About
the Frankfurt art experience
Frankfurt am Main bietet wie kaum eine andere Deutsche Großstadt vielfältige und besondere Kunsterlebnisse: Von den international geschätzten Akademien, über die Offspaces und Künstlerhäuser bis hin zu bedeutenden Privatsammlungen und einer der renommiertesten Museumslandschaften Europas.
In Frankfurt zeigt sich der gesamte Zyklus des Kunstgeschäfts – und dessen Nukleus bilden die rund 50 Galerien und Offspaces, die sich über das ganze Stadtgebiet verteilen. Ihre persönliche Arbeit mit den Künstlerinnen und Künstlern, die sie entdecken, aufbauen und denen sie gelegentlich den Weg ins Museum ebenen, sind die Grundlage für das attraktive kulturelle Zusammenspiel in der Stadt. Sie haben eine nicht zu unterschätzende Bedeutung für die Kultur im Quartier.
The Frankfurt Art Experience ist seit 2019 die offizielle Plattform der Frankfurter Galerien und steht für unvergleichliche Kunsterlebnisse in der Mainmetropole. Wir mobilisieren jährlich 20.000 Menschen und erreichen medial knapp eine Million Personen. Die Initiative ging aus der Eigeninitiative der Kommunikationsagentur Urban Media Project und Tyrown Vincent hervor.
2024
30. Jubiläum des Frankfurter Saisonstarts
Gold ist gerade sehr gefragt. An der Börse erzielt das Metall Höchstpreise, in Paris spornt es Athleten und Athletinnen zu Höchstleistungen an. Nun fällt auch das 30. Jubiläum des Frankfurter Saisonstarts in dieses goldene zwanziger Jahr. Denn es gibt vom 6. bis 8. September 2024 Grund zu feiern: Nicht nur hat das Galerienwochenende einen stetig wachsenden Teilnehmerkreis zu verzeichnen, auch ist er Saisonstart zu einer wichtigen Veranstaltung im enggetakteten Kulturkalender der Stadt gereift. In diesem Sinne freut es uns, dass Kulturdezernentin Dr. Ina Hartwig sich dafür stark gemacht hat, The FrankfurtArt Experience mit Mitteln aus der Tourismusabgabe großzügig zu fördern.
Das künstlerische Programm reicht von der Malerei, Fotografie, Skulptur bis hin zu Videokunst und Performance. Deutlich wird dabei auch die Brückenfunktion, die Galerien für die Kunst Rhein-Main haben: Gut ein Fünftel der vertretenen Künstlerinnen und Künstler stammt aus den Akademien Städelschule, HfG Offenbach, oder Kunsthochschule Mainz.
Zum Jubiläum aber haben wir uns mehr als Gold, das glänzt und strahlt, einfallen lassen. Mit dem Gesprächsformat House of Galleries haben wir in den vergangenen Wochen mit Frankfurter Museumsinstitutionen und Berliner und hiesigen Galerien über Kunstmarkt, Geschäft und Inhalt gesprochen. Im Herbst veröffentlichen wir darüber hinaus die erste repräsentative Erhebung, die ein detailliertes Bild über den Galerienstandort zeichnen soll.
2023
academies from rhine-main PROMINENT REPRESENTATIVE and international positions
With its 5th edition, The Frankfurt Art Experience 2023 focuses on the one hand on the large number of exhibiting artists who have studied at art academies in the Rhine-Main region - Städelschule, HFG Offenbach, but also the Kunsthochschule Mainz - and on the other hand on the many nationalities that reflect Frankfurt's multiculturalism and openness. The gallery weekend will also focus on works of art made from and on paper, such as drawings and prints, with prices starting in the three-digit range - and which are pleasingly well represented at this year's start of the season. At the discovery gallery Rundgænger in the Bahnhofsviertel, for example, we encounter the swimming pool works of Leipzig artist Tiziana Jill Beck, while in Fahrgasse, Galerie Greulich is showing Jan Schmelcher's drawings, which deal with hedonism at the end of the utopian narratives of the 60s and 70s. Several renowned Frankfurt galleries are dedicated to the oldest form of art in human history, painting, as well as the medium of photography, which is strongly anchored in Frankfurt.
With thirty guided tours - eight of which are in English - across the city, the extensive program also offers a wide range of insights into the contemporary art scene and interactive talks and discussions on the various artistic approaches. This year we welcome two newcomers: the renowned "Neue Alte Brücke", which is represented at international art fairs, and Jean-Claude Maier from the Bahnhofsviertel.
2022
Contemporary positions: New discoveries and rediscoveries
As part of the Frankfurt Art Experience 2022, Frankfurt's galleries will be showing art in a wide variety of media and formats. Local and international, with art-historical new discoveries or rediscoveries as well as contemporary positions. Together with the range of various off-spaces and art institutions, there are numerous opportunities for individual discovery tours throughout the city.
Special highlights this year include the exhibition at the Kai Middendorff Gallery, which presents over 20 rare drawings by the Austrian sculptor Bruno Gironcoli, who was honored three years ago with a major show at the Frankfurt Kunsthalle SCHIRN. Equally impressive are the works from Andreas Breunig's new series EXTANT (extended), which will be on show for the first time at Galerie Bärbel Grässlin. The medium of photography is also prominently represented, with the third solo exhibition by Bernhard Prinz at Bernhard Knaus Fine Art, the works of Hiroyuki Masuyama at Galerie Rothamel and the photographic work of Hungarian writer Péter Nádas at Galerie-Peter-Sillem. Further photographic works can be seen in exhibition hall 1A, which presents rare vintage prints of early black and white photographs of Hungarian landscapes, villages, their inhabitants and scenes from everyday life. This year, three newcomers enrich the start of the season: E30 gallery in Nordend, Galerie Monica Ruppert and Galerie Siedlarek in the city center.
2021
Diverse worlds of art: A tour through Frankfurt's galleries and their offspaces
The 27th season launch of the Frankfurt Galleries in 2021 promises an impressive program of talks and walks, taking place from 3 to 5 September. The well-attended tours, curated this year by Heike Strelow and Charlotte Lindenberg, will guide visitors through galleries, exhibition spaces, offspaces and collections. A rally through Frankfurt's galleries is also on the program - an idea and initiative of gallery owners Peter Sillem and Kai Middendorff. Activities for children and young people will also be offered as a new initiative as part of the 27th season launch. These include guided tours by children for children and a painting workshop with an exhibition in the festival building (former sports arena at the Hauptwache).
Amidst the diversity of Frankfurt's art worlds, between the city center, Westend, Bockenheim, Ostend, Sachsenhausen and Bahnhofsviertel, we discover some of the highlights of this start to the season. These include the fascinating connection between space and light in Friederike Walter's work at Galerie Maurer and the social debate at Christel Wagner Galerie with Hartmut Kiewert's paintings, which open up new perspectives on the relationship between humans and animals. Another highlight are the sculptures by Claus Tittmann (born 1941) for the anniversary years 2020/21. He has created various heads and torsos in ceramic and bronze for Carl Maria von Weber (premiere of "Freischütz" in 1821) and Friedrich Hölderlin (250th birthday). The exhibition at Kunstraum Bernusstrasse will be complemented by further ceramic heads.
2020
In focus: photography and moving images
After Frankfurt Fashion Week, which will take place for the first time in 2021, the Frankfurt Department of Economics is announcing the 2nd edition of The Frankfurt Art Experience, which celebrated its successful debut last year. The organizers are designing a comprehensive hygiene concept that takes into account the current corona pandemic situation and gives top priority to protecting guests and participants from infection. With numerous venues and indoor events, the art weekend avoids large gatherings of people.
In addition to the famous Walks, which take place in over 30 galleries throughout the city, Grosse Eschenheimer Strasse 18 will be home to the Art Weekend with the Art Experience five Talks. Actors and experts from the art world will reflect on the situation on the national and international art market and discuss the structural changes that are currently emerging. The final talk will be dedicated to the strong presence of the medium of photography in Frankfurt and the unique selling point that the city can claim for itself. Heike Strelow, Jacky Strenz and Anita Beckers, the new spokespersons for IG Galerien Frankfurt, will provide conceptual and organizational support for the project. For the first time, selected Frankfurt galleries will present a special exhibition on photography and the moving image as part of the Art Experience Show Room. This new format uses the unique, shell-like space in the LSTNR Space to provide Frankfurt galleries with an innovative space entitled "Time in Transition". The creators of "The Listener" are also showing a preview of what the world will be able to experience here from 2021: Aesthetics, fashion, digital and retail.
2019
Main metropolis on the art market: The first Frankfurt Art Experience
In 1994, Frankfurt galleries organized a joint event at the Frankfurter Kunstverein for the first time. With over 50 exhibition venues, the 25th season opener is a partner of The Frankfurt Art Experience, the four-day art festival in Frankfurt, which welcomed 15,000 visitors with lectures and discussions as well as guided tours and the Paper Positions art fair, which took place in Frankfurt for the first time. During an entire weekend in September, art lovers can stroll through Frankfurt galleries, meet artists in person, take part in the rich mediation program - and above all experience high-quality exhibitions of contemporary art.
The focus of this year's edition is the special exhibition "GEMEINSAM! 25 Years of the Frankfurt Galleries' Season Launch", which will provide an entertaining look back at the joint activities of the Interessengemeinschaft Galerien in Frankfurt with documents, posters, photographs and memorabilia in the rooms of Galerie Lachenmann. The documentation compiled by Isa Bickmann sheds light on a dynamic chapter in recent Frankfurt art history. The first edition of the Frankfurt Art Experience offers a diverse program that unfolds in delicate, vibrant, abstract and dynamic facets. The emphasis is on conceptual photography and painting from the genres of Pop Art, Realism, Surrealism and Post-Romanticism, with a particular focus on bodies/figures and their relationship to nature.
