KÖNIG GALERIE to open a new art space in Munich- KÖNIG BERGSON on May 7th, 2024. The Munich branch will be the fifth location within the KÖNIG network, and the third gallery in Germany. In Munich, solo and group exhibitions by KÖNIG GALERIE artists, as well as artists from outside the gallery program, will be presented.
KÖNIG BERGSON is moving into three separate exhibition spaces (atrium, silo, and new building, around 2,000 m2 of new gallery space) on the site of the Bergson Kunstkraftwerk, a former power plant in Munich’s Aubing district, which will take place in two stages. Together, the exhibition spaces that comprise KÖNIG BERGSON will be among the largest commercial gallery spaces for contemporary art in Germany.
On May 7, Monira Al Qadiri’s exhibition SILOED BEINGS will open the atrium and silo spaces. The atrium of the original power plant boasts 25 metre-high ceilings, and is ideally suited for installations or large-format works. Al Qadiri, who was born in Senegal, grew up in Kuwait and currently lives in Berlin, will be showing works from her series BENZENEFLOAT, which deal with the raw material, crude oil. The silo is located on one level at a height of over 15 meters in the gutted former coal silos. The 200 square meter exhibition space in the silo is divided into four cabinets, which are connected by a walkway. Sculptures and small-format works by Al Qadiri will be on display here from May 7. The SILOED BEINGS exhibition will run until June 30.
On July 12, a new building on the site will be officially opened with a large, group exhibition. The new building will form the heart of KÖNIG BERGSON on four floors with a total of 1600 square meters and a bookshop. The new gallery location joins previous KÖNIG GALERIE exhibition projects in Munich, such as the “Szene Berlin“ exhibition at the Ketterer auction house, where works by Berlin artists were presented in 2019. Many of the artists exhibited by KÖNIGGALERIE can be seen regularly in Munich’s exhibition venues, such as Karl Horst Hödicke’s retrospective at the Pina-kothek der Moderne in 2020. Monira Al Qadiri had a solo exhibition at Haus der Kunst in the same year and her works are represented in a group exhibition at the Eres Foundation currently running until July 27. In autumn 2022, AI media artist Refik Anadol projected a data sculpture onto the facade of the Pinakothek der Moderne.
KÖNIG BERGSON will be a new center for contemporary art in the cultural metropolis of southern Germany, integrated into the diverse program of the Bergson Kunstkraftwerk. The plans for the former thermal power station in the west of Munich were drawn up by an unknown architect in the 1920s, but were never completed apart from the reinforced concrete cube that stands today. From 1955 until the early 1980s, the power plant was used to generate thermal energy. After that, the building fell into disrepair, used for illegal raves, and the water in the basement froze in winter and was turned into an ice skating rink. Since 2007, the iconic building has been officially recognized, converted into a multifunctional cultural venue for events, concerts, and culinary delights by architects Stenger2 beginning in 2021.
KÖNIG GALERIE is known for repurposing buildings that do not correspond to classic white cube exhibition spaces, such as the St. Agnes Church, which was carefully converted into a gallery. In addition to KÖNIG BERGSON, the Bergson Kunstkraftwerk will also have a concert hall, a restaurant, bars, and a beer garden
