30 Years Anniversary Exhibition:

Galerie Peter Kilchmann

Rämistrasse, Zurich

In 1992, Peter Kilchmann opened his first gallery space in the former Schoeller-Hardturm factory in the west of Zurich. A small group of galleries had ventured into this neighborhood, which at the time had little of its current hip appeal and was considered a purely industrial district. It was a move driven by curiosity and a pioneering spirit that helped to advance the contemporary art scene in Zurich. A programmatic focus at the beginning was particularly on the media of photography and video art, which at the time were still little established and rarely shown in galleries.

The first four years of the gallery, which I would describe as a warm-up phase, began in small premises at Hardturmstrasse 127 in the west of Zurich - which at that time was hardly perceived a part of the city and had not yet been gentrified. With the move into the Löwenbräu area in 1996, my gallery came of age. In these exciting 14 years, between 1996 and 2010, the gallery developed into an internationally operating, successful enterprise. With the move to Zahnradstrasse 21, into the Diagonal building next to the Prime Tower, and the opening of further premises at Rämistrasse 33 in January 2021, the gallery became increasingly larger. Each new step was connected with curiosity and euphoria and always also with a certain risk. Today, I realize with joy that this path of the gallery was the right one. For me, the focus is always on positioning an artistic work as successfully as possible. With the opening of premises in October in Paris at 13, rue des Arquebusiers in the Marais, I look forward to opening another chapter in the history of the gallery. (Peter Kilchmann)

In the beginning, Peter Kilchmann exhibited mainly artists of his generation and has since strived to pave the way for a young generation of aspiring artists. Over the past three decades, the gallery has developed a strong program representing artists from Europe, Latin America and the United States. Most of the gallery's artists take a conceptual approach with socio-political and poetic themes and today cover all areas of artistic expression, including painting, video, film, photography, installation, and sculpture. The anniversary exhibition will highlight this variety of individual approaches of each artist and bring together their paths and perceptions. For what all artists have in common is the firm position with which they know how to transmit their point of view and get the viewer to engage with the respective object.

The exhibition and the corresponding publication are also meant to be an occasion to celebrate with the artists, collectors, institutions and visitors the many collaborations, projects and friendships that the gallery has experienced over the years. For it is these special people and experiences that have helped shape and accompany the gallery's journey over the past 30 years.