German urban Pop-Art by Thomas Baumgärtel
2024-06-12 00:00 - 2024-07-27 23:59 (Europe/Zurich) | MOB-ART studio, 19a, avenue de la Porte-Neuve, Luxembourg, L-2227
Thomas Baumgärtel (64 years old) is a German artist who lives and works in Cologne.

“Thomas Baumgärtel is much more than a simple painter in the classical sense. In addition to drawings and prints, his intermedial work also includes photo collages, as well as overpaintings of photos and spray paintings of ‘old masters’ and objects. He has not only engaged with traditional easel painting but also intensely with mural painting in public spaces.

The wide spectrum of his artistic work extends to action art and shows how fluid the boundaries between sculpture and action are for him. In addition to his subversive spray actions, his performances and happenings, particularly those with a dinosaur-like banana, an oversized and foldable banana sculpture on wheels, have caused a considerable sensation. Even today, the ‘Banana at the Brandenburg Gate’ campaign in Berlin is waiting for the starting signal.” (Dr. Bettina Baumgärtel, Kunst Palast Museum Düsseldorf)

“Works of art are a mirror of their time.”

For example, if we refer to the works he creates on German Unity together with Harald Klemm, we are very much in this theme.

The common thread of the works is the artistic examination and reaction to the historical and social changes brought about by the construction of the Wall, the Cold War, and the resulting reunification in 1989.

The two artists have been working together on the theme of “German Unity” since 1999. Each has his own personal motivations for dealing with reunification and the first peaceful revolution in German history. For Klemm, one of the main questions remains to what extent “German Unity” has been achieved – as examples show, the East and West are still treated differently politically.

For Thomas Baumgärtel, a central medium of his work – the banana – is also one of the most important symbols of reunification. During his psychology studies, he already addressed the psychological and social problems arising from the formation of German unity. Due to his training, the psychological aspect has always been part of his work, both on the reunification of Germany and on other themes.

His political and pacifist commitment is a common thread in his creations, and the Banana is an ideal, infinitely adaptable vector for this. It allows him to denounce the excesses of politics and politicians, both in Germany and internationally, with an offbeat but targeted perspective.

Journey to the Land of Morning Calm
2024-06-13 00:00 - 2024-06-14 23:59 (Europe/Zurich) | Cercle Munster, 5-7, rue Münster, Luxembourg, L-2160
Group show at Cercle Munster showcasing works by Seock Son, Sungpil Chae, Hoon Moreau, HyunJoung Lee, SunMi Kim, Myunghee Park, Hong Ilhwa and NungSeang Park.

Guided visits: 16 & 23 March or 20 April at 6pm

Wolfgang Blanke
2024-06-20 00:00 - 2024-07-20 23:59 (Europe/Zurich) | Galerie Schortgen, 24, rue Beaumont, Luxembourg, L-1219, Luxembourg
Wolfgang BLANKE is well known for his paintings, for which he uses raw materials only, pigments, and various binders. He uses natural resins, oils, waxes, and no industrially produced colours. In this way, the artist continually finds new ways and means of expressing himself, both his personality and his current mood.The difficult moment of the so-called “pure painting” is a clash of recognition. You feel this fascinating material while you are in a dialog of such painting progress, you listen to it and it guides you. With transparent layers, he can show both the progress of the painting and the thrilling edge between form and background. Your perception will find your own specific way of identification.Besides art, Wolfgang Blanke is a dedicated sailor and seaman. Both of these two passions, art and sailing, have shaped his life up to now.

Nat Meade – Creeper, Sleeper, Weeper
2024-06-20 00:00 - 2024-09-14 23:59 (Europe/Zurich) | Nosbaum Reding Projects, 4, rue Wiltheim, Luxembourg, L-2733
Over the last decade, the American painter Nat Meade has developed a unique style of portraiture within the genre of so-called ‘allegorical autofiction’. In his works, a recurring bearded protagonist embodies emotional states the artist has personally experienced in certain phases of his life or social roles as a man. Their brightly coloured motifs do not refer to external but internal states, while symbolic attributes reinforce the slightly quaint atmosphere that pervades the works.

The archetypal monolithic head, which Meade occasionally depicts in bust length or in pairs or threes within the same painting, harkens back to the artist’s early memory of a woodcut portrait of Walt Whitman (1819–1892) by Antonio Frasconi that hung in his parents’ home — an informal, expressive head with a triangular nose, its full beard rendered by large, thick strokes. Meade, who grew up in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States, is well familiar with such rugged physiognomies. In his writings, Whitman, arguably the most famous American poet of the nineteenth century, chastised the upheavals and divisions in modern society, instead romanticising the declining agrarian model and its social cohesion. Even in the twenty-first century, the myths of the founding of the United States and the conquest of the West still inform the country’s understanding of traditional male roles — an outdated cliché, for many reasons. Meade expresses his own unease at this conception through the tongue-in-cheek fatalism of his archaic figures who, despite their robust appearance, seem vulnerable, exhausted, oblivious of the world around them and at times tender, and are often shown sleeping, pondering or crying. Sometimes their detached heads, lying flat on the floor, even transform into objects that tie in with the surrounding natural landscape.

Meade varies the pictorial space by playing with different viewing distances and angles. In his smaller works (such as Basal, Scrim, Canopy), the face appears as if seen through a telephoto lens, filling the entire pictorial space, with even the chin, forehead or cheeks cropped. This leaves no room for peripheral attributes, so that all additions, such as branches with green or autumn-brown leaves, overlap and obscure the face. The relationship between nature and the individual is thus reversed; what we see is not humans who stand or act in nature, but nature that conceals the humans and turns them into a mere backdrop, into something passive.

In Meade’s medium-size formats (such as Creeper, Sleeper, Weeper) or the large format Dandylion, the extended angle embraces the surroundings of the person, who is always pictured in the centre ground, leaving space in the background for a hill, a decomposing log or shallow water. The foreground can therefore accommodate (mostly vegetal) elements that are in turn orientated towards the figure, such as dandelion flowers stretching their stems like curious antennae. The prehistoric faces rarely look directly at the viewer — in most cases their eyelids are closed or the pupils are turned thoughtfully to the side. Their mysterious appearance lends them an oracular quality that invites viewers to make them ‘speak’ through their own reflections.

Besides their unusual and subtle, almost burlesque motifs, the colour treatment is a distinctive feature of Meade’s paintings — even his works on paper radiate as if they had built-in backlighting. This effect is achieved through a clever distribution of light in the composition of the motifs: imaginary light sources cast deep shadows on certain objects, while other areas reflect the light and seem to glow from within. In contrast, the surfaces of the paintings are rough and matte — the exact opposite of a high-gloss sheen. The artist uses mainly jute or hemp as canvases, literally slaving away at the harsh texture. Layers of colour are applied but also scraped off again before being reconstructed again, the slow, layered build-up resulting in highly saturated colours. In addition, Meade only uses colour tones that shine in the lighter parts of the painting and transform into radiant dark tones in the shadowy ones: yellow turns to orange or green, pink becomes violet. The weft of the fabric is still clearly visible in the finished picture, creating the impression of a gauze through which we view the strongly lit motif, as though on a theatre stage.

Sabine Dorscheid

Made in America: 1960s to Today
2024-06-20 00:00 - 2024-09-14 23:59 (Europe/Zurich) | Nosbaum Reding, 2, Rue Wiltheim, Luxembourg, L-2733
© Audrey Jonchères

Group show including works by the following artists:

William Nelson Copley

Carroll Dunham

Alex Israel

Paul McCarthy

Kenneth Noland

Raymond Pettibon

Richard Pettibone

James Rosenquist

Andy Warhol

John Wesley

Tom Wesselmann

This exhibition explores the landscape of American art from the 1960s to the present day. On the one hand, the iconic American Pop Art scene with artists who captured the essence of American culture, consumerism and media such as Richard Pettibone (b. 1938), Andy Warhol (1928-1987), Tom Wesselmann (1931-2004), Raymond Pettibon (b. 1957), William N. Copley (1919-1996) and John Wesley (1928-2022).

On the other hand, we focus on the Abstract Art movement, with a particular emphasis on Kenneth Noland (1924-2010). His innovative use of color and form redefined Abstract Expressionism and left a lasting imprint on the art world. The exhibition also highlights more recent contributions to the West Coast art scene, specifically from Los Angeles, with contemporary artists such as Alex Israel (b. 1982) and Paul McCarthy (b. 1945), who continue to push boundaries and challenge conventions with their unique perspectives and innovative works.

Saar Scheerlings & Mario Picardo: Sugar Rush
2024-07-11 00:00 - 2024-09-14 23:59 (Europe/Luxembourg) | Valerius Gallery, 1, Place du Theatre, Luxembourg, L-2613
The exhibition ‘SUGAR RUSH’ presents new works by Mario Picardo and Saar Scheerlings and blends colorful paintings with soft monochrome sculptures.

Chilean-French artist Mario Picardo (*1985) has studied Fine Art at the ‘Ecole nationale supérieure des Beaux Arts de Paris’ in Paris, France. With the urban landscape as his source of inspiration, the artist creates multilayered colorful paintings, accentuated by his use of the airbrush gun, revealing elements of pop culture and cartoons. Mario’s work has recently been on view at the Ludwig Museum of Contemporary Art in Budapest, Hungary.

Saar Scheerlings (*1990) has studied at the Design Academy in Eindhoven, The Netherlands. Saar’s work is often triggered by the beauty and dedication of old materials like antique linens that she uses for her sculptures. With a laborious process of sculpting, cutting, sewing and weaving she breathes new life into these materials, transforming them into monumental talisman sculptures. Saar’s work has recently been exhibited at Palais de Tokyo in Paris, France.

Summer Group Show
2024-07-31 00:00 - 2024-09-14 23:59 (Europe/Zurich) | MOB-ART studio, 19a, avenue de la Porte-Neuve, Luxembourg, L-2227

2025-11-21 00:30 - 01:30 (Europe/Luxembourg) | Luxembourg Art Week, Glacis Square (Fouerplaatz), Luxembourg, L-1628
CONFÉRENCE PAR LAFA DANS LE CADRE DE

LA LUXEMBOURG ART WEEK

L’ART DISTINGUE-T-IL L’HOMME DE LA MACHNIE?

À l’heure où l’intelligence artificielle s’immisce dans tous les champs de la création, la question de son rôle et de son influence dans le monde de l’art se pose avec une acuité croissante. Cette table ronde propose d’explorer ces enjeux à travers les regards croisés du juriste, du galeriste et de l’artiste. Il sera question des droits d’auteur, de la propriété intellectuelle et du statut juridique des œuvres, mais aussi de la manière dont le marché de l’art accueille ces créations, entre fascination et scepticisme, et des enjeux de valorisation auprès des collectionneurs. Enfin, la parole sera donnée à l’artiste, pour interroger son rapport à la création par ou avec l’IA, la notion même d’inspiration, ainsi que les limites et perceptions qui en découlent.
