"Harald Falckenberg was one of the most important art collectors in Germany. He died on 6 November 2023 in Hamburg.
Hamburg. The feeling you get when you enter Galerie Melbye-Konan at Mittelweg 169 is a well-calculated surprise: in the midst of Harvestehude's villas and boutiques, you expect a dignified salon atmosphere rather than an unadorned 400 square metre hall with a lot of grey. And yet the elegance unfolds; the unadorned gives way to a pure ambience in which the few large-format paintings immediately catch the eye.
A small bar is set up at the back, stairs lead up to an open-plan office, and gallery owner Stella Melbye-Konan welcomes her guests at a large table. And above it all, a giant disco ball sparkles halfway up the ceiling. It's easy to see why Harald Falckenberg felt right at home here: The art collector, who was the master of five huge factory floors in Harburg, filled them with art. Until he died last November at the age of 80. The exhibition "Persona", which has just opened, was one of his last projects. He curated it with gallery owner Stella Melbye-Konan.
"It was not in Harald's interest to show only his own work." Larissa Falckenberg. Wife of Harald Falckenberg (1943-2023)
One day in the autumn of 2022, the gallery owner recalls, the Falckenbergs showed up at her door. "They wanted to have a look at my gallery." The gallery had just moved from Jungerfernstieg to Mittelweg. The gallery owner and the collector had met at Sotheby's auction house across the street. They talked about upcoming projects and the gallery's focus: contemporary African and European art. It was a coincidence that Falckenberg's Philo Fine Arts Verlag had just published the illustrated book "Homage", which deals with masks - also a central theme in African culture. Renowned US photographer Greg Gorman, 75, known for his portraits of Hollywood celebrities such as Jodie Foster, Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro, was unable to photograph people during the coronavirus pandemic. As an alternative, he staged his extensive collection of African masks and sculptures, which he had acquired while travelling, but also frequently at Harry's harbour bazaar in Hamburg. And as perfectly lit as his portraits of stars, in which he always tries to bring out the personality.
"Harald was very fascinated by Greg's work," says his widow Larissa Falckenberg during a meeting in the gallery. Together with her husband, the American artist spent 24 years building up the important Falckenberg Collection, which is on permanent loan to the Deichtorhallen until 2032. She continues to support and accompany upcoming projects. In 2023, there will be an exhibition in St Peter's Church in Lübeck. An exhibition in honour of the collector is planned for this year at the Villa Schöningen in Potsdam, initiated by the publisher Mathias Döpfner.
Her husband was always interested in putting his own collection into dialogue with the works of other artists, in order to give and receive new impulses. "Harald was not interested in showing only his own work. I think it bored him," says Larissa Falckenberg with a laugh. And so the idea was born for a group exhibition at Melbye-Konan under the title "Persona", Latin for mask. "Together with Harald Falckenberg, I selected works by Greg Gorman and paired them with artists from my gallery to show an expanded view of the diverse artistic practice and reception of traditional African masks by contemporary artists", says Stella Melbye-Konan.
The collages of found objects that conceptual artist Gary Johns uses as backgrounds for Gorman's photographs are echoed in the style of international artist Yannick Ackah from the Ivory Coast. His powerful compositions of painting, illustration, torn newspaper clippings and advertisements reflect the pop culture scene of his homeland. His organic forms remind Stella Melbye-Konan of Pablo Picasso's "Guernica". Masks are clearly visible in the paintings of the neo-expressionist Ngoye, who uses them to explore themes of identity formation and inner states. Yeanzi, who has already exhibited at the Biennale, uses a very special technique to discover the person. The artist drips heated plastic onto the cotton canvas on the floor from a distance. The further you move away from the finished painting, the more the eye assembles the individual drops into a figure. "African tribal art is alive - and not just as an object of a fading culture of memory and post-colonial debates," writes the art patron in his contribution to the book. For Gorman and Johns, the mask project is "a kind of liberation and a return to the ideals of free art". A bold statement at a time when provenance research and restitution dominate cultural discourse. A typical Falckenberg.
"Persona" until 25 May, Galerie Melbye-Konan (Bus Fontenay), Mittelweg 169, open by appointment, admission free; melbye-konan.com. Guided tour 27 March, 6 p.m., registration at info@melbye-konan.com"
