Press release Düsseldorf, Germany, November 20, 2017 Strong start to Art Düsseldorf The first edition of Art Düsseldorf closed successfully on Sunday, 19 November 2017. The fair featured around 80 established and young galleries from 21 countries that presented modern and contemporary art (1945 2017) in the halls of the former factory complex Areal Böhler. The majority (60%) of showcasing galleries came from the region (from Germany and from Benelux) and 40% were international. Ganz Große Geister by Thomas Schütte at the premiere of Art Düsseldorf Sebastian Drüen Art Düsseldorf attracted 43,000 visitors, among them collectors and curators such as Carl Christian Aegidius (Luxemburg-based collector), Monique Burger (Burger Collection), Gil Bronner (Philara Collection), Yannicke and Wilfried Cooreman (The Cooreman Collection), Andrew Hall (Hall Art Foundation), Thomas and Eva Lösche, Nadine Schatz, Patrick Schwarz-Schütte, Alain Servais (The Servais Family Collection) and Julia Stoschek (Julia Stoschek Collection).
On a mission to buy new works for Hamburger Kunsthalle, the Outset Contemporary Art Fund sent Dr. Brigitte Kölle (Director of Galerie der Gegenwart, Hamburger Kunsthalle), Bettina Steinbrügge (Director at Kunstverein Hamburg), Krist Gruijthuijsen (Director at KW, Kunstwerke, Berlin), Julia von Jenisch (Hamburg-based collector) and Leopold von Diergardt (Düsseldorf-based collector) who acquired works by Sara Sizer (COSAR HMT, Düsseldorf), Hreinn Fridfinnsson (Meessen de Clercq, Brussels) and Tobias Zielony (KOW, Berlin). Visiting artists included Andreas Gursky, Harald Klingelhöller and Thomas Ruff whose works were presented by David Zwirner (London, New York), and Pia Stadtbäumer whose sculptures were shown by Haas (Zurich). The showcasing galleries have reported strong sales. Beck & Eggeling International Fine Art (Düsseldorf) sold the video installation Energy, which Fabrizio Plessi had especially created for the fair, for 480,000 Euro. The painting Café D Folgen (from Café Deutschland) from 1983 by Jörg Immendorff was purchased for 280,000 Dollar at Century Pictures (New York). Galerie Bastian (Berlin) sold a collage from 1980 by Robert Rauschenberg for 150,000 Euro, and a photograph by the artist which shows him and his friend Cy Twombly in 1951 in Venice. More photography was sold by Gregory Crewdson for 68,000 dollars at Galerie Daniel Templon (Paris). KRINZINGER (Vienna) sold the work Facebook 04.02.2004 (2017) by Brigitte Kowanz for 42,000 Euro, while Hommage to the Square by José Dávila at KÖNIG GALERIE (Berlin) has been sold for 25,000 Euro. An exhibitor from the lower Rhine region was happy about the sale of over 30 works. Marlborough Contemporary reports very successful sales of works by Tony Matelli. The visitor experience was enhanced by the fair s own app Art Düsseldorf, powered by the new platform PRNCPL, which is also part of the MCH Group. The app uses the latest image recognition technology to instantly display an artwork s information simply by photographing. Moenen Erbuer, founder of PRNCPL, says: Making this app a reality required a massive group effort from our team, the fair organizers and the exhibitors, and it was fantastic to see that all come together. Reactions were extremely positive we really set the tone for what's possible, and I think people are paying attention now. Participating galleries commented on their overwhelmingly positive experiences of the fair: Competition makes us all act better and more thoughtfully. The Rhineland is full of collectors and art-lovers. Two important art fairs in the autumn and spring in Düsseldorf and Cologne would increase the vitality of this strong region. Art Düsseldorf has proven its high level of quality and professionality in all aspects. Michael Beck, Beck & Eggeling International Fine Art The fair in its first year is really professionally organised and has a unique location really suited for showing art. The North Rhine-Westphalia area is known for its excellent museums and for us personally it was really great having the Ganz Große Geister of Thomas Schütte next to our booth. Regarding sales, we have sold for instance, among others, a large drawing by Rinus Van De Velde for 45,000 Euro and also did really well with the work of Ben Sledsens, Kati Heck and Jonathan Meese. Tim van Laere, Tim Van Laere Gallery Art Düsseldorf has great dynamics and an excellent fair design. We saw many Belgian collectors and made great, new contacts. Thomas Zander, Galerie Thomas Zander
The fair was an overall success for us. The generous fair layout enabled us to show larger video installations which we might not show at other fairs. We managed to sell several works to new as well as to our existing client base. Although the fair is a mostly regional affair, the Rhineland and close areas have proven to be a fertile ground. Raphael Oberhuber, KOW One of the main achievements of the fair is the positive atmosphere and energy. This was felt right from the beginning and it was clear within the first two hours of the fair that this project would be a success. As this is the first fair that I am doing in this region, I wasn t sure if collectors would only be interested in very established artists or in emerging ones as well. What I have noticed is that they are not only interested in young artists but also buy their works. Johannes Sperling, SPERLING We've seen and met serious and important collectors from the region, including Belgian, Austrian, and German collectors, many new to us. We ve sold works by Mika Tajima, in the 14,000-20,000 Dollar price range, and fielding serious interest in works by Harvey Quaytman and Marsha Cottrell, among others." Augusto Arbizo, Van Doren Waxter It was also an amazing Sunday with fantastic sales and great energy. " Bo Bjerggaard, Galleri Bo Bjerggaard The fair was an excellent ground to get to know closer the art world from the region and to meet major local collectors. Regarding the venue, we were definitely impressed by its structure and by its rather pleasant daylight. In terms of sales, we placed a stunning painting by Julião Sarmento in a brilliant collection from the Benelux region. An important local collector acquired an iconic work by Portuguese artist José Loureiro. For a debut, these achievements already made this year s edition a special one. Cristina Guerra, Cristina Guerra Contemporary Art The gallery also sold several c-prints by Sabine Hornig as well as works by Matt Mullican. The works went to Belgium, France and Portugal. Galleries Solo presentations featured at galleries including Hans Mayer (Düsseldorf) who dedicated his booth to German photographer Jürgen Klauke; Galerie Brigitte Schenk (Cologne) showed a large-scale installation by Dr. Klaus Fritze and Galeria Francisco Fino (Lisbon) presented an immersive display of Adrien Missika s sculptures. Also Die Galerie (Frankfurt) presented a solo show of Roberto Matta and Galerie Bastian (Berlin) of Robert Rauschenberg. DITTRICH & SCHLECHTRIEM (Berlin) showed a bold display with works by the alumni of Olafur Elissaon s Institute for Raumexperimente. rodolphe janssen s (Brussels) booth was themed around the subject of nature. Big-name artists such as Carol Bowe, Anish Kapoor, Jose Dávila and Jaromír Novotný were on display at David Zwirner (London, New York), KÖNIG GALERIE (Berlin), Axel Vervoordt (Antwerp) and kamel mennour (Paris), among others. Winners of BLOOOM Award by WARSTEINER Art Düsseldorf provided a platform for emerging talents to exhibit their works to a large audience. The four winners were announced in an award ceremony on Friday, November 17. Julian Harper (USA) was announced
winner of the 2017 award, followed by Arshia Sohail (Pakistan) on 2 nd place and Yun-Ling Chen (Taiwan) on the 3 rd position. An additional prize for the new category music video went to Michael Klich (Deutschland). The dates for the next Art Düsseldorf will be announced soon. The next fair of the MCH Regional Art Fair portfolio to look forward to will be the India Art Fair 9-12 February 2018, New Delhi. Notes to editors PRESS CONTACT for German media for international media art.fair International GmbH SUTTON PR Anna Nisch Sara Kietzmann +49 221 420 393 18 +44 (0) 20 7759 1862 nisch@art-dus.de sara@suttonpr.com Art Düsseldorf Art Düsseldorf will establish itself as a new and innovative platform for collectors, gallerists and curators. By selecting Du sseldorf s Areal Böhler as the venue of Art Düsseldorf, the fair has positioned itself at the junction of the Rhineland and the Ruhr Valley: in the heart of a metropolitan region that has ten million inhabitants and is, with regard to art and culture, at the center of one of Western Europe s most vibrant regions. MCH and Regional Art Fairs The MCH Group, which has its head office in Basel (Switzerland), is a leading international live-marketing group with a comprehensive network of services spanning the entire exhibition and event market. It includes the exhibition companies in Basel, Lausanne and Zurich as well as different companies in the field of "Live Marketing Solutions". It organises and hosts some 90 exhibitions, including the world s leading events of Baselworld and Art Basel in Basel, Miami Beach and Hong Kong. In 2016, it launched an initiative to build up a new portfolio of regional art fairs in major locations of art in order to expand the services it offers and to strengthen the internationalisation of its product portfolio. MCH Group will work with its local partners to strengthen the regional art markets. Since September 2016 MCH Group has owned a majority stake in India Art Fair as well as a minority stake in ART DÜSSELDORF since February 2017. Further information: > MCH Group > MCH Group / Regional Art Fairs BLOOOM Award by WARSTEINER The BLOOOM Award by WARSTEINER is Germany s largest open international competition for emerging artists. The prize supports young artists from around the world and helps them to gain a foothold in the art market. The primary focus is on their sustained advancement: Along with trips to prominent international art fairs and events, the winners receive additional support though mentoring programs. Over 2,300 artists from 90 countries
applied this year. Because the competition is open to all forms of expression, the special exhibition of the finalists reveals an exciting artistic diversity. Alain Bieber (journalist, author, curator) and Uwe Flade (film and music-video director) were part of the jury for the first time this year. Museum director Prof Dr Stephan Berg was joining us for the second time this year. These three jurors were joining the three other permanent members of the jury. Catharina Cramer (patron and managing partner of the Warsteiner Group), Yasha Young (director and curator of Urban Nation) and Walter Gehlen (co-director and artistic director of Art Du sseldorf) have formed the core of the BLOOOM Award by WARSTEINER jury since the very beginning. LEXUS exclusive mobility partner of Art Düsseldorf Founded in 1989, Lexus is known worldwide for its reliable product quality and progressive design, and is Art Düsseldorf s exclusive mobility partner. Lexus is the first and the only manufacturer of luxury vehicles until this day to offer an efficient full-hybrid engine in all of their product series. Several models were exhibited at Art Düsseldorf. Furthermore, besides showing innovative art, Lexus exclusively presented the fifth model generation of the luxury-class sedan LS which is the brand s flagship. Allianz: fair partner of Art Düsseldorf Art Düsseldorf gives thanks to its official art insurance partner Allianz Germany and their special insurance ArtPrivat to go, with which artworks are insured during the transport against destruction, damage and theft.