KARLSRUHE.- Even after the most successful Art KARLSRUHE in 2008 with 38,000 visitors, the sixth fair promises yet another increase in its appeal. Under the motto Great art guaranteed! it will be laying on surprises from 5 to 8 March 2009 without deviating from the proven concept of a well-balanced presence of contemporary and classic modern art paintings and sculptures. For the first time this art stage set by project manager and fair curator Ewald Karl Schrade will be occupying all four of the exhibition centre's halls: "We have had to expand because the number of impressive applicants has risen again", he explained.

Even though 300 international galleries applied to take part in 2008 the number of potential exhibitors rose by another 50 this year. The committee has selected a total of 208 exhibitors. On board besides Ewald Karl Schrade were the art critic Dorothee Baer-Bogenschütz (Wiesbaden) and gallery owners Angelika Harthan (Stuttgart), Wolfgang Henze (Wichtrach/Bern), Dorothea van der Koelen (Mainz), and Werner Tammen (Berlin). Among the "newcomers" art KARLSRUHE 2009 welcomes Galerie Appel (Frankfurt am Main), Galerie Peter Herrmann of Berlin, specialised in African art, and the well-reputed Galerie Bhak of Seoul in South Korea.

More than 20 specialists for editions, graphic reproductions, multiples, and photography will now be putting up their portfolios for sale in Hall 1 under one roof with the special showcase on the Berlin collection of contemporary photography by Arthur de Ganay and the exhibitions connected with the Hans Platschek Prize for Art and Writing, awarded last year for the first time. This takes place next to the redesigned art meeting (5 and 6 March) and the Museum Mile.

This leaves the former location in the dm-arena by no means empty as another special showcase offers extraordinary art happenings: with support from the Senate of Berlin, 15 galleries from the German capital are each being given the opportunity to hold a one-artist show on 25 m² under the stewardship of the Regional Association of Berlin Galleries. Apropos of one-artist shows: for the second time the Baden Württemberg and the City of Karlsruhe are endowing the art KARLSRUHE Prize, awarded to the artist and gallery with the best individual presentation (6 March). The prize money of €15,000 serves to purchase art works from the chosen display to add to the art KARLSRUHE Collection.

Ewald Karl Schrade anticipates "serious growth" for 2009 and further enhancement of this ideal emporium for the interests of collectors who "buy art for the pleasure it gives them personally".

High-End Photography at art KARLSRUHE - The Arthur de Ganay Collection
"Color of Shadow C 1022" appears to be a work of Concrete Art but is in fact a photograph taken by Hiroshi Sugimoto in 2005. This somewhat enigmatic, accurate, and unflustered work is part of the Arthur de Ganay Collection. Born in Paris and a resident of Berlin for six years now, de Ganay has "become addicted to art with body and soul". His treasures form the special showcase of the forthcoming art KARLSRUHE.

The exhibition, shown in Hall 1, provides an insight into the focal points of the architect's passion. He had already begun to collect photographs during his studies in the mid-90s but then cast his eye in a different direction in Berlin: since his move to the banks of the Spree he has been particularly interested in German photographic art, concentrating on large formats.

For art KARLSRUHE he's building a faithful reproduction of his Berlin premises, where he presents predominantly conceptual photography in Köpenicker Strasse in Kreuzberg, in order to give visitors as exact a mental image as possible of a composition of space and art.

The dimensions and the impressive perspectives of this matter-of-fact and analytical altercation with reality are provocative: largely unmanipulated interiors by Candida Höfer, unfinished carcasses of autobahns left over from the "German Unification Project", captured by Hans Christian Schink, Lewis Baltz' data-processing centre of a bank – these are pictures that, cold and distant to start with, put the view-finder on the fruits of human labour with a critical but judgement-free eye.

By the way: art fair curator Ewald Karl Schrade has planned 18 sculpture zones again for art KARLSRUHE 2009 (5-8 March), among them the presentation of extensive media works by Fabrizio Plessi on the stand of the Dr Dorothea van der Koelen Gallery of Mainz/Venice.


Hans-Platschek Prize to Friedrich Einhoff art KARLSRUHE Prize for best one-artist show

At art KARLSRUHE 2009, Hamburg artist Friedrich Einhoff will receive the Hans-Platschek Prize for Art and Writing. He has been selected by the respected art historian Werner Hofmann.

The juror will be paying tribute to the artist and presenting him with the award in Foyer Ost at 5 p.m. on 5 March. Initiated by the Hans-Platschek Trust, the prize is being awarded for the second time. Einhoff was born in Magdeburg in 1936. He studied under Alfred Mahlau and Willem Grimm at the University of Fine Arts in Hamburg from 1957 to 1962. Human and animal forms are the dominant features of his fascinating paintings, mostly in acrylic paints, charcoal, and sand. The men and women often frozen in place in muted colourfulness before an austere backdrop wear enigmatic facial expressions. The communication with other living creatures also defies any tangible interpretation: familiar yet alien.

Friedrich Einhoff taught as a professor in the Design department of the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences from 1978 to 1991. This was followed in 1985 by his appointment as a member of the Freie Akademie der Künste (Free Academy of Arts) in Hamburg. A selection of his paintings is on show with works by Hans Platschek from the Munich van de Loo Collection in Hall 1.

Werner Hofmann, born in 1928, was head of the Hamburger Kunsthalle from 1969 to 1990. His creative work is characterised by innovative exhibition projects such as the “Kunst um 1800” (“Art around 1800”) series and his writings on 19th and 20th century art.

The panel of judges for the Baden-Württemberg and City of Karlsruhe art KARLSRUHE Prize will also be in action for the second time on the first days of the event. All the one-artist shows, including the 15 participants in the special showcase art from berlin in the dm-arena, take part in the competition for the best stand. The prize will be awarded in Foyer Ost at 5 p.m. on 6 March. The prize money of 15 000 euros, donated in equal parts by the state and city, is used to buy works from the winning presentation, which will be added to the art KARLSRUHE Collection initiated last year.

ART FROM BERLIN – the "Berlin Block" at art KARLSRUHE
Berlin’s art dealers are presenting a special showcase entitled ART FROM BERLIN in which 15 exhibitors are each staging a one-artist show. The organisation is in the hands of the LVBG, the regional association of Berlin galleries (Landesverband Berliner Galerien). The project is on show in the dm arena, this year’s venue for recent art. Art-fair curator Ewald Karl Schrade: ‘This is a further extension of the section for contemporary art. The "Berlin Block" is the perfect addition to the other exhibitors there, which is why we have given the whole section the name "New positions".’

The participants have been selected by a jury of experts from the field of art criticism, the art trade, and museums. Each gallery has designed a stand with 25 m² of presentation area. Besides the classic art forms of painting, graphics, and sculpture, also on show are media art (Constantino Ciervo at SAKAMOTOcontemporary), installations (Dodi Reifenberg at Hohenthal und Bergen), and photography (Sven Hoffmann at Maisenbacher Art Gallery). Experienced gallery owners such as Wagner und Partner and Kai Hilgemann are taking part together with young colleagues. A positive side effect for the Berliners: they automatically become candidates for the Baden Württemberg and City of Karlsruhe art KARLSRUHE Prize.

Art dealers, too, benefit in several respects. Although participation is not free of charge, they find excellent conditions here for tapping into this wealthy and rock-solid region in south-west Germany with its high density of potential collectors. The "Berlin Block" also promotes the exchange of experiences. There are plans to make an appearance at art KARLSRUHE in 2010 and 2011, too, to enable the participants to gain a foothold in this particular marketplace.

The Berliners’ commitment to art KARLSRUHE has a solid, politico-economic background. The project is being sponsored by the Senate and the European Union as fine art is meanwhile appreciated as a hard economic factor in the federal capital. On top of this the influx of dealers on the Spree remains unbroken.