Gathering Cologne’s inaugural exhibition 'Indiscreet Jewels', presents the work of the late Sibylle Ruppert, on view from April 4 – May 17, 2025.
March 14, 2025 (Cologne, Germany) – Gathering is thrilled to announce the opening of its new gallery in Cologne on April 4, 2025, marking an exciting expansion alongside its existing locations in London and Ibiza. With this launch, Gathering deepens its commitment to artist-led programming and bold, cutting-edge exhibitions. The inaugural exhibition, Indiscreet Jewels, on view from April 4 – May 17, 2025, will be a solo presentation of the late German artist Sibylle Ruppert (1942–2011). This marks her inaugural solo exhibition in Cologne and the first showing of her work there since 1971, paying tribute to the European underground art scene and reaffirming her lasting influence on contemporary visual culture.
Ruppert’s work spans the 1960s, ’70s, and ’80s, forming a radical body of paintings, drawings, and collages that exist at the intersection of dark surrealism, eroticism, and deeply personal experiences. Her aesthetic is both brutal and intimate, confronting the viewer with imagery that feels at once unsettling and deeply expressive. In her surrealist compositions, the human body is never static—it writhes, strains, collapses, and mutates, seemingly caught in a monstrous transformation from recognizable anatomy into distorted, abstract masses. The exhibition will feature charcoal and pencil drawings, all distinguished by their intricate, highly detailed renderings of surreal and fantastical bodily forms.
Ruppert’s work is deeply influenced by the morbid and transgressive writings of the Marquis de Sade, Lautréamont, and Georges Bataille, channeling their themes of desire, decay, and the grotesque into an uncompromising, visionary visual language.
“Cologne has long been one of Germany’s most vital cultural hubs—a city that shaped contemporary art history through its legendary artists, pioneering galleries and the world’s first art fair,” says Gathering founder Alex Flick. “Our expansion here is about tapping into that legacy and contributing to its next chapter. The energy is here, the history is undeniable and the appetite for something new is palpable. With Café Central and our gallery space, we want to be part of Cologne’s cultural revival, creating a place where art, ideas, and community come together in a way that feels both forward-looking and deeply rooted in the city’s artistic heritage.”
Gathering’s opening will coincide with the highly anticipated reopening of nearby Central, a café, bar, and cultural hub that shaped the local avant-garde and stood at the heart of the city's 1980s intellectual life, which will now also be operated by Gathering.
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NOTES TO EDITORS:
Exhibition Details
Sibylle Ruppert
4 April – 17 May 2025
Roonstraße 108
50674 Cologne
About Gathering:
Founded in 2022 in the heart of Soho, London, Gathering is a contemporary art gallery, presenting a diverse exhibition programme of international emerging voices alongside established artists, including Emanuel de Carvalho, Tamara K.E., Soojin Kang, Ndayé Kouagou, Wynnie Mynerva and Tai Shani. In 2023, Gathering inaugurated GLASSHOUSE, an alternative strand of programming which fosters emergent creative practitioners alongside Gathering’s main exhibitions. In 2024, the gallery expanded to Sant Miquel de Balansat on the island of Ibiza, carrying the cutting-edge programming and artist-led ethos of Gathering to an international stage.
Gathering is a member of the Gallery Climate Coalition and works with The Anti-Slavery Collective and Embode.
Image credits:
Detail of 'Untitled', Sibylle Ruppert,1970. Pencil on paper, 30.5 x 32.5 cm. Courtesy of Blue Velvet and Gathering.