Art, the Rhine and Beuys
Going against the flow: Since the end of the 18th century, artists in Düsseldorf have been sparring with one another, riffing off existing ideas, questioning the concept of art itself and not infrequently causing a stir. And the Academy of Arts has been a driving force throughout the last 250 years. From Fluxus to ZERO, Lüpertz to Beuys, the Düsseldorf School of Photography to the Düsseldorf School of Painting – in retrospect they have all left their mark on today’s vibrant art scene and the urban landscape.
Rich and easily accessible art scene
- Take a walk along the Rhine: an unparalleled concentration of six locations dedicated to the visual arts practically jostle alongside one another, including the Kunstpalast, the NRW Forum, the Kunstsammlung NRW art collection at Grabbeplatz, the Kunsthalle Düsseldorf art gallery, the KIT - Kunst im Tunnel art gallery and the Kunstsammlung NRW art collection at the Ständehaus
On the Art:walk48! The ticket of the same name allows you to visit all six museums within a 48-hour period for just EUR 25 - Five private collections and foundations regularly put together special exhibitions at their premises – frequently of recent contemporary pieces
- More than 100 galleries and artist-run ‘off-spaces’ enrich the city’s cultural landscape, host events such as the DC Open and provide a platform for aspiring artists, who are often graduates of the Academy of Arts
Art on every corner
No other city of Düsseldorf’s size is home to so many leading international artists and to so many galleries, and nowhere is art such an integral and natural part of everyday life for so many people. This is in no small part thanks to the life and legacy of Joseph Beuys in Düsseldorf. Professor at the Academy of Arts from 1961 to 1972, the performance artist provoked debate in the art world and among the general public with his expanded concept of art and his resultant works. He shaped the Fluxus movement and developed the idea of social sculpture that endures throughout the city to this day: “Everyone is an artist.”
One of the giants of the art world: 250 years of the Academy of Arts
The heart and soul of Düsseldorf’s art scene is located directly on the Rhine. Founded in 1762 as a royal school of drawing, the Academy rose to international fame with the Düsseldorf School of Painting under Wilhelm von Schadow in the mid-19th century. Many renowned artists such as Joseph Beuys, Sigmar Polke, Jörg Immendorff, Gerhard Richter, Bernd and Hilla Becher, Andreas Gursky and Katharina Fritsch subsequently studied and taught there and to this day Düsseldorf owes its international reputation as a city of art to the academy. It opens its doors twice a year and students showcase their latest work. To mark its anniversary in 2023, there will be a variety of initiatives and projects by the students and individual classes in public spaces around the city and at art institutions and schools.
From black and white photography to virtual reality
If all that springs to mind when you think of art is paintings and sculptures, you’re in for a pleasant surprise in Düsseldorf, where many venues are dedicated to new media. Since the heyday of the photography duo Bernd and Hilla Becher, who became famous for their serial black and white images and, from the 1970s onwards, taught artists such as Candida Höfer, Andreas Gursky, Axel Hütte, Thomas Ruff and Thomas Struth, Düsseldorf has become an international hub for photography. Every two years, the düsseldorf photo+ festival focuses on the world of photography for a few days, while the NRW Forum dedicates itself exclusively to photography, pop and digital culture all year round. In Düsseldorf’s Oberkassel district, the Julia Stoschek Foundation shows rotating exhibitions of multimedia works in 3,000 square metres of space, drawing on its collection of over 900 pieces by more than 300 artists. Düsseldorf is also home to the biggest archive for the visual arts in Europe at the Institute for Art Documentation.
Charitable foundations, private collections and galleries
Art is traded where art is made – and occasionally private collections even go public in Düsseldorf with the Philara collection in Flingern and KAI 10 | ARTHENA FOUNDATION at MedienHafen regularly granting access to their collections. Architecture by the Japanese architect Tadao Ando in neighbouring Neuss houses the Langen Foundation and temporary exhibitions of contemporary art. The ZERO foundation has devoted itself to the legacy of the ZERO movement led by the artists Heinz Mack, Otto Piene and Günther Uecker and shows works by the group as part of one-off exhibitions. The local galleries see themselves as forums for the city’s vibrant arts scene. What that means can be experienced at close hand at the DC Open event, which is held every autumn. In spring, industrial architecture meets contemporary art during the Art Düsseldorf fair, held at the Areal Böhler complex in Oberkassel.
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