The Crespo Foundation, with centres in Ireland and Germany, announces the launch of the Crespo House in Frankfurt on October 10th, 2024 – a new cultural space in the heart of the city dedicated to art, education and social projects. The inaugural exhibition, The Glenkeen Variations – ArtNature/NatureArt, will showcase the work of 12 artists and artist groups who participated in the Crespo Foundation’s Glenkeen Garden artists’ residency program in Ireland between 2021 and 2023.
The exhibition Glenkeen Variations: ArtNature/NatureArt marks the debut presentation in Frankfurt of works created by alumni of the artists-in-residence program at Glenkeen Garden. From sonic explorations to material investigations, scientific research and poetic imaginaries, the eleven artists and artists’ groups present a wide array of creative encounters. Inspired by explorations in and around the garden, across bog lands and seaweed forests, up along drystone walls and down to the local pub, the works exhibited carry within them the traces of these paths and the conversations held along the way. The support network cultivated around Glenkeen Garden, including Frankfurt’s Senckenberg Research Institute, the University College Cork with its Glucksman Art Gallery, many regional art institutions in Ireland and the local community of Ballydehob, nurtures meaningful relations in and around the landscape.
Interplay
The captivating interplay of colours and shapes of Glenkeen Garden on the coast of West Cork, Ireland, beckons the eyes, enticing them to roam and survey the sheer magnitude of its beauty. However, this landscape entails much more than meets the eye. Carefully crafted over two decades by photographer, psychologist, and philanthropist Ulrike Crespo (1950-2019) along with her partner Michael Satke, this expansive wild garden nestled on the shores of Ireland’s Roaring Water Bay has welcomed artists since 2021 for an artist-in-residence program facilitated by the Crespo Foundation.
Guided by the theme of ArtNature/NatureArt, the garden has become a temporary home for international artists working across various mediums, who have immersed themselves in this rich environment and the unique and welcoming social and cultural tapestry of West Cork. The residency is unique in inviting artist collectives, pairs and creative collaborators who wish to work together and draw inspiration from this dramatic landscape. The aim is to foster a sense of creative community and cross-pollination among artists from a variety of disciplines.
As part of the Crespo House launch celebrations, an exhibition of around 40 works from the collection of Ulrike Crespo, the founder of the Crespo Foundation, will be shown throughout the new Crespo House. Curated by Mario Kramer, formerly of MMK Frankfurt, to where some of the Crespo collection was gifted, this exhibition marks the first time a large group from the collection has been on display and provides insight into Crespo’s creative and collecting interests, in particular, her support for women and under-represented and emerging artists. Highlights include works by Thomas Bayrle, Herbert Brandl, Ralph Fleck, Franz Graf, Iryna Kalenyk, Thomas Kilpper, Sun-Rae Kim, Imi Knoebel, Sigrid Kopfermann, Marie Joe Lafontaine, Rosa Loy, David Nash, Joan Hernández Pijuan, Anke Röhrscheid and Herman de Vries.
The Crespo Foundation
The new Crespo House in the heart of Frankfurt, opening on 10th October, is a 1950s modernist building that has been renovated with a huge new green roof and linked to the neighbouring medieval monastery, creating connections cross time and nature. The flexible and innovative interior has been designed by the award-winning exhibition designer Michael Mueller (who has worked closely with William Forsyth, Max Hollein and other sound, dance and visual artists.) It provides a multi-disciplinary grid and space for any kind of media, in order to accommodate the many different creative disciplines of Glenkeen artists and the other creative and community encounters it hosts.
Founded by Ulrike Crespo (1950-2019), psychologist, photographer, philanthropist, and an heir to the Wella haircare fortune, the Crespo foundation is based in the founder’s native city of Frankfurt with an artists’ residency in Glenkeen, Ireland. The Crespo Foundation has a twin focus on the cultural and social sectors, with a strong emphasis on the connection between art and nature. The foundation’s programmes and projects support artists, advocate for cultural education, enable people who start out with disadvantages to access education and help empower them as individuals.
