COLOGNE ART FAIR OPENS
November is a busy time in New York, from the fall auctions coming up at Christie's, Sotheby's and Phillips to the opening of "Norman Rockwell" at the Guggenheim Museum. But there's still time to dash off to Germany for the 2001 installment of the world's hippest fair of modern and contemporary art, Art Cologne, Oct. 31-Nov. 4, 2001. Approximately 270 galleries from 20 countries -- about the same as last year -- are taking part in the show, mounted as usual at the KolnMesse on the banks of the Rhine.
Along with its halls full of gallery booths, Art Cologne 2001 features a special section devoted to large-scale sculpture, another featuring "junge galerien" invited by dealers Michael Janssen, Daniel Buchholz and Luis Campaña, and a third devoted to a juried group of 25 young artists who represent "new trends."
The 21 exhibitors in Art Cologne's special sculpture show were selected by Cologne dealer Karsten Greve and Felix Buchmann from Agra, Switzerland. Among the artists with large works on view are Annette Sauermann (APC Galerie, Cologne), Ik-Joong Kang (Asian Fine Arts Berlin), Yves Netzhammer (Anita Beckers, Frankfurt), Mic Enneper (Bugdahn und Kaimer, Dusseldorf), Berlinde de Bruyckere (Galleria Continua, San Gimignano), Marie-Jo Lafontaine (Vayhinger + Knaus, Radolfzell) and Camill Leberer (Peter Zimmermann, Mannheim).
The so-called "young galleries" program promises inexpensive new art. "Buyers can't really go wrong," said Jannsen. "For one thing, the artwork gives them pleasure. For another, they are bound to recoup their investment -- or even a significantly higher amount -- after ten years. Everything sold for between DM 5,000 and DM 30,000 at a good trade fair is certain to be of lasting value."
The 17 exhibitors here include Frehrking-Wiesehöfer (Cologne), Borgmann Nathusius (Cologne), BQ (Cologne), Kapinos (Berlin), Mirko Mayer Galerie (Cologne), Meyer-Riegger Galerie (Karlsruhe), Galerie Michael Neff (Frankurt), Galerie Giti Nourbakhsch (Berlin), Galerie Jan Mot (Brussels), Cabinet Gallery (London), Modern Institute (Glasgow), The Box (Turin), Mezzanin (Vienna), Senn (Vienna), Foksal Gallery Foundation (Warsaw), Cohan Leslie and Browne (New York) and The Project (New York).
As for the juried section, it's the place to look for new talent. The artists here include Sonja Alhäuser, Emmanuelle Antille, Yael Davids, Martin Eder, Lutz Fezer, Bettina Flitner, Bob Gramsma, Markus Huemer, Robert Klümpen, Robert Lippok, Karim Noureldin, Oliver Oefelein, Bettina Pousttchi, Sarah Rapson, Michael Reisch, Judith Samen, Walter Schreiner, Shirana Shahbazi, Claudia Shneider, Christopher Stewart, Thomas Stricker, Caro Suerkemper, Alexander Timtschenko, Albrecht Tübke, and Sylvie Zijlmans.
All in all, the fair doesn't include many dealers from the U.S. Along with Cohan Leslie and Browne and The Project, there's Deborah Bell/Photographs (New York), Maxwell Davidson (New York), Achim Moeller (New York), Paul Morris (New York), Patrick Painter (Santa Monica), Margarete Roeder (New York) and Stark (New York).
Part of the opening ceremonies is the award to California artist Richard Pettibon of the Wolfgang-Hahn Prize for 2001. Named after the late art collector Wolfgang Hahn, a founder of the Gesellschaft fur Moderne Kunst, the prize includes the purchase of works valued at ca. $100,000 for the museum.
LARRY ALDRICH, 1906-2001 Larry Aldrich, 95, fashion designer, art collector and founder of the Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art in Ridgefield, Conn., died on Oct. 26 at New York Hospital. Aldrich launched his clothing line in the late 1920s, and became an immediate success. He began his collecting in the late 1930s, becoming a patron of the Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum. He founded his namesake museum in 1964 and set up an annual fellowship program for contemporary artists in 1993. The museum approved plans to build an expansion only last month.
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