28.02. - 15.03.2025, Kunstraum Ortloff

An immersive adventure between fiction and existence, an extravagant scenery demands a sensual exploration rather than a rational analysis. Another world unfolds: like a 19th-century salon, the abundant fabric drapes create a boundary that the large-scale paintings of Winnie Seifert and Philippa Brück simultaneously transcend on various levels.

As early as 1853, the renowned French writer Victor Hugo attended séances while in exile on the island of Jersey, firmly believing he was communicating with spirits. Shakespeare, Dante, and mysterious entities such as the Shadow of the Ocean spoke to him. The "tables tournantes" were not only en vogue for Hugo but also for his contemporaries—first on the East Coast of America and soon thereafter throughout Europe.

Long before spiritualist practices like table-turning regained popularity during the Romantic era—that is, after the Enlightenment—the mystic and philosopher Jakob Böhme (1575–1624) from Görlitz sought a different kind of connection to the invisible. His visions and insights into a higher reality beyond the visible resonated centuries later with artists like Wassily Kandinsky and Hans Arp, who sought to capture the spiritual in their works. In a spontaneous moment of revelation, Jakob Böhme recognized God as a binary, fractal, and self-replicating algorithm and the universe as a genetic matrix, born from the existential tension and divine longing for self-awareness. Under this premise, distinguishing between different gods in various religions was inconceivable to him.

Osho, the charismatic, charming, and humorous founder of the Bhagwan movement—a master manipulator par excellence—introduced the New Age movement from India to the USA in the early 1980s. This sect-like formation made its rounds across the globe, establishing a presence not only in India and the USA but also worldwide today. Moreover, we are now familiar with other esoteric phenomena that manifest in broader social and even political dimensions.

The supernatural refers to a higher reality beyond our five senses. Can painting depict more than the visible world? Pliny the Elder described the competition between Zeuxis and Parrhasius, in which both sought to render reality most convincingly. While Zeuxis deceived birds with his exquisite grapes, Parrhasius managed to fool Zeuxis himself with his delicate curtain. Beyond mere imitation, artists of later epochs, such as Caspar David Friedrich, Hilma af Klint, Wassily Kandinsky, and Salvador Dalí, aspired to make an invisible dimension beyond reality tangible through color, composition, and atmosphere.

The supernatural in painting, in particular, is the attempt to make the invisible visible—whether through spiritual symbols, abstract forms, intuitive creative processes, or the depiction of the sublime. Beyond the purely material world, spaces open up for personal or collective mystical, spiritual, or transcendent experiences.

A subjective and emotional perception of nature challenges the familiar and awakens the unknown. In her paintings, Philippa Brück plays with the limits of hyper-aestheticization, distorting, alienating, and deconstructing her motifs. Only upon a second or third glance do other organic forms and elements emerge within the floral structures. Between and behind silky, delicate textures, seemingly endless cosmic spheres glow and radiate. Philippa Brück's velvety-surreal visual worlds surpass everyday viewing habits and, in their opulence, resemble transcendent parallel universes.

Winnie Seifert weaves colors and emotions into her paintings, creating personal memories, fleeting moments, and sensitive observations that resonate with all of us. Layer by layer, transparent veils and dense impulses unfold into a synesthetic cartography that oscillates between remembering and discovering. Her color choices follow intuition: deep blue flows into delicate pink, bright yellow flares up like a sudden thought. Spots, signs, and blurred traces conjure an open space where thoughts can drift. A place that does not exclude contradictions but embraces them—a terrain for the unspoken, which only reveals itself through contemplation.

Before, during, and after the Middle Ages, following the Enlightenment, or in the wild seventies—the intangible has always fascinated us. Whether attempting to communicate with higher beings or engaging in dialogue with a cosmic or, more recently, an artificial intelligence. Art has long served as a medium to translate and render otherworldly experiences and encounters tangible.

Isabella Engelhardt and Winnie Seifert 

Kunstraum Ortloff
Jahnallee 73
04177 Leipzig
ortloff.org

'The Cute Escape. Empathie, Empowerment, Empfindsamkeit'
A group exhibition at Kunsthalle Erfurt with works by (a.o.) Josefine Schulz & Mona Broschár
From 09.03. – 18.05.2025

The exhibition The Cute Escape. Empathy, Empowerment, Sensitivity at Kunsthalle Erfurt explores the aesthetics of cuteness in contemporary art. Over 20 artists from different countries present works featuring soft colors, playful motifs, and charming figures. The exhibition questions how art can use gentle forms to convey strong critique and when care becomes political. Visitors are invited to immerse themselves in a world of wondrous creatures, captivating colors, and moments of deep emotional connection.

With works by Neven Allgeier, Jacob Samuel Beck, Mona Broschár, Niclas Castello, Christa Dichgans, Famed, Harry Hachmeister, Hypernormalisa, Zsófia Keresztes, Lena Kuzmich, Rachel Maclean, Tomoko Nagai, Nhozagri, Christiane Peschek, Monira Al Qadiri, Mary-Audrey Ramirez, Ayako Rokkaku, Theresa Rothe, Mark Ryden, Jamie Scholnick, Josefine Schulz, Nina Vandeweghe, Marta Vovk u.a.

Curated by Annekathrin Kohout & Philipp Schreiner

Kunsthalle Erfurt
Fischmarkt 7
99084 Erfurt
kunstmuseen.erfurt.de

Find us BOOTH D07, with a solo presentation by Laura Sachs
from 10.04. to 13.04.2025

Laura Sachs presents her distinctive approach to the intersection of painting and sculpture. Her multi-perspective objects challenge the conventional boundaries of both mediums, creating works that shift dynamically depending on the viewer’s position. Rooted in her background in painting and further developed through her sculptural studies at Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, Sachs’ works explore spatial depth, materiality, and perception.

With precise yet experimental compositions, she manipulates surfaces, structures, and spatial illusions, inviting a dialogue between two-dimensionality and three-dimensionality. Her works have been exhibited at renowned institutions such as K21, Kunstsammlung NRW, and Museum Kunstpalast, affirming her position as an artist who redefines the language of contemporary art.

Art Düsseldorf 2025 will once again serve as a key meeting point for galleries, collectors, and curators, showcasing a curated selection of international contemporary art. With its focus on innovative artistic approaches, the fair offers an exciting platform for discovering cutting-edge positions like those of Laura Sachs, whose works challenge perception and expand the possibilities of visual experience.

More info: https://www.art-dus.de/de/

Agave Magazine ‘BLAU’ by Maike Salazar Kämpf und Moritz Rudolph
with a.o. Philippa Brück, Ellen Akimoto, Inga Kerber, Wolfgang Ullrich, etc
READ ONLINE: agavemagazin.com

Sarah Pschorn: interview with Hub Magazine ‘Clay whispers’
hubemag.com

Art – Das Kunstmagazin 02/2025
Josefine Schulz: 'Wenn Wuff von hinten grinst' by Philipp Müller

'CONTEMPORAINES' - a documentary series on women in contemporary art.

WATCH HERE

[SERIES] CONTEMPORAINES invites you to meet today's artists through an immersion in their studios: who are they and how do they work? How is their commitment expressed? How do women make their place in the art world in the 21st century, when they only represent 13% of artists in premium sales?

In this pilot episode (26'), Aude Gogny-Goubert takes us to the heart of Berlin, to the studio of Franco-German artist Dorothée Recker. From the south of France to the Galerie Lætitia Gorsy, discover the creative process behind her colorful and sunny works. A production by David Tabourier, with the support of CNC Talent.

Art Karlsruhe 2025
Galerie Laetitia Gorsy - BOOTH H4/L14
with Franziska Rheinbothe, Philippa Brück & Lou Hoyer (Paper Square)
from 20.02. to 23.02.2025

The artists' practices contrast yet complement one another, engaging with the boundaries of the canvas and the materiality of art in unique ways. Franziska Rheinbothe challenges traditional notions of the canvas by folding, cutting, and stitching it into minimalistic forms. Her works blur the line between painting and sculpture, offering a fresh perspective on the physicality of materials and creating a dynamic interplay of structure and form.

Philippa Brück's vibrant, expressive works transform the canvas into a dramatic stage, with her use of bold color and intense compositions. Her pieces, often resembling exuberant floral bouquets, push the limits of painting, creating visual richness and a powerful emotional impact.
Lou Hoyer’s intricate charcoal and pastel works explore the surreal, with ghostly figures and dreamlike scenes that evoke a deep emotional and visual experience. Through her mastery of paper as a medium, Hoyer's pieces invite a contemplative engagement with both reality and imagination.

Art Karlsruhe 2025 will bring together 187 galleries from 16 countries, offering a dynamic mix of contemporary, modern, and classical art. This prestigious fair provides a platform for both established and emerging artists, creating a vibrant atmosphere for collectors, curators, and art enthusiasts alike. With its diverse range of artistic positions, Art Karlsruhe continues to be a significant event in the international art scene, making it an ideal occasion to discover cutting-edge works and new talents.

Messe Karlsruhe
Messeallee 1
76287 Rheinstetten
www.art-karlsruhe.de

'NO MATTER WHAT'
duo exhibition: Valentina Plank together with Len bay
from 08.02. to 07.03.2025

The duo exhibition 'no matter what' by artists Valentina Plank and Len Bay focuses on engaging with material, its inherent traces, connotations, histories, meanings, and effects. Both artists follow sculptural approaches that intersect the fields of media art and sculpture. The starting point for their artistic processes is the world of objects that surrounds us.

Industrially manufactured furniture, spaces, and architecture are omnipresent. In an era that Donna Haraway describes as the “Chthulucene”, the artists believe it is increasingly important to assign greater significance to objects, the environment, and, more generally, non-human agents, as well as to explore their history, meaning, and expressiveness more intensively.

Steel, aluminum, stainless steel, insulating materials, and metal sheets become carriers of meaning and form the basis for artistic exploration. In their engagement with traditional craftsmanship and industrial manufacturing, as well as with materials often perceived as “raw,” references to Minimal Art are evident. However, Plank and Bay go a step further: the materials they use are not limited to their external appearance. The tactile qualities, texture, and sensory perception of the installations and sculptures transform them into vessels capable of being charged—filled—with the viewers' own experiences.

Valentina Plank enables open access to her works through a transparent and studio-based process. Experimenting and weighing the relationship between chance, trace, and control take center stage. While individual steps of her process may be comprehensible, curiosity about the undiscovered and the element of surprise remain at the core. Playfulness is supported, not undermined, by the precise placement of her works within the space. This intuitive approach generates unexpected sensory impressions and possibilities for perception.

a&o Kunsthalle
Brandenburger Str. 2
04103 Leipzig, Germany
aokunsthalle.com

Keramikmuseum Westerwald presents the exhibition of the Westerwald Prize's finalists with works by Sarah Pschorn
27.09.2024 – 15.06.2025

The Westerwald Prize, established in 1973, has long been recognized as one of the most esteemed awards in the field of ceramics. It celebrates exceptional ceramic works through a competitive exhibition and promotes the ongoing dialogue between ceramics and contemporary art in the region. The prize also serves as a catalyst for cultural exchange across Europe, connecting artists, curators, and collectors from diverse backgrounds.

Keramikmuseum Westerwald
Lindenstraße 13
56203 Höhr-Grenzhausen
www.keramikmuseum.de