Exhibitions

2020–2023

Pacific Leipzig

Thu Myat in his LIA studio, 2022

From 2020–2023, exceptional artists from Southeast Asia and New Zealand participated in a three-month residency programme in Leipzig. The fellowship “Pacific-Leipzig” was initiated by the Goethe-Institut network in Southeast Asia in collaboration with Leipzig International Art Programme (LIA).

During three years, over 600 artists applied for the open calls. A jury in Leipzig and the Goethe-Institut in the respective countries selected the 17 winners.

Pacific Leipzig

September 2021, Japan Foundation Cologne

Silent Streets
Stefan Guggisberg
& Aika Furukawa

Stille Straßen, Aika Furukawa & Stefan Guggisberg

The exhibition "Stille Straßen" unites Aika Furukawa and Stefan Guggisberg in a painterly exchange across cultures and mediums. Furukawa, with formal oil painting training in Japan, investigates the “fold” – rendering textiles and their everyday beauty, focusing on transitions, time, and the unseen dimension of daily life.

Her large-format works and installational approaches create layers of meaning, blending Eastern calligraphic traditions with Western art history.

Guggisberg approaches painting through photography and light, building up strata of color then revealing forms through an almost geological process. His abstract works disrupt visual habits and animate the unknown, allowing viewers to become part of the visual space as centers of meaning.

Both artists emphasize the role of silence, transformation, and artistic process, reflecting cross-cultural resonance and moments of encounter in their work.

Silent Streets

10 May – 7 June, 2019, Goethe Institute NYC

Skin on Skin

Skin on Skin, detail from flyer

Skin on Skin is an international exhibition and collaboration, connecting artists from Leipzig and New York through etching and printmaking.

Hosted by LIA – Leipzig International Art Programme at the Spinnerei and in partnership with institutions like the New York Academy of Art, it fosters artistic exchange, dialogue, and the blending of traditions. Since 2009, the project has brought together German and American artists to explore the boundaries of etching, emphasizing the technique’s tactile, universal language.

In 2019, the panel discussion Gaze Shift reflected on identity, cultural commonalities and differences, encouraging fresh artistic perspectives and sustained partnership across cultures.

Skin on Skin

March 2019

A Thousand Precious
Thoughts
Miscarriaed.
Jordan Grant

Jordan Grant: A Thousand Precious Thought Miscarriaged, detail

Jordan Grant’s paintings evolve through heuristic, doubt-driven experimentation, layering abstract gestures with indexical signs from the Western canon and visual subcultures.

His dynamic compositions evoke precarious harmonies and contemporary networks, exposing the atemporal and multilayered nature of visual culture through complex relationships and shifting forms.

A Thousand …