Brief Chronology

Christel Schüppenhauer founded the Pragxis Gallery in Essen-Kettwig in October 1980, focusing on intermedia art (from concrete and visual poetry to Fluxus), constructive and conceptual art as well as art from Eastern Europe. The gallery quickly made a name for itself with an ambitious programme of thematic exhibition projects, catalogues, editions, readings, concerts and performances. In1985, now renamed Galerie Schüppenhauer, the gallery expanded and moved to new premises on Bismarckstrasse 53 in Essen, right across the road from the Folkwang Museum. A project space for young experimental art, Raum II, complemented the activities of the gallery. From 1986 the gallery regularly participated in international art fairs, among them Art Cologne, Art Frankfurt, ARCO Madrid, FIAC Paris and Art Brussels.

The Schüppenhauer Gallery moved to Cologne in 1987, opening its new space on Engelbertstrasse 30 with an exhibition of Ben Vautier in October of that year. In 1993 the gallery relocated to a larger space on Bismarckstrasse 60 and to an even larger one just a few steps further up the road on Bismarckstrasse 70 in 1997, where 570 square metres allowed for the presentation of young artists in a dedicated studio space. In 2006 a smaller space, operating under the name schüppenhauer galerie + projekte, was opened on Luxemburger Strasse 345. Ten years later, the large gallery on Bismarckstrasse 70 was vacated in favour of the smaller one on Luxemburger Strasse, where exhibitions continued to be held until December 2012.

Throughout those years the gallery steadfastly pursued the original curatorial programme. At the end of 2012, after more than 32 years at the helm of the gallery, Christel Schüppenhauer retired from the active, day-to-day business of running a gallery to devote her energies to a new venture, schüppenhauer art + projects, focusing on exhibition projects, art consulting and the secondary market.

During her time as an active gallerist Christel Schüppenhauer presented many major exhibitions, most of them accompanied by a catalogue: 1982 Bilder aus der Slowakei part I, II, III; 1984 Bonjour Monsieur Kolar; 1989 WortLaut - Konzepte zwischen konkreter Poesie und Fluxus, later shown at Museum Bochum(1989) and the Vaclava Spala Gallery in Prague (1991); 1992 Fluxus-Virus, Cologne, later shown at the Praterinsel Munich (1991/92), the Städtische Galerie, Erfurt (1994), the Smolny Catedral Saint Petersburg (1994) and the Central House of Artists, Moscow (1995); 1994 Zwischen Zeit Raum I + II - Tendenzen osteuropäischer Kunst in den 60er bis 80er Jahren; 1997 m.e.s.s.a.g.e - Positionen aktueller Kunst (5 curators present 5 artists); 1999 wordVolume. Künstler machen Worte; paintings now! Part I + II. Grenzbereiche der Malerei; 2002 Little Red Riding Wolf, curated by Gia Edzgveradze; 2003 cynical culture, Steven Rand selects; 2004 Einladung zur Hinrichtung, curated by Vadim Zakharov + Luca Lazar; All Things involved in all other Things. Hommage à Mary Bauermeister zum 70. Geburtstag; 2012 Best of and On the Road to Fluxus ( at Maastrichter Strasse 26). In addition to these exhibition Christel Schüppenhauer was able to realise numerous Kunst am Bau projects(Percent for Art scheme) with artists of the gallery in Munich, Oberhausen, Ludwigshafen, Bergisch-Gladbach and elsewhere.