Daniel Hug's Picks from Art Cologne 2020

Daniel Hug, Director of Art Cologne and Cologne Fine Art and Design, talks us through some of his top picks from the fair. Explore his full selection here, or view all exhibitors and booths form Art Cologne here, exclusively on Artsy.

Luigi Veronesi's 1938 Composizione is an amazing rediscovery and absolute highlight at ART COLOGNE.

I’ve been familiar with Jan Pleinter for a few years now. His paintings have a raw quality, and his use of bold colors brings the works of Emil Nolde to my mind.

Kifleyesus is a very interesting discovery for me. The gallery is participating in the fair for the first time and for us it’s the first time we are hosting a gallery form Ethiopia at ART COLOGNE. I like how he defies convention and literally picks apart European painting. His paintings have something cerebral about them.

I always liked von Brandenburg’s work, and this one is stunning in its execution.

Ernst Wilhelm Nay is post-war Germany’s great master that few outside Germany know. Nay played such a critical role in the development of painting after the war. Counter to many of his German contemporaries, he used bold primary colors and made many large scale paintings. I really want this work!

A classic, in my list as one of the top 10 most iconic works ever made.

I’ve been following Ghenie’s meteoric rise over the past 15 years having first met him at Nicodim Gallery in Los Angeles. He is the grandmaster of the Cluj school of painting. His works are baroque, they are over the top, but they never get boring.

I do have a soft spot for ZERO, minimalism, process art and conceptual work. This one is absolutely stunning!

Dorit is just fantastic – rigourous, conceptual, and her multi-media works are beautiful. Everyone is talking about how Hito Steyrle is re-analizing our perceptions of power. Margreiter’s practice is less confrontational, more subtle, but equally as strong.

An absolute fantastic discovery, Wolf-Rehfeld is a former East German artists who began making typewriter drawings in the 1970s. Similar art tendencies have always developed in parallel across the world––it's fascinating how much these works have in common with Fluxus. Working in this manner in the GDR brings complete other notions to light.

I had the pleasure to see the installation of Greiner during Gallery Weekend Berlin––it was absolutely amazing. Greiner, a multi-media artist, uses all possible technology to expand our perceptions of place and existence.

Phung-Tien Phan is a total bad-ass––I love the miniature world inside a cubboard, the akwardness of a skulpture on wheels. It’s just so wrong, it's right.

Great work by an amazing process artist. I keep being drawn to performative art, art requiring action, art moving beyond the frame and wall.

I always loved Ceal Floyer. One of my favorite works of hers was a little solid red post that she inserted into the wall, leaving only a round circle on the surface much like the stickers used to denote that a work is sold.

Great little Kippenberger. Everybody should have a Kippenberger. I know it’s too late for those with limited budgets, but then again… I want this.

When I first saw this series I was really moved. Salgado floats somewhere between photojournalist and artist. The artistic quality of this work is undeniable––the impact, the beauty and horror of this depiction of a gold mine, the human suffering, the destruction of land, are eye-opening.

Molzahn is a vastly under-appreciated Modernist and a great draftsman. I have been a fan of his for many years. This one is an amazing work of dice.

––Daniel Hug