Private Collecting

The annual special exhibition of a private collection at art karlsruhe provides an in-depth insight into the passion and commitment of private collecting. Special exhibitions such as those of the Würth Collection (2017), Frieder Burda (2018), Peter C. Ruppert (2019), Hans-Peter Haas Foundation (2020) or the collection of Maria Lucia and Ingo Klöcker (2022), which deliberately explored the motif of the feminine in art. The complete history of the special exhibitions can be found

art karlsruhe invites you to a curated presentation in the format “Private Collecting” for the first time in 2025.

art karlsruhe invites you to a curated presentationin the format"Private Collecting" for the fist time in 2025

Museums and private collectors - working together for a vibrant cultural landscape

Stefanie Patruno, Director of the Städtische Galerie Karlsruhe, and the collector Christoph Keller have developed a project for this year's special exhibition that focuses on a single contemporary position from the Keller Collection, namely the Berlin-based artist Tamina Amadyar (*1989), whose impressive, large-format color field paintings will enter into a lively dialogue with historical works from the collection of the Städtische Galerie Karlsruhe (SGK) at the exhibition presentation.

The aim is to create a sustainable basis for exchange between private collecting and public museum work. This format emphasizes the synergies between private commitment and public cultural responsibility and highlights sustainable forms of cooperation. The special exhibition serves as a prelude to a continuing dialog as part of a newly conceived project at the SGK.

As one of the most important art fairs in the German-speaking world, art karlsruhe offers an ideal platform for making the synergies between public museums and private collectors' involvement accessible to a wide audience. Here, art is not only presented, but actively negotiated, discussed and experienced. As a dynamic marketplace and cultural meeting place, the fair creates a unique space in which artistic positions, collections and institutions can enter into dialog.

This dialog, which begins at art karlsruhe, is intended to provide the impetus for a future-oriented collaboration.

Dr. Stefanie Patruno, Director of the Städtische Galerie Karlsruhe and curator of this year's special exhibition

The collector Christoph Keller

Christoph Keller's close relationship with the visual arts began during his art history studies in Munich, but only became more concrete in the 1990s during his studies at the HFG Karlsruhe (with Peter Sloterdijk, Boris Groys, Hans Belting and Thomas Struth).

While still a student, Keller founded the publishing house “Revolver - Archiv für aktuelle Kunst” and published - initially in Karlsruhe, but then mainly in Frankfurt am Main - over 500 publications, mostly artists' books, but also theoretical writings and exhibition catalogs for renowned institutions.

At the same time, Keller taught “Artistic Publishing” at the HfbK Hamburg and curated various exhibition projects, including as “Curator-in-Residence” at the ZKM Karlsruhe (2002-2003).

In 2004, Keller passed on the Revolver publishing house to a younger generation, moved with his family to the hinterland of Lake Constance and acted as editor of the “Christoph Keller Editions” for the Swiss publishing house JRP/Ringier until around 2010.

Keller ended his entrepreneurial activities in 2019 and has since returned to his passion for art. He lives in Hegau and Graubünden.

Tamina Amadyar

Tamina Amadyar (*1989) is an internationally renowned artist who has made a name for herself through her unique combination of color, space and personal memories. She studied painting at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf and was a visiting professor at the Staatliche Akademie der Bildenden Künste Karlsruhe from 2019 to 2021. She also taught at the Berlin University of the Arts as a visiting professor in the Faculty of Fine Arts.

Amadyar's painting is characterized by intense studies of colour and form that are based on her travels and personal experiences. In her works, she reflects the atmospheric impressions of places such as Afghanistan and California. Her large-format paintings captivate through the dialog between two colors, which develop a special dynamic through complementary contrasts and superimpositions. A key feature of her work is the use of pigments in combination with rabbit glue, a traditional technique that gives her works a luminous intensity of color and at the same time a tangible materiality.

Applied with quick, gestural movements, the color fields create a sensual spatial effect that invites viewers to immerse themselves deeply in the pictorial world. Geometric shapes and clear color fields structure the compositions and create a field of tension between intuition and order.

Exemple d'œuvre

Tamina Amadyar, kir royal, 2021, pigment, glutin on canvas, 150 x 130 cm

Tamina Amadyar, endless summer, 2023, pigment, glutin on canvas, 230 x 170 cm