Dates: May 30–August 23, 2026

ZAK Center for Contemporary Art, Ground Floor and Lounge

 

Opening Friday, May 29, 7:00 p.m.

 

Welcome:

Dr. Carola Brückner, District Councilor for Culture, and Dr. Ralf F. Hartmann, Artistic Director of ZAK

Speakers:

Prof. Tilo Baumgärtel, Birgit Effinger, and Prof. Heide Nord

 

 

Clear the runway for current works by students, graduates, and master’s students from Prof. Kerstin Drechsel’s Painting and Graphic Arts class at the Academy of Visual Arts, Leipzig, and Prof. Tilo Baumgärtel and Prof. Heide Nord’s Painting class at Burg Giebichenstein University of Art and Design, Halle. The participating artists work with painting in a thoroughly classical manner while also exploring the medium’s boundaries: from artistic graphics to video and comics, and on to object art and installation. The panorama of selected works offers a comprehensive insight into the vitality and freshness of the classical medium, as it is taught today at two of the most significant art academies in eastern Germany, each with its own long-standing traditions. With Kerstin Drechsel and Tilo Baumgärtel, two very different painterly approaches shape the work in the specialized classes and make the exhibition a fascinating panoramic view of young painting and its perspectives on the artistic future.

 

Featuring works by:

Luke Carter, Anne Chpakovski, Franziska Dathe, Niklas Dietzel, Leon Friederichs, Kristina Hajduchova, Luna Haser, Selma Kan, Mathilda Köhler, Marthe Lallemand, Felix Lorenz, Klara Schöll und Anali Vakili aus der HGB  Leipzig

Rike Bewer, Ben Billhardt, Sarah Goerke, Henning Gundlach, Nina Hach, Luca Japkinas, Youjeong Kim, Yerina Lee, Louisa Pieper, Naomi Pietros, Tom Plehn, Michelle Sorin, Johanne Iris Kyrilla Steiner und Elektra Tzamouranis von der Burg Giebichenstein Halle

 

 

Abb.: Nina Hach, heyyy, 2024.