The Friedmann-Hahn Gallery in Charlottenburg is a place where contemporary art not only captivates the viewer visually but also emotionally. For 20 years, the gallery has been presenting works that blend a keen sense of current trends with craftsmanship. The focus of the collection is on figurative painting, where art-historical traditions such as still life are translated into the language of the present. Photography is also used as a creative tool to open up new perspectives. The portfolio is further enriched by outstanding sculptors and artists from the Urban Art scene. The gallery currently represents twenty international artists whose works are showcased in solo and group exhibitions as well as at national and international art fairs.

The Friedmann-Hahn Gallery is a place of dialogue, where art is not only viewed but also discussed and experienced. Through regular openings, artist talks, and events, the gallery promotes interaction between art and the public, creating a space where art comes alive.

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"Every beginning has its magic," wrote Hermann Hesse. When the Commeter Art Gallery opened in 1821 on Johannisstraße, it was the first business of its kind in Hamburg. The founders, Ernst Georg Harzen and Johann Matthias Commeter, significantly shaped the city's art scene and left a lasting legacy with 30,000 engravings and drawings that founded the Kupferstichkabinett at the Kunsthalle. In 1847, Wilhelm Becker and Christian Meyer took over the gallery, which was further developed by Wilhelm Suhr in 1878 and moved to a magnificent Art Nouveau building in 1908. Suhr Junior led the gallery into the modern era, showcasing Munch, Nolde, and other Expressionists, becoming a key address for modern art. In 1952, Andreas Suhr took over, followed by his daughter Hella Suhr. Today, Carola Persiehl, a descendant of the founders, runs the gallery and features contemporary artists such as Jochen Hein, Maria Ikonomopoulou, and Klaus Schweier. In 2007, she co-founded the sister gallery Persiehl & Heine, specializing in contemporary photography. The gallery’s legacy of art enthusiasm and business acumen continues to thrive.

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Thomas Holthoff sees his mission as bringing together the experience of seeing art, engaging in conversation, and connecting a journey with a visit to the gallery on board. That is what he hopes to offer guests. Artists view the world through their own unique lens — they challenge us, invite dialogue, and open up new perspectives. In times of confusion, questions, and doubt, it is often these encounters that people seek — and find — both in the gallery and on board. When selecting artists, Thomas Holthoff is first and foremost interested in the individual: their inner world, their modes of expression, and their artistic attitude. As a gallerist, he sees himself as a bridge between artist and viewer. His goal is to spark curiosity and inspire a genuine desire to engage with art. His work also regularly touches on the margins of society — for example, through his long-standing collaboration with Atelier Freistil, which has been ongoing for eight years, or through his exploration of new, forward-looking fields such as Contemporary AI. In this context, Thomas Holthoff curated an exhibition in 2025 for the international law firm Taylor Wessing. And sometimes, everything can be said in a single sentence: “Anyone who doesn’t want to think gets kicked out — of themselves.” (Joseph Beuys)

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The PRIVATE in the public sphere – the PUBLIC in the private sphere! DRAWING ROOM enables visitors to engage deeply with contemporary and established artistic practices in a salon-like atmosphere. The gallery’s programme focuses on artistic practices that draw on conceptual art and minimalism. Four to five exhibitions featuring national and international artists, both emerging and established, are held each year. As well as solo exhibitions, the DRAWING ROOM also hosts thematic and conceptual group exhibitions and projects. The Drawing Room also regularly exhibits at art fairs such as HIGHLIGHTS Munich, Artissima in Turin, Drawing Now in Paris, LOOP in Barcelona and Paper Positions in Berlin. 

The two art historians, Esther and Alexander Sairally, founded the Drawing Room gallery in Hamburg in March 2014.

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For more than two decades, Galerie Jarmuschek + Partner has been a leading presence in both the German and international art market. Founded in 2004, the gallery combines profound market expertise with a keen eye for visionary contemporary artists. Under the direction of Kristian Jarmuschek, the gallery has become a trusted partner for collectors, institutions, and art enthusiasts seeking to build and expand outstanding art collections. Its program encompasses paintings, drawings, and photography, as well as sculpture and large-scale installations. Many of the works presented explore the dynamic interplay between figurative representation and abstraction. The gallery maintains close, long-standing collaborations with internationally recognized artists including Faisal Habibi, Carina Linge, Emma Sarpaniemi, David Eager Maher, Helena Hafemann, and Malwine Stauss. Alongside established names, Galerie Jarmuschek + Partner is renowned for its commitment to discovering and promoting promising emerging talent. Gallery owner Kristian Jarmuschek is an influential figure well beyond Berlin's art scene. For the past twelve years, he has organized the annual POSITIONS Berlin Art Fair as well as the paper positions fair, a salon-style art fair format presented at various locations. Since 2013, he has served as President of the Federal Association of German Galleries and Fine Art Dealers (BVDG), where he actively advocates for the German art market. In 2024, he was appointed Chairman of the Advisory Board of art karlsruhe, assuming artistic leadership of one of Germany's largest and most important art fairs.

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Photocredit: Clara Wenzel-Theiler

Thomas Pöllmann creates abstract works in which layered colors form dynamic structures full of movement and depth. Using spatulas, knives, and trowels, he continuously alters the surface, giving each piece its own expressive character. The intensity arises from his choice of colors and the technique of overpainting, which reveals hidden layers. Intuition and chance work together, resulting in compositions defined by their complexity and spontaneous development. These abstract works follow no fixed rules but unfold through the creative process itself. This freedom allows emotional and visual tension to emerge, inviting viewers to form their own interpretations. Color and structure merge into a unified whole that combines both rhythmic and impulsive elements. Each layer introduces a new dynamic and opens up fresh perspectives, creating a vibrant surface that captures the moment of its creation. Through his technique and deliberate choice of materials, Thomas Pöllmann enables endless variation. His works reflect a deep engagement with the possibilities of painterly expression and demonstrate how the interplay of intuition and experimental approach can lead to unique visual worlds.

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Christian Schoppe, based in Hamburg, is one of Germany’s best-known photographers. His career began in Vienna, where he met, lived and celebrated with Oliver Hirschbiegel, Martin Kippenberger and Albert Oehlen. In 1989, at just 23, he received the Austrian State Prize for Portrait Photography. In 1998, his portraits of Gilbert & George, Paul McCarthy, Mike Kelley, Jeff Koons and Franz West were exhibited at the Centre Pompidou in Paris. He was the first German photographer to document Domaine de la Romanée-Conti in Burgundy, one of the world’s most exclusive wine estates, and accompanied Paul Bocuse with his camera. Back in Hamburg, leading German actors sat for his portraits, including Marie Bäumer, Lars Eidinger, Maria Furtwängler, Alexandra Maria Lara, Heike Makatsch, Moritz Bleibtreu, Daniel Brühl, Til Schweiger and Loriot. International figures such as Philippe Starck, Lou Doillon, Karl Lagerfeld, Peaches, Alanis Morissette, Simon Collins, Chris Dercon and Ugo Rondinone, as well as the Red Hot Chili Peppers, have also been photographed by him. Franz Beckenbauer, Uli Hoeneß and politician Heiner Geißler have entrusted him with their portraits. His work has appeared in national and international publications, including Stern, Die Zeit, Weltkunst, ELLE, FAZ, BusinessWeek, TIME, Süddeutsche Zeitung and Der Spiegel. Schoppe has created international campaigns for Deutsche Bank, SAP, Biotherm, Nivea, Juvena and Gillette. His work includes art projects for Louis Vuitton, reportage in the Dior ateliers and a photographic series for Maison Margiela. Around 2000, travel became a passion, leading to landscape series from around the world, including projects for Hapag-Lloyd Cruises. His spontaneous photography offers a fresh perspective, combining a painterly approach with a distinctive use of colour and light.

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Davidoff blurs the boundaries between figuration and abstraction. Total graphic reduction in black and white clearly emphasises the contrast between nature and culture, while abstractly lined up surfaces of the background suggest three-dimensionality to the viewer. The metal works in particular also use the instrument of fusion: the heterogeneously processed surfaces seek to play with the light so that the viewer perceives the depicted in a variety of ways through the reflection. The brightly coloured, contoured, almost woodcut-like paintings demonstrate the full range of vitality that nature and man can offer. Reflective surfaces, sometimes broken in on themselves, refer once again to the interplay, the antipodal nature of nature and culture. Davidoff perceives the world in his pictures as an organic cycle of creation and dissolution, the traces of which he depicts in his paintings. Like Anselm Kiefer or Günther Förg, Jan Davidoff often uses found objects from his environment in his works. For example, he uses patinated historical copper plates as well as industrial steel or glass alongside the canvas as a picture support. In this way, he creates the multi-layered pictures typical of the artist, in which the background and foreground seem to intertwine in many ways.

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Felix Eckardt (born 1975 near Hamburg) is a contemporary German painter known for his atmospheric urban and landscape scenes. He studied painting in Hamburg and Madrid, and his work has been exhibited internationally—in cities such as Berlin, Frankfurt, and Zurich—as well as at art fairs including Art Karlsruhe and Kunst Zürich. He is represented by galleries such as Gudberg Nerger (Hamburg) and Samuelis Baumgarte (Bielefeld). In 2022, his widely acclaimed art book Lichtarbeit was published. Contributions in DIE ZEIT along with features on ZDF, NDR, and Phoenix underline his established reputation. His studio in Hamburg also serves as a vibrant venue for art and music events.

Photocredit Marc Seelen

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Nina Papiorek is a German photographer whose visual language is characterised by an unmistakable aesthetic. In her predominantly black-and-white works, she explores the interplay between lines, architectural forms and the human presence in urban spaces. Her photographs lie at the intersection of street photography, urban landscape photography and fine art photography. 
 
A minimalist approach runs like a common thread through her work. At the heart of her photographic narratives lies the relationship between people and their urban surroundings, which she captures using a clear, graphic visual language and a keen sense of composition. 
 
As a professional street photographer, Nina Papiorek has been honoured with numerous prestigious international photography awards, including the International Photography Awards (IPA) and the Fine Art Photography Awards. Her work is exhibited and published worldwide.
 
In addition to commissioned work for international clients, she is involved in various book projects, leads photography workshops and is regularly invited to serve as a judge for international photography competitions. 
 
Nina Papiorek lives and works in Germany. She has been passionately dedicated to photography for over 20 years and is the author of two highly acclaimed photography books. She has been an official X-Photographer and brand ambassador for FUJIFILM since 2026. 

About the Gallery 
The gallery presents a series of works by the German street and fine art photographer Nina Papiorek, created during her photographic journeys through Asia. From Tokyo via China and Hong Kong to Vietnam, she explores the connection between people, architecture and urban space, creating striking visual worlds that bridge tradition and modernity. 
Known for her award-winning black-and-white compositions, Papiorek distils cities down to their essential forms, structures and moods. Lines, light and shadow merge with the presence of people to create graphically powerful photographs that go far beyond conventional travel photography. Her works capture the identity and atmosphere of the places she visits and tell of the rhythms of urban life, of movement and density as well as moments of tranquillity. 
The urban series are complemented by photographs from Vietnam, which document traditional craftsmanship and those who preserve it. Together, the works offer a multifaceted glimpse into the cultural diversity of Asia and the stories hidden behind its cities and people. 

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Peer Kriesel works at the intersection of surrealism and digital social critique. His richly detailed ‘hidden object’ paintings are reminiscent of Hieronymus Bosch: eccentric figures, masks and fantastical creatures populate an absurd, fairy-tale-like world that mirrors our digital present.

With delicate lines and a gestural painting style, he creates multi-layered compositions. At the heart of his work lies the question of identity and values in the age of digital transformation: who are we when algorithms filter what we see? What happens when the boundary between human and machine becomes blurred? Kriesel explores how originality and human values are being redefined in an accelerated, data-driven society.

In his series of overpainted works, he uses found objects from his surroundings: Discarded travel tickets, admission tickets, old postcards and nautical charts become canvases. The design elements and memories embodied in these pieces of paper inspire him to re-evaluate the analogue. This gives rise to the multi-layered works characteristic of Kriesel, in which past and present, analogue and digital, intertwine.

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