Art Guide - Düsseldorf
For this month’s city-guide, Gallerease visited one of Germany’s most vibrant and dedicated art-epicentres - Düsseldorf. With 26 museums and over 100 galleries, the city offers an endless supply of things to see and do. Accompanied by the exquisiteness of the Rhine River, Düsseldorf is visitor friendly, walkable and absolutely bursting with art.
In November the city will host the first ever Art Düsseldorf, an event that has the whole city buzzing. The fair invites established galleries together with the most promising from 19 countries, showcasing both modern and contemporary art.
In anticipation of such an event, which will be housed at the stunning Areal Böhler, local galleries are pulling out all the stops and preparing some stunning exhibitions for the fall season. So if you find time to visit this art metropolis in the next two months, here are some highlights that demand attention.
Special Exhibitions
Images courtesy of Beck & Eggeling Gallery. The Gates of the Sun and the Land of Dreams exhibited at the Beck & Eggeling Gallery (above) from May 31 – July 29 and at Schloss Benrath (below) until September 17, 2017.
Although August is universally recognized as a rather quiet time in the world of art, there are still incredible exhibitions taking place across the city that you may want to incorporate into your holiday.
Take the Schloss Benrath (Benrath Palace) for example. This baroque style castle demands a visit on its own, but the phenomenal sculptural work of Ukranian artist Aljoscha enhances the building’s traditional architecture and its surrounding gardens by presenting an incredible contrast in material and colour, that fantastically compliments its surroundings.
This exquisite exhibition was made possible by the Stiftung Schloss Benrath and Galerie Beck & Eggeling. 'The Gates of the Sun and the Land of Dreams' will be exhibited at Schloss Benrath until September 17, 2017.
Museum Visits
The work of Andreas Achenbach at the Museum Kunstpalast. Image courtesy of Museum Kunstpalast.
Running until October 01, the incredible solo exhibition of Andreas Achenbach will be on display at Museum Kunstpalast. This retrospective on the Revolutionary and Princely Painter, who is considered one of the most important exponents of the Dusseldorf School of Painting, showcases mostly unpublished works alongside biographical documents, making the exhibition even more intriguing.
For Decorative Art lovers, the Kunstpalast will be exhibiting Raging Thirst – Enameled Glass from the Schicker Collection until November 26, 2017. Also, the Hetjens Museum holds an exceptional collection of ceramics, and is currently presenting several exhibitions such as Hermès Toucan Plates, a selection of porcelain from the famed French designer fashion brand.
And on the other end of the spectrum, Apulia Incognita – On the Search for Trace in Southern Italy, on until October 22, 2017. Recognized as the only museum worldwide to exhibit the history of ceramics from its beginning to the present day, it is a must see and is conveniently located at Schulstraße 4.
Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen is Düsseldorf's modern art museum, and the current exhibition at K20 (Grabbeplatz) Art et Liberté, Surrealism in Egypt runs until October 15, 2017. The exhibition was shown previously at the Centre Pompidou / Paris and the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía / Madrid. After Düsseldorf, it will be shown at the Tate Liverpool (Nov 17, 2017 – March 18, 2018), and finally at the Moderna Museet in Stockholm (April 21 – Aug 19, 2018).
FYI
The city of Düsseldorf offers an Art:card which provides free & unlimited access to most of Düsseldorfs museums. The pass costs 80 euros for adults and 40 euros for students, over a 12 month period. Click here for more information.
Contemporary Gallery Selection
Burkhard Eikelmann Galerie presents Rudi Kargus' Flashback from August 06 - September 02, 2017.
If there's one thing Düsseldorf has, it is an abundance of art galleries. The Burkhard Eikelmann Galerie is located on the opposite side of the Rhine river, and is a great excuse to explore the city's impressive Western quarter.
The gallery currently has two exciting solo exhibitions for the month of August, presenting New Editions by Alex Katz and Rudi Kargus' Flashback series. A stone's throw away lies Galerie Kellermann, specialized in high quality modern and contemporary art.
At the moment, they are featuring two amazing works from the Wheels series by Bernd Caspar Dietricht. Dietrich himself is often referred to as a second generation ZERO artist, creating abstract symbols of space and time.
Bernd Caspar Dietrich, Wheel #11 – Luftschlösser, 2017, mixed medai, 150 x 140 cm.
As mentioned above, Galerie Beck & Eggeling collaborated with the Schloss Benrath to present Aljoscha's impressive work. In the meantime, the downtown gallery is preparing for the anticipated Manolo Valdés solo exhibition which will open at the Beck & Eggeling gallery from September 08, 2017, at Bilker Straße 5.
Also come September, Sies + Höke presents work from the Berlin artist Henning Strassburger, which will also open on September 08, at Postraße 2 + 3.
Located directly beside Sies + Hoke, you can pursue your gallery experience at the hand-full of charming gallery spaces conveniently clustered behind the main street. Find contemporary art gallery Clara Maria Sels here at Postraße 3, presenting Lars Teichmann The presence of souls of strangers and forgotten ones from September 09, 2017.
TZR Kai Bruckner is also located here, alongside Galerie Rupert Pfab, presenting Bogomir Ecker's The voice of Lu.Ru. from September 08, 2017 - October 20, 2017.
Exterior view of Kunstakademie Düsseldorf.
The world famous Düsseldorf Art Academy (Kunstakademie Düsseldorf) has not only produced some of Germany's most gifted and respected artists such as Joseph Beuys, Andreas Gursky and Gerhard Richter, but continues to attract artists who in turn live and work around the city, one of the reasons Düsseldorf has such a thriving arts community.
Next to the Academy lies the Felix Ringel Gallery, with a particular focus on solo exhibitions, the gallery presents the work of internationally recognized artist Cornelia Thomsen. Stripes opens September 08 and runs until October 14, 2017.
Stay tuned for more Art Guides!
