Gallery Mantél

A new space of art has popped up in Cologne.
Radically small, mobile, strikingly intensive, sensual, simple and ephemeral.
Existing just for the length of your visit.
That´s what Gallery Mantél (Gallery Coat) is about.

On October 23, 2017, as part of the AIC art weekend, Galerie Mantél travels with visitors by bus to targeted art spaces in Cologne. On the journey, Galerie Mantél takes a seat next to individual passengers and invites them to visit. Galerie Mantél shows an installation by katharinajej, where a person can spontaneously meet the artist in a very space in the dark.

We are inside, at Galerie Mantél.
Our arms are pressed against each other.
She is looking straight to the front.
I’m looking at her.
Her eyes are closed.
She tells me she has a hangover.
Somebody slips us some chocolate. I’m having a piece.
She does not want any. Why not?
She confides to me the gastro-intestinal issues she’s been having as a result of street food during his last holidays.
I tell her about the worms of my past.
A moment of silence.
Where are we at?
Light is shimmering through the fabric of the coat.
She looks different from up close. Her face is softer.
I can tell the smell coming from her mouth, she can tell mine.
I ask her what I smell of.


Pictures by Rosanna d´Ortona