Special exhibitions at the ART COLOGNE will cover a wide range of artistic style

Cologne (pts015/21.10.2004/10:00) Despite the numerous changes, some proven frameworks, such as the presentation of special exhibitions, will continue and be enhanced: this year's ART COLOGNE (28th October - 1st November 2004), the Central Archive of the International Art Trade (ZADIK) is presenting an exhibition titled "Richter, Polke, Lueg, Kuttner". The Anne and Jürgen Wilde Foundation for Photography and Art History is planning a special exhibition in co-operation with the Rautenstrauch-Joest Museum of ethnology. One of the most important Japanese photographers after 1945, Daido Moriyama, is being hon-oured with another special exhibition. "Pollination" introduces international contempo-rary art by young artists and, last but not least, the ART COLOGNE is presenting a lesser known side of the often neglected Falckenberg cCollection, Hamburg.

A special exhibition on the ground floor (Stand 22) pays homage to a legendary presenta-tion in the Galerie Nierendorf, Berlin (1926), in which the sculptor, photographer and university professor Karl Blossfeldt exhibited for the first time his photos of plants, "Ur-formen der Kunst" (Archetypes of Art), together with tribal art from Africa and Papua New Guinea. On view are original photographs from the Ann and Jürgen Wilde Foundation for Photography and Art Research, and tribal objects from the Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum, both Cologne. Blossfeldt's enlargements of plants will be confronted with objects from Africa and Oceania and radiate the same fascination that entranced the viewers at their first presentation in Berlin nearly 80 years ago.

As well on the ground floor (Stand 118), the Hamburg-based collector Harald Falckenberg, who sees collecting as both "a dream and a nightmare, a slice of self-fulfilment in the truest sense of the word...", will be exhibiting a side of his collection which is often ignored by the art press and the museum world, though in many ways it illus-trates the theoretical basis of the entire collection. Rather than showing the young stars of the international art scene, the special exhibition will instead be devoted to an older generation of artists from Germany and the United States. Their forms of expression are less emphatic than is usual in Falckenberg's collection. Monumental works by Vito Acconci and Hanne Darboven are contrasted with works by Sigmar Polke, Richard Prince, John Bald-essari, Sherrie Levine and Frank Gerritz. These contrasts reveal that both Conceptual Art and Minimal Art can be just as daring and combative as the young art of the last twenty years.

Situated directly next to the Falckenberg Collection, the exhibition "Pollination" (Stand 117) introduces international contemporary art by young artists from collections that have been recently established in and around Cologne. With this exhibition, the ART COLOGNE is dedicating a presentation platform especially to the emerging art scene and its young collectors of the latest contemporary art. To set an example and as a precedent to be emulated, exemplary works from the collections are being presented with an emphasis on two aspects: The tradition and uninterrupted history of art collecting in Cologne and the Rhineland; and as the oldest established fair for modern and contempo-rary art, the ART COLOGNE goes to great lengths to honour its commitment to fostering an understanding and appreciation of contemporary art in young people.

ZADIK, the Cologne-based Zentralarchiv des internationalen Kunsthandels (Central Archive of the International Art Trade) will be staging an exhibition entitled "Rich-ter, Polke, Lueg, Kuttner" (Stand 19). In the early 1960s, the four artists studied to-gether under Karl Otto Götz at the Düsseldorf Academy of Art and became close friends. In their eventful early years the artists exhibited together, held joint shows and shared the Ladengalerie at Kaiserstaße 31a in Düsseldorf. After the group broke up in the late 1960s, the four artists went their own very separate ways. The ZADIK show and the companion catalogue document the artists' early years in very largely unpublished and often spec-tacular visual material and texts.

Another special exhibition which was developed in conjunction with the Taka Ishii Gallery, Tokyo, and Foundation Cartier Pur l'art contemporain, Paris, will honour Daido Mori-yama, recipient of the German Photographic Society's Cultural Award 2004 (Stand 30). Daido Moriyama is one of the most important Japanese photographers to emerge after 1945 and his work has played a central role in establishing Japanese photography as one of the most creative movements in the history of photography. A further exhibition of his work will be shown in the gallery Priska Pasquer, Cologne.

Apart from the mentioned special shows, the photography collection of the SK Cultural Foundation is presenting works by Gabriele and Helmut Nothhelfer, Wilhelm Schürmann, Tata Ronkholz, Thomas Struth and Joachim Brohm. Cologne's Academy of Media Arts is show-ing works from the seminars of Valie Export and Ursula Damm titled "Expanded Arts". The installation of the Düsseldorf artist Mischa Kuball, presented by 235 Media, Cologne, and sponsored by Showtec, focuses on the special environment in the entrance area of the Rheinhallen of the Koelnmesse. And the adjacent Großer Rheinsaal will be the setting for the premiere of SoundART, a large-scale presentation of sound art by the radio sta-tion WDR 3 and the Glaskasten Sculpture Museum in Marl, in association with the German Sound Art Prize. St. Petersburg's State Russian Museum is presenting a selection of Rus-sian art since 1960.

All in all, visitors can expect a fresh, imaginative and creative ART COLOGNE packed with highly desirable works of art in all media and styles. ART COLOGNE Director Gérard A. Goodrow confidently promises all visitors "not just a wonderful market for art but also a real artistic experience." Like museums, the ART COLOGNE has "an educa-tional role and we're making strenuous efforts to fulfil it," Goodrow asserts.

With 250 dealers from 22 countries, the percentage of foreign dealers has risen from 40 to 45 per cent. From 28th October to 1st November, the fair is open daily from noon to 8:00 p.m. The entrance prices are as follows:

Single day ticket: 12 EUR
2-Day-Ticket: 20 EUR
Evening ticket, valid from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m.: 7 EUR
Vernissage ticket: 30 EUR (27th October 5:00-9:00 p.m.)

For further information see: www.artcologne.de or send an email to artcologne@koelnmesse.de

Aussender:	Koelnmesse GmbH
Ansprechpartner:	Gaby Nohl
Tel.:	49 221 821-2270
E-Mail:	g.nohl@koelnmesse.de