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Hier + Jetzt

From Urban Art Gallery to Audio-Visual Project Lab

In 2015, ungestalt entered com­plete­ly new territo­ry and opened the Hier + Jetzt - Leip­zig's first Urban Art Gallery in the Tapeten­werk. On 40 square metres, we presen­ted selected artis­tic works of urban con­temporary. With­in three years, the pro­ject trans­formed from a presen­ta­tion and sales gallery to a project labora­to­ry for ex­perimen­tal sound art.

Leipzig Presents Urban Contemporary Art

Bet­ween August 2015 and Decem­ber 2016, we rea­lised to­gether with curator Maxi Kretz­schmar eigh­teen exhibi­tions of national and inter­natio­nal artists and artist col­lec­tives. Included were exhibi­tions by Elmar Karla, Clara Reichertz, Lean Frizzera (AR), Bond Truluv/Jonas Ihlenfeldt, Raphael Biller, Loomit, Quintessenz, Inner­fields, Martin Fink, Uwe Arnold, Marlet Heckhoff, Kay Schwarz, Rain­bow, rmyr René Meyer, Denis Hifi Klatt, SNOW21, Guido Zimmer­mann, Farb­gefühl and Andy K. Murals (large-format exterior murals). Some of the exhi­bited artists still bear wit­ness to the Urban Art episode at the Tapeten­werk

"It was a crazy pace and everything was always kind of finished by the opening. We learned a lot about exhibition management here."

Ivo Zibulla

A Showroom Becomes Off Space

In mid-2016 opened another exhi­bition space - Jahn Galerie, which exhibits Urban Contempor­ary Art. In the mean­time, the views of the artis­tic posi­tions to be represen­ted between Maxi Kretzschmar and ungestalt had developed in different direc­tions. So at the begin­ning of 2017, we decided to go our separate ways: the Hier + Jetzt gallery was officially closed. The time was ripe for the pro­ject space Hier + Jetzt Leipzig. Now the focus was on inter­disciplinary art, more audio-visual installa­tion than pain­ting and graphics. It becomes more of a space for indivi­dual exper­iments than for art sales.

From art on walls to art in space

The new concept opened inter­nationally with a guest exhi­bi­tion by artist Arturas Valiauga (pre­sented by Lietuvos kultūros institutas, curated by Egle Deltuvaite) as part of the Leip­zig Book Fair 2017. In the follow­ing two years, the space ex­perienced twelve concerts from the field of improvised, sound-experi­mental music. National and inter­natio­nal artists such as Kosmos­klang Pina Bettina Rücker, Maria Ruhe, Andreas Bonkowski, Janek Sprachta, Eldar Fano, Ronny Valdorf, FOONYAP (CAN), Alder&Ash (CAN), Sebastian Branche and Robert Lucaciu brought fantastic ambient music and underground vibe to the Tapeten­werk. In between, there were exhi­bi­tions and installa­tions by Lucian Patermann, Florian Huber and Konstantin Rosenkranz to marvel at. Four space-sound installa­tions curated by Ivo Zibulla were created in collabo­ration with various artists and presen­ted to up to 5,000 visitors during the tradi­tio­nal tours of the Tapeten­werk.