Portikus

CITY GUIDE FRANKFURT: PORTIKUS

The gallery is Kasper König’s baby. As the Director of the Städel Academy, in 1987 he made the existence of an exhibition hall a condition for accepting the job. To that end, a container was provisionally outfitted as a gallery at the old Portikus. Since 2006, the institution is housed on an island on the Main River in the "New Portikus": In a tall slender new building resplendent in red, with a light installation by Olafur Eliasson on the hip roof. Inside, a high room with 100 square meters and a wraparound gallery level awaits art. Each year, up to six site-specific productions are hosted – by international, up-and-coming artists as a rule, selected by the respective Director of the Städel Academy and by a curator, who changes every three years.