Liebkranz Galerie | Opening with Juan Miguel Pozo Cruz

Naimah Schütter and Stefan Dauksch founded the Liebkranz gallery in January, but it didn’t officially throw open its doors until last week, when the number of guests easily surpassed the available space in the modestly sized venue in Mitte’s number one gallery district.  Many visitors were friends and aquaintances of the gallerists that came for the opening ceremony, but, more importantly, to catch a glimpse at the works on display by the artist Pozo, who presented the paintings he had created for Liebkranz’s “The word after” exhibition. 

Pozo, a Cuba native, has been living in Berlin for many years. But besides that, it was hard for Schütter and Dauksch to find out more about the artist. It took a lot of hard work before they were finally able to track him down. “Thank god we eventually found him. We were literally knocked off our socks the first time we entered his studio” recalls Schütter. “His work is so emotional and impressive. That’s especially important to us because we want to exhibit art that speaks to our hearts and that’s definitely the case with Pozo. It was an honor to open with him.”

The gallerist went on to describe what she loved about the Cuban: “We like his subtle criticism. There are so many ways to interpret his work, especially because his work is very bold on the one hand, but he also works with very fine ornaments.” The Liebkranz gallery definitely wants to keep working with Pozo in the future. As for other possible contenders, Schütter and Dauksch have a very clear idea of what they're looking for. “We don’t want any more water lilies. We want to continue to display socio-critical and politically critical work” says Schütter. Pozo's work will be on display until April 29.

(ihe)