Tierisch // Animalistic

In the organizer's words:

Vernissage - 24.10.2025, 18-22h and 25.10.2025, 12-18h

The starting point for our group exhibition TIERISCH is the work "The Unsung Citizen" by Hong Kong and London-based artist Cheuk Yiu Lo (*1998). Lo's sculpture won our 11th ART MATTERS online competition on the theme of "Animalistic" in summer 2024 and will be shown in the gallery for the first time. In addition to Lo, we are showing works by Markus Fräger, Richard Helbin, Beate Höing, Vanessa Luschmann,Jiří Mayer and Moritz Moll.

The painter Markus Fräger (*1959 in Hamm) died in Cologne on 17 August 2020 as a result of a serious and protracted illness. His paintings were dense chamber plays and characterized by his love for his family and friends, music and cinema. Fräger studied at the Hochschule für Bildende Künste in Braunschweig, as well as art history and archaeology at the University of Münster. Most recently, he had his studio in a former vinegar factory in Cologne. His paintings have been shown at the Lehmbruck Museum in Duisburg, the Kunsthalle Koblenz, the Kunstverein Unna in 2019 and most recently in a major retrospective at Museum Schloss Cappenberg from April to September 2023. Click here for more information.

In his works, Richard Helbin (*1980 in Poland, lives and works in Düsseldorf) conjures up long-gone values, which he interweaves with images of longing of a homoerotic nature. From tapestries and bronze casts of crocheted sculptures to meticulously bobbin-lace miniatures, the artist uses all of the techniques that once made entire cities and regions rich, but which no longer have any economic significance as a craft today. Click here for more information.

The sculptural and painterly works of Beate Höing (*1966, lives and works in Coesfeld) show a very poetic, at times ironic view of the past, tell of memories, dreams and surreal worlds, also with a humorous wink. Inspired by ornaments and materiality as cultural-historical components of folk art, by fairy tales and myths as well as traditions and rituals, these influences appear in a very unique iconography. Click here for more information.

Cheuk Yiu Lo works mainly in sculpture and installation, exploring various materials such as stone, wood, steel, fiberglass, resin, paper and cement. In her practice, Lo explores and reflects on real-life experiences, personal emotions and the language of materials. The artist explores the complex relationship between civilization and nature, inner thoughts and the outside world. Click here for more information.

Vanessa Luschmann'swork focuses on the expression of emotions - both on an individual and collective level. Luschmann (*1990, lives and works in Munich) uses autobiographical material and transforms it through her perspective into a representation of the present and the state of a generation, offering the viewer solidarity in a shared sense of vulnerability. Click here for more information.

Jiří Mayer (*1990 in Trebic, CZ, lives and works in Brno, CZ) is known for his typical pixelated visual language and his main artistic theme of animals. For the realization he first uses Windows Paint (a 'modern' technology that has already become a relic of the past) by enlarging sketches and transferring the resulting shapes to the canvas in acrylic. Click here for more information.

Moritz Moll (*1991) completed his painting studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich (AdBK) in 2021. His works have already been shown in several exhibitions in Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Great Britain, Switzerland and the Netherlands. In his paintings, Moll explores the in-between spaces of everyday life, intimate moments of being unobserved, of drifting off, of concentration. Using oil, acrylic and spray paint on canvas, the artist captures the intimacy of everyday life. His works transport the viewer into calm yet vivid daydreams. Click here for more information.