Exhibitions celebrate a decade of links with Cologne

May 1 2008 by Philip Key, Liverpool Daily Post

FOR the last ten years, the Eight Days a Week project has been creating artistic exchanges between Liverpool and Cologne, two cities both with vibrant arts communities.

This year, with the tenth anniversary also marking Liverpool’s year as European Capital of Culture, the exchanges have been stepped up with artists from each city visiting the other.

Liverpool-based artist Pete Clarke has been one of the leading lights of the exchange and this month one of his most intriguing collaborations will be getting a public showing in Cologne.

He has been working along- side Cologne artist Georg Gartz for the last decade creating a series of paintings.

The latest is Rheinwarts, developed by the two artists last year in which they revisited iconic places depicted in the paintings of English artist J.M.W.Turner.

Using his sketchbooks, they examined his travels along the Rhine and Mosel, following in Turner’s footsteps.

The result has been some fascinating paintings including Reflection – illustrated here – which somehow celebrate the art of both Turner and themselves.

The exhibition will open in Cologne on Saturday, at the Zundorfer Wehrturm Museum, where it will run for most of the month. The artists are now planning to take a look at Turner’s travels in the North of England for a similar show later.

Also opening in Cologne this month will be an exhibit- ion New Work from Liverpool and a joint exhibition by Liverpool-based artist Margareta Schoning and Tine Wille, from Cologne.