There is So Much to Discover at KÖLNER LISTE 2017 – Highlights and Preview of Our Fair

The countdown is running and only a few days remain until this year’s KÖLNER LISTE at XPOST Cologne opens its doors. For the fourth year in a row, the exploratory fair will present a wide spectrum of international contemporary art offered at moderate prices. More than 90 exhibitors from 20 countries are to showcase their latest artwork and gallery presentations across the 4000 sqm of exhibiting space. Young and established galleries, exciting project spaces and emerging artists will present paintings, drawings and prints, sculptures, installations, media art pieces, photographs and Urban Art creations.

There is so much to discover! We are certain that everyone will find their new favorite artwork at our art fair. Here, we present a selection of highlights of this year’s show to give you a small foretaste of the wide and colorful range of art that can be expected at KÖLNER LISTE 2017.

A Global Art World – an International Art Fair

Take a trip around the world with us! Visit our art fair and in just one day you will revel in art and artists from 20 countries around five continents. This year’s fair presents international galleries such as Galleria Contempo from Finland, Boesso Art Gallery from Italy, Colony Art Gallery from Romania, Gallery PontArte from The Netherlands, Eva Steynen.Deviation(s) Gallery from Belgium, GSR Gallery aus Taiwan, Fine Art Gallery from Namibia and Galeria Gaudí from Spain.

The truly international nature of the art world becomes apparent with the MSK Eastside Gallery from Russia, which will present work by one of Moscow’s most progressive and influential photographers, the American Ja’bagh Kaghado.

The Hamburg-based Oh! Quadro Pop Up Gallery focuses on international cultural exchange and will present Brazilian artist Rafael Alonso. Inspired by Rio de Janeiro’s vendors, this creative works with duct tape, typically used by street salesmen for their cooling boxes.

Galerie Klose – contemporary tomorrow from Essen will showcase the work of Korean painter Kwang Sung Park, who explores the connection of his eastern roots with western influences through philosophical and spiritual characters. Another presentation by the gallery will include the works by Gan-Erdene Tsend, a painter from Mongolia, who reflects upon his childhood memories of nomadic life at the edge of the desert.

Long-standing Exhibitors and Our New Entries

We happily welcome back exhibitors that have already received great attention in the previous editions of the KÖLNER LISTE. This distinguished group includes Galerie Rosemarie Bassi from Remagen, with a gallery program that includes works by Mary Bauermeister, or the Berlin’s artfein Gallery, that comes to the fair with works by Rainer Langfeldt among others, who especially embodies the “Neue Wilden” movement in Berlin. The gallery will also bring the masterly, figurative painting by Martin Stommel to Cologne. Also once again, Galerie Borssenanger from Chemnitz will be among the exhibitors of the KÖLNER LISTE. Its presentation will include the artist Jan Kummer, a former member of the avant-garde artist collective AG Geige, one of the most experimental art projects of the former GDR.

We are delighted with the reunion with the HLP Gallery from Wesseling. The focus of the gallery, located between Cologne and Bonn, is on abstract to informal art. At the fair, we will see works by Angela M. Flaig for the first time, havign the opportunity to contemplate her use of the raw material for the objects and sculptures in the nature. Using hundreds and thousands of single seeds, this unique artist produces images of high aesthetic quality. From the German university town Greifswald comes the Neue Greifen Galerie. The space will present paintings of the young painter, graphic artist and spray-painter, Enrico Pense, who combines abstraction with graphic motifs and realism.

A significant number of new exhibitors will enrich the program of the constantly growing KÖLNER LISTE. The JAHN-Gallery from Leipzig represents established and aspiring artists from various fields of the visual arts, all of them with roots in the Urban Art. Galerie Knecht und Burster from Karlsruhe, focuses on the presentation of artists who emerge from the Karlsruher Kunstakademie and joins the art fair for the first time. The samw goes for the online gallery weartberlin with carefully curated roster from the Berlin art scene. Among other artists, the gallery is showing works by the Norwegian native Eva Nordal, whose figurative painting is characterized by an original buoyancy. We also welcome the bildpark gallery from Munich with a solo presentation of the profoundly obscure artist of mysterious identity Valsugo, specially made for the fair. Such an absolute refusal to reveal his identity to the public prevents any contextualization and concentrates solely on the image and the viewer’s perception of art.

With its fourth edition, the KÖLNER LISTE is already firmly established in the Rhineland, which is again confirmed by the growing number of participating galleries, project spaces and artists from the region. The renowned Galerie Reitz with exhibition spaces in Cologne’s Rheinauhafen is also taking part for the first time. The gallery program showcases artists who work with arresting techniques and in unusual materials.

The Düsseldorf-based Christian Marx Galerie, with the promotion of graduates from the legendary Art Academy in Düsseldorf, will be here for the first time, as well as the young Galerie Art Moves from Ratingen showing a selection of pieces by outstanding artists who are at the beginning of their careers.

Artist Section

One of the peculiarities of the KÖLNER LISTE is the presentatition of galleries, project spaces and artists under one roof. In this regard, we would also like to point out some of the highlights of our section dedicated only to artists. This zone also covers various kinds of art, from the very personal drawings of the American Loretta Hirsch to an abstract painting titled “this is (not) a landscape” by Berlin artist Rolf Sellmann or sculptures by the Cater group from Italy.
Alongside exciting new trendsetters, established names such as renowned Hamburg artist’s – Jean-Pierre Kunkel – will appear. His photo-realistic work is valued as one of the best in German illustration. Australian artist Chris Aerfeldt, currently residing in Montpellier, will be one of the exhibitors, while his art is collected by names like Charles Saatchi. Finally, Lithuanian creative Edvardas Racevicius will return again to the fair with his celebrated wooden sculptures.

In particular young and emerging artists from the region use this section as an opportunity to show their work to a wider audience. These exhibitors include Dagmar Vogt from Wuppertal who studied under Markus Lüpertz; the award-winning Evelina Velkaite from Essen and the Cologne-based Katinka Dermietzel, a graduate of Düsseldorf’s renowned academy.

Photography Section

Anyone with a soft spot for photo art should pencil in a visit to the Photography Section this year. The spectrum ranges from black and white snapshots by Spanish photographer Jordi Rosado to sensational outdoor pictures by Gürel Sahin, and the bizarre scenes of Russian art photographer Andrey Kezzyn.

Urban Art Section

Whetting the appetite for the second year of the Urban Art Section, French street artist OX has exhibited with his favoured medium oversized billboards arount town. Ten of his spectacular pieces appear across the city of Cologne in the run up to the fair – made possible thanks to a new collaboration between the KÖLNER LISTE and the advertising specialist Ströer.

Special KÖLNER LISTE Edition

The KÖLNER LISTE Edition will also celebrate a premiere this year. The idea suits the fair profile perfectly as it stays true to the motto that everyone should be able to buy art. Together with the company Posterlounge from Leipzig, a new Limited Edition has been created exclusively for the fair. The print run is small with just ten copies, and the limited, signed edition copies will be available for just 100 euro each.

KÖLNER LISTE Highlights – Additional Art Fair Programme

The fair programme offers a range of interesting highlights. On Friday Aril 28th at 5 pm, gallery owner and fair curator Guillaume Trotin will give a tour and a talk entitled „How to start an art collection“. On the Friday at 7 pm the psychologist, author and artist Alina Gause will present her new book for artists to orientate themselves (“Kompass für Künstler – Ein persönlicher Wegbegleiter für Kreative”).

Featured image: Enrico Pense – Helga, Courtesy Neue Greifen Galerie