art karlsruhe 2025: 187 galleries from 16 countries, growth from the Rhineland

The exhibiting galleries, almost 30 percent of which are traveling from near and far abroad, will show the spectrum of artistic perspectives in four halls - from Classical Modernism to Concrete Art and Pop Art to Contemporary Art. The conceptual changes under the dual leadership of Olga Blaß and Kristian Jarmuschek, which will be further developed in 2025, are confirmed by returning galleries and have aroused the curiosity of new exhibitors, many from the Rhineland.

From Classical Modernism to Pop Art: art karlsruhe's big names

Classical Modernism is an essential component of art karlsruhe. Around two dozen of the 180 or so exhibitors are planning to show works of classical modernism. Marc Chagall, Salvador Dali, Lyonel Feininger, Joan Miró and Pablo Picasso are among the classics most frequently represented. Galleries such as Jeanne (Munich), Koch (Hanover), Koch-Westenhoff (Lübeck), Ludorff (Düsseldorf), Raphael (Frankfurt am Main), Rudolf (Kampen/Sylt), Schwarzer (Düsseldorf) and Rotermund (Hamburg) will surprise visitors with carefully selected paintings by George Braque, Otto Dix, Max Ernst, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, August Macke, Henri Matisse, Emil Nolde and others. Internationally, Cortina (Barcelona), De Zutter (Knokke), Gilden's Art (London), Kroken (Höganäs), Mollbrinks Gallery (Uppsala), Schanewald (Toulouse) and WOS (Zurich) strengthen the offer in the field of classical modernism.

Five galleries alone are taking the 30th anniversary of the death of American painter Sam Francis as an opportunity to present the American artist's colour-intensive compositions, some of which are influenced by Claude Monet. Galleries such as Luzán (Berlin) and Schlichtenmaier (Grafenau) are also showing works by the Stuttgart artist to mark the 70th anniversary of Willi Baumeister's death.

Works by the soon-to-be 85-year-old Imi Knöbel will be shown by four galleries alone (including Edouard Simoens, Knokke/Belgium and Fetzer, Sontheim). The ZERO artists Heinz Mack and Günther Uecker are also strongly represented, demonstrating the continuing interest in the art of the late 1950s and early 60s. More austere, minimalist works can be found at galleries such as Bender (Munich), Geiger (Constance), Koch (Hanover), Luzán (Berlin), Roy (Felanitx/Mallorca), Heike Strelow (Frankfurt am Main) and van der Koelen (Mainz/Venice).

Important protagonists of American Pop Art such as Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Rauschenberg, Andy Warhol and Tom Wesselmann can be found at Benden & Ackermann (Düsseldorf) and Cortina (Barcelona).

Growth from the Rhineland: contemporary and modern art

art karlsruhe is looking forward to new support from the Rhineland in the coming year. Following their appearance at art karlsruhe 2024, Cosar and Petra Rinck (both Düsseldorf) will now be accompanied by Thomas Rehbein, Martin Kudlek, Anke Schmidt (all Cologne) and Setareh (Düsseldorf). Galerie Löhrl (Mönchengladbach) is also returning to Karlsruhe this year. Internationally active galleries complement the portfolio of art karlsruhe with their high-quality program of contemporary and contemporary art.

Among the new additions to the upcoming edition are ASPN from Leipzig, whose gallery owner Arne Linde joined the art karlsruhe advisory board this year, and the Berlin gallery Taubert Contemporary.

After their debut in 2024, the galleries Nanna Preußners (Hamburg) and Galerie Schlieder (Frankfurt) are also taking part in art karlsruhe again. The latest positions can be discovered at the new:comer galleries Laetitia Gorsy from Leipzig and PAW from Karlsruhe, among others. The spectrum of galleries from Karlsruhe includes Meyer Riegger, Burster and Yvonne Hohner.

The “friends” format is also well received once again. In 2025, ten galleries will present themselves together on a stand with a befriended gallery. The Cologne gallery Martin Kudlek has invited the London gallery Patrick Heide, the DavisKlemmGallery (Wiesbaden) is bringing the Micheko Gallery (Munich), and Sievi (Berlin) is bringing the BBA Gallery, also based in Berlin.

Sculptures at art karlsruhe

Since the first edition, sculpture spaces have been a focal point at art karlsruhe - 10 x 10 m areas where sculptors are presented on a larger scale. In 2025, a total of 18 galleries in Halls 1, 2 and the dm-arena will occupy one of the sculpture spaces. Galerie Eric Mouchet from Paris is planning a particularly elaborate sculpture project this year.

Constructive balancing acts by Jörg Wiele (Schrade, Mochental) can be found alongside wooden constructions by Stephan Wurmer (Fenna Wehlau, Munich) and car sculptures by Stephan Rohrer (Scheffel, Bad Homburg), which are reminiscent of oversized blasting drawings. From these 18 positions, an independent jury will select the winner of the Loth Skulpturenplatzpreis - donated by L-Bank - which, in addition to prize money of 20,000 euros shared by the artist and gallery owner, also includes an original work of art by the Karlsruhe sculptor from his estate. Since last year, the sculpture spots have enlivened the hall aisles and given the galleries the opportunity to draw attention to compelling individual positions. These include artists such as Andreas Blank, Matthias Dämpfle, Christiane Erdmann and Joachim Röderer.

Galleries such as Berengo (Venice) and Geißler-Bentler (Bonn) are presenting sculptures by artists such as Ai Weiwei, Tony Cragg, Stephan Balkenhol and Joana Vasconcelos, as well as Erwin Wurm and the recently deceased Daniel Spoerri.

The high-caliber field of participants promises an outstanding start to the new art fair year 2025 with its dialogical composition typical of art karlsruhe.

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