After projects from Cologne were highlighted last year, the focus in 2007 is on the scene in Berlin, which will be presented at Open Space by the Berlin-based Poster Verlag, the concept store of the fashion label Bless, the theme-related bookshop pro qm, the Zentrale Intelligenz Agentur and the Texte zur Kunst publishing house. Open Space will, however, also feature exhibitors from Cologne: the European Kunsthalle and - nearby - the Gesellschaft für moderne Kunst am Museum Ludwig Köln.

On this year's jury are Sorcha Dallas (Glasgow), Gregor Jansen (ZKM Karlsruhe), Joanna Kamm (Berlin), André Schlechtriem (New York), Adam Szymczyk (Kunsthalle Basel) and Christina Végh (Kunstverein Bonn). The high quality of the Open Space exhibitors is thanks not only to the jury members' hard work, but also to the international network of galleries that have experienced success with Open Space in the last two years. Their positive reports about the event are attracting a large number of top-class participants to Cologne this year.

The growing popularity and ongoing enhancement of Open Space are due not only to these positive reports of previous participants, but also to the new springtime date of the Art Cologne and to an attractive programme of supporting events throughout the city. In particular, the "KölnShow2" project, taking place in partnership with the Art Cologne and 18 Cologne-based galleries, has attracted tremendous interest among galleries from Berlin and abroad, and was a key factor in their decisions to attend the trade fair. Initiated and curated by Nicolaus Schafhausen, commissioner of the German contribution to the Venice Biennale and founding director of the European Kunsthalle, KölnShow2 looks set to generate valuable synergy effects between Cologne's galleries, the trade fair and the European Kunsthalle.

Project management: meyer voggenreiter projekte, Cologne, with Adelheid Teuber;
Architecture: meyer voggenreiter projekte, Cologne, with Sebastian Hauser;
A project of the Art Cologne/Koelnmesse GmbH;
Project concept and responsibility: Neumann Luz, Cologne.
http://www.openspace-cologne.com

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Special show presents a selection of works from the up-and-coming art wold of Austria

"Pollenflug Austria" presents works from new collections of contemporary works by international artists

A special show titled "Pollenflug Austria" (Flight of the Pollen, Austria) will present contemporary works by up-and-coming international artists taken from current Austrian collections at this year's ART COLOGNE (18th to 22nd April 2007). The show will be based on the same concept and will have almost the same title as its predecessor, which took place in 2004. This year's edition, the second to date and a highlight of the 41st International Fair for Modern and Contemporary Art, will serve as a platform for the up-and-coming art scene, as represented by collectors of current works. To set an example and as a precedent to be emulated, representative works from the collections are being exhibited with an emphasis on two facts: first, there is a firmly rooted tradition of art collecting in Austria, especially in Vienna; and secondly, the organisers of the ART COLOGNE, the oldest established fair for modern and contemporary art, take very seriously their commitment to fostering an understanding and appreciation of modern art in young people.

The concept behind "Pollenflug" comes from the field of botany. In the context of the special show at ART COLOGNE, which was also staged three years ago, the symbol of the pollen flight stands for the phenomenon of collecting. It gives us an image of the possible careers of individual works of art after they have left the artist's studio. Like a grain of pollen, the work of art reaches the expectant collector directly or indirectly through an intermediary, the gallery owner. The work of art, the collection and the collector enter into a symbiotic relationship which, in the best of cases, lasts a lifetime. It inspires not only the collector, but also friends, acquaintances, business partners and other collectors. The results of this symbiotic connection between a work of art and a collector are just as fruitful as the propagation of plants through their pollen. The idea and the conceptual design of "Pollenflug" came from the art expert and curator Caroline Nathusius (Cologne).

"Pollenflug Austria" offers an insight into a cross-section of various collections of contemporary art from Austria, including its capital city of Vienna. Through this special show, ART COLOGNE is paying tribute not only to the untiring dedication of well-established collectors, but also to the enthusiasm of collectors who are just starting out and may have only a few, perhaps small-scale, works to build their collections on. These fledgling collectors use their knowledge and aesthetic sense to become familiar with art and ultimately gain the courage to acquire more works. Through the shared experience of collecting and their admiration for individual works of art and the artists themselves, these young collectors gather here to enjoy visual art in general and contemporary art in particular. The fact that this encounter generates both agreement and differentiation does not diminish their enthusiasm for collecting art and their commitment to a critical dialogue about art.

The special show "Pollenflug Austria" will include works by the following artists: Kai Althoff, Abel Auer, Banksy, Agata Bogacka, Cosima von Bonin, Monica Bonvicini, Angela de la Cruz, Clegg & Guttmann, Adriana Czernin, Berta Fischer ,Vasilena Gankowska, Gelatin, Liam Gillick, Martin Gostner, Dorota Jurczak, Agnieszka Kalinowska, Armin Krämer, Erik van Lieshout, Marco Lulic, Marcin Maciejowski, Bjarne Melgaard, Isa Melsheimer, Sarah Morris, Yoshitomo Nara, Nick Oberthaler, Jorge Pardo, Elizabeth Peyton, Plamen Dejanoff, Kathrin Plavcak, Mathias Poledna, William Pope. L, Florian Pumhösl, Michael S. Riedel, Gerwald Rockenschraub, Isa Schmidlehner, Fabian Seiz, Martina Steckholzer, Rudi Stingel, Esther Stocker, Wolfgang Tillmans, Hans Weigand, Franz West, Amelie von Wulffen, Jun Yang, Jakub Julian Ziolkowski, Heimo Zobernig.

Our thanks go to the following lenders: Artventure Susanna Hoffmann-Ostenhof, Johannes Diwald, Stephan Dumfarth, Sammlung Essl, Prof. Dr. Manfred u. Dr. Eva Frey Wien, Sebastien de Ganay, Dieter Giesing, Dr. Roman Fuchs Wien, Ehrenfried Fuchs, Georg Geyer, Dr. Maria Holzer, Nathalie Hoyos, Gisela u. Helmut Kantor, Alfred Kaufman, Prof. Horst Köhn, Wilfried Kühn, Gerhard und Gertraud Lang, Benedikt Ledebur, M-Immobiliare Privatstiftung, Ivo Moser, Dr. Ernst Ploil, Franz Seilern, Katharina Senn, Sammlung der Stadt Wien, Hannes Stiebitzhofer, Katharina Sulke, Philipp Teuchtler, Dr. Lothar Tirala, Dr. Franz Wojda, Elisabeth Wilflinger. Without their benevolent interest and support, this exhibition would not have been possible. We also thank those lenders who wish to remain anonymous.

Our gratitude also goes to the following galleries for their cooperation and support: Dank für Ihre Mitarbeit und Unterstützung gilt folgenden Galerien: Engholm Engelhorn Galerie, Galerie Hohenlohe, Galerie Andreas Huber, Galerie Martin Janda Raum aktueller Kunst, Georg Kargl Fine Arts, Galerie Krinzinger, Galerie Krobath Wimmer, Layr:Wuestenhagen Contemporary, Galerie Meyer Kainer, Galerie Mezzanin, Galerie Nächst St. Stephan Rosemarie Schwarzwälder, Gabriele Senn Galerie, Galerie Elisabeth & Klaus Thoman.

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Special show: the Photography Collection/SK Cultural Foundation, Cologne: A look at the collection / contemporary portrait photography

Photo galleries present their collections in concentrated form at a venue adjacent to the art fair

In the special show it is organising this year at the ART COLOGNE (18th to 22nd April 2007), the Photography Collection/SK Cultural Foundation combines a selection of photographs from its own inventory with works representing current trends in portrait photography. In the text of the catalogue for the show, Gabriele Conrath-Scholl and Claudia Schubert from the Photography Collection write that last year the show focused on the themes of portrait creation and the human image, illustrating these emphases with many classic works from the history of photography. This year's show will present the same themes, as exemplified by recently created works. These two exhibitions give the Photography Collection an opportunity to showcase part of its significant and continually growing inventory. They also allow the Collection to emphasise the key role the works have played in designing the exhibition programme and doing the associated research work. The stands of galleries focusing on photography have been placed close together near the special show.

Ever since the institution was founded in 1992, the heart of the Photography Collection has been the August Sander archive, which comprises the world's largest collection of original prints made by this Cologne-based photographer. In particular, the portrait photographs from Sander's culturally significant work "People of the 20th Century" have served as models and sources of inspiration for many generations of photographers down to the present day, on account of the broad concepts behind them and the specific pictorial approaches they embody.

August Sander's modernity becomes even more evident when we look at the photographic trends of the 21st century that are exemplified in this special show by portraits from the Photographic Collection created by the artists Cuny Janssen, Andrea Robbins/Max Becher and Oliver Sieber. The show also includes selected works by Michael Bühler-Rose, Monika Czosnowska, Albrecht Fuchs, Frank Gaudlitz, Anastasia Khoroshilova, Ingar Krauss, Chris Richter, Sean Lennon Salyards, Arabella Schwarzkopf, Katja Stuke, Mette Tronvoll and Albrecht Tübke. These groups of photographic works take note of social and cultural differences and are devoted to a variety of ethnic, religious, professional and family-centered themes. The photographers' approaches and the aesthetic solutions they come up with are highly individual and interesting. In this presentation, the subjects of the portraits are emphasised. As a result, the show provides a striking example of the institution's fruitful combination of collecting and exhibiting activities.

The extensive inventory of the Photography Collection also lends itself to exhibitions focusing on other themes, such as landscapes, architecture and industrial photography. This year's exhibition will feature works by Bernd and Hilla Becher, Karl Blossfeldt, Natascha Borowsky, William Christenberry, Jim Dine, Paul Dobe, Walter Evans, Lee Friedlander, Ruth Hallensleben, Jacob Hilsdorf, Albert Renger-Patzsch and Stephen Shore, as well as works lent by the publishing company Folkwang-Auriga Verlag.

Press contact:
Dirk Mangold
Messeplatz 1 50679 Köln fon: +49(0)221/821-2907 fax:+49(0)221/821-2181
d.mangold@koelnmesse.de

Cologne Trade Fair Centre
Opening times for visitors:
daily from 12 noon to 8 p.m.

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