Beginnings – From Classical Modernism to Contemporary Art
As the son of a successful gallery-owning couple, Dirk Geuer began his career as curator and exhibition organizer by directing the family’s Geuer Gallery, which specialized in Classical Modernism and represented artists such as Picasso, Dalí, Chagall, Miró, and Max Ernst. With a growing focus on contemporary art, Geuer founded his own company in 1988, championing artists such as Jörg Immendorff, Heinz Mack, and Christo & Jeanne-Claude.
Dirk Geuer and Jörg Immendorff – The Beginning of a Long-Term Collaboration
Under the patronage of German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and Russian President Vladimir Putin, he realized the Jörg Immendorff retrospective at the State Russian Museum in St. Petersburg in 2001.
To mark the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the Federal Republic of Germany and the People’s Republic of China, Dirk Geuer presented Jörg Immendorff’s exhibition When the Picture Comes to the Mountain on behalf of the German government in China. In 2002, the exhibition was shown in Beijing, Shanghai, and Tianjin, and was later also presented in Tiflis, Georgia.
With further projects—including exhibitions of the Chinese artist Ren Rong in Shenzhen, Beijing, Nanjing, and Shanghai, and numerous artistic collaborations, exhibitions, and lectures with Christo & Jeanne-Claude in both the USA and Germany, among them the project The Gates—Geuer expanded his reputation as an international exhibition organizer and trusted partner of artists.
In 2006, the native of Grevenbroich presented for the first time the complete graphic oeuvre of Jörg Immendorff, comprising 396 works collected privately by Geuer since 1988. Recognized as the world’s largest exhibition of Immendorff’s graphic works, the Geuer Collection was shown in 2007 in several German museums in cooperation with Messe Hamburg and was later exhibited in 2009 at the National Museum in Quito, Ecuador.
Accompanying the exhibition was the Catalogue Raisonné of Graphic Works published by Geuer in 2006—compiled during Immendorff’s lifetime and in close consultation with the artist—which for the first time documented and made accessible his entire graphic output.
Dirk Geuer and Günther Uecker – Successful Collaborations at Home and Abroad
In close collaboration with Alexander Tolnay, former director of the Berlin Art Association, Dirk Geuer organized numerous exhibitions of Günther Uecker’s work in Germany and abroad. Among them were the inaugural presentation of 600 works at the TAFA Art Hall in Tianjin, China, in 2006, and the subsequent exhibition at the National Museum of China in 2007—both presented under the title Letter to China.
With the support of the German Foreign Office, the German Embassy in Tehran, the Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations (IFA), and the Federal Government, Geuer succeeded in exhibiting a German artist in Iran for the first time in 20 years. The exhibition Injury – Connection, featuring Uecker’s unique works and installations, was shown at the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art (TMoCA) in 2013 and subsequently at the Museum of Modern Art in Isfahan. A catalogue as well as a documentary film of the same title accompanied the exhibition. Afterwards, the project traveled to the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes in Havana, Cuba.
Art and the Olympic Games – Dirk Geuer and German Cultural Contributions
Inspired by the Renaissance idea of paragone—the rivalry of the arts—Dirk Geuer drew a parallel between athletic and artistic disciplines by conceiving and organizing Germany’s cultural contributions to the Olympic Games in Greece (2004), China (2008), and the United Kingdom (2012).
From thematic group exhibitions in collaboration with the Chinese Art Academy in Tianjin to the symbolic installation of Markus Lüpertz’s Hölderlin sculpture in front of the German Olympic team’s house in London, press, partners, and audiences worldwide welcomed this analogy of competition between art and sport.
2013 GÜNTHER UECKER – VIOLATION – CONNECTION
Museum of Modern Art, Isfahan, Iran
National Museum TMOCA, Tehran, Iran
2012 MARKUS LÜPERTZ – MORNING OR HÖLDERLIN
Official German Cultural Contribution to the Olympic Games in London
German Olympic House, Museum of London Docklands, London, United Kingdom
2011 MARKUS LÜPERTZ – SAGEN HAFT / LEGENDARY
Kunsthalle Dominikanerkirche, Osnabrück, Germany
2010 GÜNTHER UECKER – HANDLUNGEN / ACTIONS
Traveling exhibition on the occasion of the artist’s 80th birthday
In cooperation with the city of Wismar, ENBW, and the Lower Saxony Ministry for Science and Culture
Ulmer Museum, Ulm, Germany
St. Georgen Church, Wismar, Germany
Kunsthalle Dominikanerkirche, Osnabrück, Germany
Moritzburg Foundation, Halle, Germany
2009 JÖRG IMMENDORFF – PRINTED WORKS
National Museum, Quito, Ecuador
2009 HEINZ MACK – LICHT DER ZERO-ZEIT / LIGHT OF THE ZERO ERA
Ludwig Museum, Koblenz, Germany
2008 DIALOGUE OF TWO NATIONS
Art Concept for the German Contribution to the Olympic Games in China.
With Günther Uecker, Jörg Immendorff, Pino Alessio, Wang Guangji, Zhang Xiaogang, and Fang Lijun
Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts, Tianjin, China
Today Art Museum, Beijing, China
In cooperation with the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) and Dr. Thomas Bach
2007 GÜNTHER UECKER – LETTER TO CHINA
Retrospective with over 600 Works
National Museum of China (NAMOC), Beijing, China
2006 GÜNTHER UECKER – LETTER TO CHINA
Retrospective with over 600 Works
TAFA Art Hall, Tianjin, China
2005 CHRISTO & JEANNE-CLAUDE – THE GATES
Central Park, New York, USA
In cooperation with Daimler Chrysler and the brand “Maybach”
Acquisition of “The Gates” unique works into the Daimler Chrysler Collection
2004 OLYMPICS, ART AND GREECE
German Cultural Contribution to the Olympic Games in Greece
Exhibition by artists from all countries participating in the Olympic Games in Athens
Fraport Gallery, Frankfurt/Main Airport, Germany
In cooperation with the German National Olympic Committee and Galerie Geuer
2003 REN RONG – BEYOND THE CULTURE: MODEL WORLD OF REN RONG
He Xiangning Art Museum, Shenzhen, China
Nanjing Museum, Nanjing, China
2002 JÖRG IMMENDORFF – WHEN THE PICTURE COMES TO THE MOUNTAIN
Travel exhibition on the occasion of the 30th-anniversary celebrations of relations between the Federal Republic of Germany and the People’s Republic of China
Under the patronage of Chancellor Gerhard Schröder
City Planning Museum, Shanghai, China
Millennium Monument Beijing, China
TAFA Art Hall, Tianjin, China
In cooperation with the German Federal Government, Federal Foreign Office, Metro Groupand Deutsche Post AG
2001 JÖRG IMMENDORFF – CHANGE IS INHERENT IN ALL THINGS
Retrospective under the patronage of Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and President Vladimir Putin.
State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia
In cooperation with the German Federal Government, the Federal Foreign Office, the Art and Culture Foundation of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, Deutsche Post AG and LufthansaGroup
2000 JÖRG IMMENDORFF – RETROSPECTIVE
Exhibition on the occasion of a state visit by Gerhard Schröder
National Gallery, Tbilisi, Georgia
In cooperation with the German Federal Government and the Federal Foreign Office
„Art is communication beyond language. As a medium that transcends cultural and social boundaries, it holds both intercultural and societal value — a value that has been central to my long-standing work as a curator and exhibition organizer.“
