In this episode of Voices On Art, I speak with Walter Gehlen, co-founder and director of Art Düsseldorf, about a career that took many different turns before leading him to the art fair business. His early ambition was to become an artist, sparked in part by seeing Gerhard Richter at Kunsthalle Düsseldorf when he was 16. After being rejected by the Düsseldorf Academy, Walter studied art history, theatre and film, later economics, worked in psychiatric and infectious disease wards during his civil service, learned professional cooking and ran a catering business, before moving into business consulting and management. Rather than seeing these experiences as disconnected, we talk about what each of them taught him: dealing with people, understanding systems and marketplaces, reacting to difficult situations, improvising, and finding solutions when there is no obvious blueprint. Eventually, these different skills came together in the art fair business. Walter talks about his first fair projects with Andreas Lohaus, the move from Cologne to Düsseldorf and the development of Art Düsseldorf into an international platform. We discuss what actually makes an art fair work: selecting galleries, bringing the right collectors into the room, creating spaces that encourage encounters, and constantlyadjusting the model. We also talk about data, AI and the use of new technology behind the scenes — not as an end in itself, but as a way of taking care of repetitive work and making complex processes more efficient. And we come back to something quite simple: however sophisticated technology becomes, art still needs people in a room together. An art fair is not only a marketplace, but a place for encounters, conversations and relationships that develop over time. Digital tools can make things easier and more efficient, but they cannot replace the physical experience of art — or the human connections aroundit. A conversation about learning by doing, DIY thinking, curiosity, failure, entrepreneurship — and why a career doesn’t necessarily need a straight line. Language: english, c. 1:15 h Portrait photo by Achim Hehn Book Pick: My book pick for this Episode is Verschwende DeineJugend / Waste Your Youth by Jürgen Teipel. In Germanyoriginally published in 2001 by Suhrkamp Verlag. There is an English translation available through Suhrkamp, but the book hasn't been published yet. I think it's one of the most important books about the special culture of punk and new wave in Germany. As always you can listen to it at the end of the talk. This book gives deep insights into the development of punk in Germany, particularly in Dusseldorf, Hamburg, and Berlin, from the late 70s to the early 80s. Built entirely from original voices, the book captures these times in Germany, when places like Düsseldorf became laboratories for music, art, fashion, and ideas. Musicians, artists, writers, and outsiders all shared the same DIY attitude. If what you want doesn't exist, make it yourself. A strong reminder how powerful youth culture, any culture, can be. Not because it follows trends, because it invents them. If you're interested in how independence, fearlessness, and fun lead to creating contemporary art and independent culture, this is one of the essential books. Links:https://art-dus.dehttps://van-horn.net/podcast/https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6nU3l-pJLSkiPlpfD9BiOA
