The Düsseldorf-based gallerist Hans Mayer has been awarded the Art Cologne Prize by the German Association of Galleries and Art Dealers (BVDG) and Koelnmesse. The prize is awarded annually for outstanding achievement in the arts.
Mayer opened his first gallery in 1965, aged 25, with a Josef Albers exhibition. Throughout his career, he represented and promoted a host of seminal artists such as Zero Group members Heinz Mack and Günter Uecker, and the likes of Jesús Rafael Soto and Victor Vasarely, in partnership with the Parisian dealer Denise Rene.
After moving his space to Düsseldorf in the 1970s, Mayer became one of the most significant dealers of American contemporary art outside of the U.S. He exhibited American minimalists such as Donald Judd and Agnes Martin, as well as pop art stalwarts including Roy Lichtenstein, Ellsworth Kelly, Tom Wesselmann and Robert Rauschenberg. Later he worked with Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and Robert Longo.
Mayer also supported pioneers in new media and performance such as Nam June Paik, Jürgen Klauke and Tony Oursler, as well as the significant photographers Helmut Newton and Peter Lindbergh. He also presented Dennis Hopper’s first solo show in Germany.
As a founding member of Kunstmarkt Köln, the predecessor of Art Cologne, he made a lasting contribution to the development of the financial viability of the art market in Germany. Despite the numerous opportunities abroad, Mayer has stayed loyal to his roots in the Rhineland for his entire career.