Spotlight: Art Düsseldorf Unveils New Curated Sections for Its 2023 Edition, Bringing Focus to Emerging Artists and Contemporary Issues

Now in its fifth edition, the burgeoning Art Düsseldorf fair returns next week with an expanded roster of participating galleries and curatorial programming. The fair is best known for its diverse yet focused presentations that highlight recent art history as well as connect to the context in which the fair takes place. Held within the former steel factory Areal Böhler, the fair is situated within a landmark of the city, and the open, industrial architecture allows for a unique and light-filled art viewing experience.

Along with the existing Main gallery section of the fair, with the 2023 edition Art Düsseldorf is establishing two new sections, Next and Solo Projects. Next is geared towards galleries that promote emerging artists and have existed less than ten years—ensuring a new generation of galleries obtains support and visibility on a major scale. Solo Projects will host single-artist presentations that engage with one of the fair’s three dedicated themes: sustainability, diversity, or Rhineland connections. Together, these new curated sections bolster the fair’s ongoing mission to continually evolve and meet the needs of the contemporary art world.

On honing the forthcoming edition’s focus, Walter Gehlen, the fair’s director, said, “The Art Düsseldorf team attaches great importance to a diverse and attractive program. We communicate this consistently in our contact with the galleries and, in return, receive very open-minded feedback. We are pleased that we have succeeded in putting together such a diverse and multifaceted program.”

For those unable to attend the fair, Art Düsseldorf publishes a digital magazine featuring artist and gallery profiles, as well as an art guide to the city and essays on prevalent art world topics, such as art and climate change and discourse around the online art world.

A grand total of 95 galleries are slated to participate in the 2023 edition of the fair—including 35 newcomers and 34 international galleries, hailing from Buenos Aires to Madrid. An additional 17 are local to Düsseldorf, emphasizing the strong relationship between the fair and its home, as well as the fair’s mission to establish the city—and more specifically, Art Düsseldorf—as a hub for art-centered discourse, exchange, and discovery.