EXHIBITION OPENING AND ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION
FRIDAY, MARCH 14, 2025, 7 PM.
Welcome from the Head of Culture of the City of Essen
Mr. Muchtar Al-Ghusain
Panel discussion with Prof. Ottmar Hörl, Dr. Hans-Jürgen Lechtreck (Museum Folkwang) and Dr. Sabine Kampmann (University of Duisburg Essen): “Art in public space – art for everyone?”
Prosecco and finger food
From 9 PM: Dubstep live set with Sophie Cue & Peaky Beats, DJ set with Bottrop Bwoy & Dj Yoshino
Exhibition runs until May 3, 2025.
The reason for the panel discussion is Ottmar Hörl’s first installation work for the city of Essen, which will be opened the following day. The sculptor, painter and conceptual artist (*1950 in Nauheim) is known for his serial multiples and his large-scale installations initiated worldwide. His works are temporarily at home in public places around the world, such as the Beethoven installation in Bonn and the Dürer installation in Nuremberg. In Essen, Hörl is staging 200 golden sparrows in an unusual location, namely the glass pavilion in Grugapark. In the context of the often underestimated Ruhr area with its traditional pigeon-breeding culture, the eponymous saying “a bird in the hand is better than a pigeon on the roof” is given a new interpretation. The discussion will focus on what public space means today in the face of increasing digitalization, on power and sovereignty of interpretation surrounding art in urban space, on judgments of taste, kitsch and city marketing and on the potential that public debate about art offers, especially for a region like the Ruhr area.
The event is open to all art lovers.
More about Ottmar Hörl…
Anniversary weekend with two exhibitions by the German conceptual artist, sculptor and object artist Ottmar Hörl.
SATURDAY, MARCH 15, 2025, 4 PM:
Ottmar Hörl – A bird in the hand is better than a pigeon on the roof.
Opening in the glass pavilion, Grugapark Essen