Portikus is an exhibition hall for contemporary art in

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

, that was founded in 1987 by

Kasper König Kasper König (born 1943) is a German museum director and curator. Career König was born in Mettingen. In 1965 he traveled to New York as a courier on behalf of the Robert Fraser Gallery, where he lived intermittently until 1978. From 1973 t ...

. The museum is part of the

Museumsufer Museumsufer (Museum Embankment) is the name of a landscape of museums in Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany, lined up on both banks of the river Main or in close vicinity. The centre is the historic art museum Städel. The other museums were added, partly ...

. Portikus presents the work of internationally renowned artists, and exhibits younger, emerging artists. Almost always, art work is commissioned for the gallery space.

History

Its name is derived from the surviving portico of the Stadtbibliothek (public library) from 1825 that was destroyed during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. In 1987, the vestige of this classical building again fulfilled its architectural function as a facade when the Frankfurt-based architects Marie-Theres Deutsch and Klaus Dreißigacker built a simple white cube out of shipping containers. The city government decided to rebuild the destroyed library, however, awarding the contract to local architect Christoph Mäckler. In 2003, therefore, after 16 years and more than 100 exhibitions, Portikus moved into the ground floor of the historical building known as the Leinwandhaus. This temporary location was designed with the artist

Tobias Rehberger Tobias Rehberger (born June 2, 1966) is a German sculptor, born in Esslingen am Neckar. He studied under Thomas Bayrle and Martin Kippenberger at the Stadelschule in Frankfurt am Main, where he now teaches. Work Rehberger works in the wider ...

. Rehberger developed a spatial concept that, through the introduction of various modular elements such as platforms and boxes, allowed the integration of the gallery, office, reading area, and storage spaces into a large and rustic hall. In collaboration with the Zumtobel Staff, the artist

Olafur Eliasson Olafur Eliasson ( is, Ólafur Elíasson; born 5 February 1967) is an Icelandic–Danish artist known for sculptured and large-scale installation art employing elemental materials such as light, water, and air temperature to enhance the viewer's ...

designed the lighting of the exhibition space. Until the beginning of 2006, the exhibition program operated in this space under the name "Portikus im Leinwandhaus". In 2006, Portikus moved to a new space, designed as well by Mäckler. The new building is located on a small island in the river

Main Main may refer to: Geography * Main River (disambiguation) **Most commonly the Main (river) in Germany * Main, Iran, a village in Fars Province *"Spanish Main", the Caribbean coasts of mainland Spanish territories in the 16th and 17th centuries ...

at the very center of the city, with direct access only from the Alte Brücke, or Old Bridge, Frankfurt's oldest bridge. The relationship of Portikus to the city is defined by its association with the

Städelschule The Städelschule (), Staatliche Hochschule für Bildende Künste, is a tertiary school of art in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It accepts about 20 students each year from 500 applicants, and has a total of approximately 150 students of visual a ...

, Academy of Fine Arts; this link allows an intense exchange between the exhibiting artists and the students of the art academy.

Publications

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References

External links

* * Art museums and galleries in Germany Museums in Frankfurt Art galleries established in 1987 1987 establishments in West Germany Frankfurt-Altstadt {{Hesse-struct-stub

History

Publications

See also

References

External links