Spiegel Online likes Art Cologne’s Daniel Hug who the magazine credits with finding the sweet spot that brought the venerable old fair back to life:
The Berlin gallery Eigen + Art returned three years ago after skipping Cologne the six years prior. “Cologne is cool,” says Gerd Harry Lybke, who takes part in 12 fairs a year, including those in Hong Kong, London, Miami, Shanghai and Basel. “The art caravan isn’t moving as much these days, which is why we have to do this, even just to test out the fairs,” he said. The test winner last year was Art Cologne, where the gallery made the most sales. Whether it can achieve similar success this year without German painter Neo Rauch remains to be seen. This year Eigen + Art will exhibit works by Birgit Brenner, David Schnell, Martin Eder and Uwe Kowski.
Despite the recent improvements to the fair, it remains largely a regional event. Some 32 galleries from Berlin will be among the 200 exhibitors, many of them for the first time. But the list of international participants is relatively thin. Galleries from Asia, Russia, South America or India are the exceptions, with most international exhibitors hailing from Austria (13), Switzerland (11), and France (9).
Art Cologne Leaves Berlin Behind (Spiegel Online)
