The New York Academy of Art is pleased to announce a special exhibition, “Leipzig Calling: Twenty Years after the Iron Curtain,” opening on September 17th, from 6-8pm, and remaining on view through October 18th. On display are recent works by a number of eminent and emerging contemporary artists who have chosen to live and work in Leipzig and to respond in their art to this German city known historically as a center for learning and culture.
Maix Mayer, double box – Parkhaus & Brühl, 2008, lambda print, 59’06“x83’46“ courtesy Galerie EIGEN + ART Leipzig/Berlin
Curated by Anna-Louise Kratzsch, critic and director of the Leipzig International Art Programme (LIA), the exhibition is also a testament to this former East German city, which survived both the Nazi and Communist regimes. With a past and present that revolve artistically around the storied Leipzig School – including Wolfgang Mattheuer, Bernard Heisig, Werner Tübke, and more recently Neo Rauch – Leipzig today is both a rising international center for art and a symbol of creative urban renewal. A sprawling, formerly derelict cotton mill, the Spinnerei, now converted into a vast complex of art galleries, artists work spaces, art book and supply stores, etc. marks the epicenter of Leipzig’s dynamic art scene. Located in the Spinnerei, LIA invites selected artists from around the world to be in residence and to experience Leipzig’s energy.
The exhibition makes visible the bond of mutual interest between two cities – New York and Leipzig – and two institutions – the New York Academy of Art and LIA. The New York Academy of Art, founded more than 25 years ago by artists, scholars and patrons of the arts (including early trustees Andy Warhol and Tom Wolfe), is exceptional among MFA degree programs in the United States in its focus on the human figure as a basis for the creation of vital contemporary art. The LIA has offered residencies to artists from the New York Academy of Art since 2008.
Artists included in the exhibition: Maix Mayer (b.1960), Christiane Baumgartner (b.1967), Tilo Baumgärtel (b.1972), Steven Black (b.1973), Shonah Trescott (b.1982), Lada Nakonechna (b.1981), Osvaldo Budet (b.1972)
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