2_2_DiscoverGermany_February15_Issue23:Scan Magazine 1
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Discover Germany | Special Theme | Finest Galleries & Museums Germany
Main image: Installation view: "Philip Guston", Aurel Scheibler, Berlin, 2014. Right from top: Installation view: "FORM FARBE RAUM – Uhlmann Baumeister Kricke Nay", Aurel Scheibler Berlin, 2012 until 2013. Installation view: Jack Pierson, "Truth", Aurel Scheibler Cologne, 2002. Aurel Scheibler in front of "Tom Freudenheim“ by Alice Neel, 1979, oil on canvas, 102 x 76 cm. Photo: Courtesy Aurel Scheibler, Berlin, 2015
Berlin’s art gallery Everything but mainstream Art dealer Aurel Scheibler stands for new approaches in an art historical context and for connecting contemporary art with classical but always topical artists’ works since 1991. Placing emphasis on selling and showcasing international artworks, which don’t normally find their way into German exhibition space, the Aurel Scheibler Gallery attracts many visitors, which seek art beyond the mainstream. TEXT: NANE STEINHOFF | PHOTOS: AUREL SCHEIBLER, BERLIN / SIMON VOGEL, ISABELL ERTL, ROMAN MÄRZ
“We put a focus on artists with special activity and on works with strong topicality. Connecting the contemporary and the classical, while never being stale is our goal. Our visitors, especially young people, seem to appreciate this concept,”Aurel Scheibler, art dealer and gallery owner, explains. First established in Cologne in 1991, Germany’s liveliest art scene at that time, the gallery tried to primarily exhibit works from America and the UK – art which wasn’t available to a German audience until then. In 2006, this extraordinary philosophy was taken to the new centre of art activity. Today, the gallery sits in an ancient hall from
1911 in Berlin, which in itself is worth a visit.“The room has a great aura.There is no other exhibition space like ours in Germany, which makes it an unique experience,” Aurel Scheibler remarks. Having spent three years in New York at Christie’s print department and as a personal assistant at The MoMA’s Department of Painting & Sculpture, Aurel Scheibler also worked in several galleries and museums after attending school in Cologne. He also edited the catalogue raisonné for the German abstract painter Ernst Wilhelm Nay, which made him the worldwide expert on that work. “This
practical experience was my dissertation,” Aurel Scheibler smiles. Since then, the art enthusiast managed to get internationally renowned artists such as Öyvind Fahlström, Alice Neel, Norbert Kricke or Jack Pierson onto his exhibition walls. “Real super highlights were the Philip Guston and Ad Reinhardt exhibitions. Until we exhibited their work, their art did not have gallery shows in Germany and is almost non-existent in German institutions,” Aurel Scheibler states. Don’t miss Tom Chamberlain’s upcoming exhibition, who impresses audiences with extraordinary minimalist works, made of several paint layers.“You have to come and see his paintings in the original as the effects are only revealed when you stand in front of them,”Aurel Scheibler says.“I strive for acceptance, good ranking and good art sales,”he laughs.“After all, the latter is what keeps us going.” www.aurelscheibler.com
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