David Zwirner Gallery (New York, London) showed at ART Cologne, Cologne’s contemporary art fair, for the second time in a row. We met New York based associate director Veronique Ansorge, who is responsible for the gallery’s art fair presence and chatted with her about her first ART impressions at our hotel Marsil.
You have taken part in ART Cologne for the second time now. How do you rate the fair in comparison to last year? Spot any differences?
Definitely. I think the presentation was very successful this year and I thought the exhibitors were more international this time round. The upper section featuring young talent is absolutely worth a visit too.
Are you thinking of NADA (=New Art Dealers Alliance is a not-for-profit collective of professionals working with contemporary art) from New York, who were already invited last year?
Yes I like NADA as well. They are much more expressive than last year, where I found them a bit too minimalistic. This year it is all a lot more exciting.
Talking about exciting – what did you show this year?
This year we adopted a very conceptual approach and exhibited artists who we are currently featuring in our galleries or those who have big international shows coming up soon. In our New York gallery we are currently showing new work by Thomas Ruff, while in London we are exhibiting work by young Canadian artist Marcel Dzama, who now lives in New York.
Philip-Lorca diCorcia, who you featured on GoSee already, is exhibiting at the Schirn in June this year, which is one of the most renowned galleries in Europe. Christopher William’s solo exhibition in London opens in May and Stan Douglas has a show at Haus der Kunst in autumn. We are featuring work by all of these artists in Cologne.
And how did the fair visitors receive them?
I would say the reception was very good. The visitors were especially interested in Ruff’s work and Marcel Dzama was a big hit with the younger audience.
So you sold something in Cologne? If so – whose work was it?
Yes we sold something and are very pleased with the result. Work by Ruff, Dzama, Rauch .... Moreover, a lot of good conversations were held at our stand, which usually leads up to a sale. Thus I am very convinced that there’s more to come after the fair.
There is brand new work by Ruff. What is it like? What is special about it? And how much is it?
The work is special because the work on show is not photography based anymore. His starting point was using photograms from the 1920s – light sensitive paper on which you can create interesting results in the darkroom without a camera. He realised during the process that this technique is quite limited by today’s standard though. Therefore he developed his photograms via virtual objects on the computer. The work we present is a limited edition of only four pieces and costs 70,000 Euro.
What is your general price point for the work you exhibited in Cologne?
I can’t really give you a general answer. It depends on many factors, such as the medium, the edition and also the stage of the artist’s career. We cover a broad spectrum from collage to painting and thus the prices range from 4,000 Euro to a million Euro. Whereby we always make sure that there’s something to be had for young collectors too.
Other than the fair, did you have a chance to check out the accompanying programme Cologne had to offer?
Of course a trade fair like this is always very intense. But of course it would be a shame to solely focus on that. Here in Cologne there are so many galleries that there’s always something going on during the Art fair. But I really liked the Stoschek Collection special exhibition (the JULIA STOSCHEK COLLECTION of the Brose vehicle part company of the same name is an international private collection of contemporary art with a focus on time-based media) at the event.
I also liked Mats Gustafsson’s gig at Gisela Capitain and thought it was really successful, as was the exhibition at Galerie Daniel Buchholz (Cameron Jamie, and group exhibition with Elie Nadelman, Jim Nutt, Tomma Abts, Vincent Fecteau) and of course the Kolumba Museum.
Last year you sent out an invitation to the David Zwirner Art Dinner. Is this becoming a regular event?
Yes it’s a bit of a tradition now (laughs). We invite collectors from the area plus our international contacts that have come to the city for the ART Cologne. 80 to 100 people usually accept our invite and it’s always an exciting mix!
And – are you coming back?
You never know exactly what’s going to happen next year. I really like Cologne personally, the city seems quite laid back in general and there is an appreciation of art that I enjoy. For us the trade fair was a success and we’re working from there.
CURRENT EXHIBITIONS
Thomas Ruff: photograms and ma.r.s. | March 28 - April 27 | 525 & 533 West 19th Street, New York
Gordon Matta-Clark: Above and Below | April 2 - May 4 | 519 West 19th Street, New York
UPCOMING EXHIBITIONS
Marcel Dzama: Puppets, Pawns, and Prophets | April 6 - May 11 | 24 Grafton Street, London
Richard Serra: Early Work | April 12 - June 15 | 537 West 20th Street, New York
Palermo: Works on Paper 1976-1977 | April 25 - June 29 | 537 West 20th Street, New York
Jeff Koons: Gazing Ball | May 8 - June 22 | 525 & 533 West 19th Street, New York
Christopher Williams: For Example: Dix-Huit Leçons Sur La Société Industrielle (Revision 18) | May 17 - June 15 | 24 Grafton Street, London
Donald Judd | June 21 - August 3 | 24 Grafton Street, London
