Grassimesse Leipzig 2024 and More

The upcoming Grassimesse Leipzig will take place at the GRASSI Museum of Applied Arts in Leipzig from October 25 to 27, 2024. Artists, designers, workshops and studios, as well as students and graduates, have until May 15 to submit applications for participation in this international sales fair for applied art and design.

An international jury of experts selects the participants for the Grassimesse. Artistic quality in the design and execution is the decisive criterion.

With a tradition dating back to 1920, the Grassimesse is one of the most important international sales fairs for applied art and design. The three-day event enables experts, as well as visitors who are interested in good design, to learn about current developments in the applied arts. Design projects from international universities are presented and current works by internationally renowned artists and designers, as well as newcomers to the scene, are available for purchase. Unique pieces and small series from the fields of jewelry, ceramics, glass, furniture, metal, stone, textiles, fashion, paper, toys and accessories will be on offer.

A total of seven Grassi Prizes, endowed with a total of €11,000, will be awarded during the Grassimesse. Application forms and further information on the Grassimesse are now available at Bewerbung | Grassimesse

Metamorphoses: Photographs by Herlinde Koelbl

A visit to the Grassimuseum is also worthwhile throughout the year. In addition to viewing the richly stocked rooms of the permanent collection, aficionados of art and design can look forward to exciting special exhibitions. Current shows include magnificent nature photographs by Herlinde Koelbl and Art Nouveau objects.

Born in 1939, Herlinde Koelbl ranks among the great contemporary German photo artists. She is best known for her long-term photographic projects such as “Spuren der Macht: Die Verwandlung des Menschen durch das Amt” (1991-1998) and “Das deutsche Wohnzimmer” (1980), but also from the 2003 documentary “Rausch und Ruhm,” which traces Benjamin von Stuckrad-Barre’s path through drug withdrawal.

Nature has always been one of the most important sources of inspiration for art. Herlinde Koelbl’s photographs, which are currently on display at the GRASSI Museum Leipzig, show why.

In a new series entitled “Metamorphoses,” Herlinde Koelbl does not focus her uniquely individual gaze on people. Instead, and for the first time, she directs her photographic interest toward nature and the realm of flowering plants, where nothing remains unchanged. Emergence, growth and decay follow each other cyclically. In decay, nature gives rise to new beauty and changed perceptions, creating extraordinary shapes, colors and structures. Everything transforms, becomes brittle, wilts or hardens, changes its aggregate state. By emphasizing details, Herlinde Koelbl creates scenic pictorial compositions. The colorful images that she created over the past eight years become abstract: a state of suspension is achieved, present and past flow into one another, and the future lies in the reappearance.

Alongside 160 photographic works, the show also presents two meditative video productions and a sound installation.

Nov. 23, 2023 – Apr. 1, 2024

Inspiring Fever

Approximately 350 objects by renowned Art Nouveau artists remain on display in the GRASSI Museum’s Art Deco pillared hall until October 6, 2024. Works by Émile Gallé, Henry van der Velde, Peter Behrens and Joseph Maria Olbrich, along with works by well-known companies and manufacturers such as Johann Loitz Witwe, WMF, Meissen and KPM are represented. The exhibition includes vases, jewelry and décor, as well as everyday objects such as tableware and cutlery.

Vase with metal mount. Design: Emile Gallé. Execution: Burgun Schverer & Co., 1895-1900, Nancy. Glass, brass, mounted, silver-plated. Donated by VNG-Verbundnetz Gas AG, Leipzig. Acquired from the Giorgio Silzer Collection, 1999. GRASSI Museum of Applied Arts, Leipzig. Photograph: Christoph Sandig.

Many of the works on display come from the collection of the Nuremberg-based collectors Maria and Claus Pese, which they donated to the museum in 2020. The show is complemented by examples of the GRASSI Museum’s extensive acquisitions from the past two decades.