Achim Freyer, renowned opera director and artist, is presenting three series of works at Galerie Olymp in 2024. The exhibition shows his new works from the last four years, a wonderful combination of colors and forms that offer an art experience. Freyer's joie de vivre and artistry are reflected in the vibrant images, which represent a return to simplicity and openness.Each work is its own score, but together they form a harmonious narrative quality. As a director/artist, Freyer breaks through temporal and cultural boundaries and touches the audience deeply. His paintings are an expression of his soul and represent the eternal question of life and humanity.

Vernissage: April 6, 2024 / Book presentation: May 12, 2024

The sculptor and painter Stefan Pietryga was born in North Rhine-Westphalia and graduated from the renowned Düsseldorf Art Academy. He was awarded the German art prize "Forum Junger Kunst" at a young age and has been exhibited in museums and art galleries throughout Germany. His works enrich public spaces in various German cities and inspire collectors in Germany, France, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Italy, the USA, Canada and other European and American countries. Stefan Pietryga has also been active in China since 2000, starting with an international sculpture symposium in Hui'an and with successful solo exhibitions in Chinese cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin. He also enjoys great popularity there. The artist chooses different shades of blue as the main theme of his art. These shades of blue range from noble and mystical ultramarine to the radiant blue of the sea surface in the glow of sunlight and the blue of the sky after a rain shower. Blue symbolizes calm and space, peace and serenity - a protected and blessed color. It is reminiscent of the noble elegance and at the same time the tender mercy of the Holy Mother, and resembles the calm, deep ocean, which is powerful at the same time. In the art of medieval Europe, ultramarine was considered the most precious color, mainly ground from natural lapis lazuli. At the time, its origin was limited to Afghanistan, which made it extremely difficult to extract and at times raised its price to five times that of gold. Due to its preciousness, rarity and calm, elegant and mesmerizing color, it was often used in religious paintings for the vestments of the Holy Mother and Jesus, symbolizing holiness, purity and dignity. In the religious art style of the East, the head color of Buddha was also often depicted with ultramarine to emphasize transcendence and wisdom. From the 17th century onwards, the Dutch painter Jan Vermeer brought this royal color down from the altars to everyday life by incorporating it liberally into his paintings depicting the daily lives of ordinary people. Examples of this are his works "The Girl with the Pearl Earring" and "Maid with Milk Jug", in which ultramarine, extracted from lapis lazuli, was used extensively. In Vermeer's paintings, the blue loses its aura of nobility and sanctity and reveals a simple, gentle grace. In his "Poplars" series of sculptures, Stefan Pietryga uses a luminous ultramarine to give the work an elegant and solemn atmosphere. This vibrant blue color enhances the sublimity of the work. The poplars swaying in the wind convey a sense of the soaring beauty of Gothic architecture, as if they connect heaven and earth, the world of the gods and that of men. The rustling of the poplars in the wind also seems close enough to touch. Although Stefan Pietryga became known for his sculptures, his paintings also attract equal attention. In his watercolor works, countless individual figures in various shades of blue gather to form an endless crowd. They have different shapes and stroll through their own spans of time, much like we do in the busy world around us. Yet these tireless world wanderers are by no means mechanically monotonous repetitions, but living individuals. It is precisely these unique souls that unite to form an imposing whole which, although outwardly similar, harbors a wealth of differences and unique beauty. Stefan Pietryga perfectly combines the nobility of blue with simplicity in his artistic creation and presents a yearning tranquillity and fantasy. The flock of sheep in the exhibition comes from the artist's "Discovery" sculpture series. This is connected to the birth of Jesus. When Jesus was born, the sheep were the first witnesses to this little baby alongside his parents. In Stefan Pietryga's works, the flock of sheep symbolizes the discovery of new things; at the same time, in Christian culture, the lamb symbolizes innocence and purity as an image of the Son of God - Jesus Christ. Stefan Pietryga consciously transfers this familiar religious motif into the atmosphere of contemporary art. The sheep seem to be listening quietly in the wide blue space, waiting to discover something new. (Text: Dr. Meng Schmidt-Yin)

Only seemingly inconspicuous, the line is an essential and significant component of the visual arts and plays an important role in all styles and directions. Lines have not only a form, but also character. They sometimes appear striking and powerful, sometimes delicate and filigree, sometimes orderly, sometimes pristine, sometimes thoughtful, sometimes passionate, sometimes strictly straight and sometimes playfully undulating. They weave a hypnotic abstract poetry that limits the imagination by its rigidity or encourages it to unfold freely by its irrepressible flow, turning the images into a visual feast and allowing quiet melodies and rhythms to resound within them like a hidden echo. This exhibition features twenty-four works by four artists who express the poetic essence of lines in a variety of ways, in a variety of styles and media. The works can equally represent a bright, airy soaring as well as a mysterious, serious descent. Sometimes harmonious and flowing, sometimes difficult and enigmatic. Like a distant memory, like the shyness of a young girl, like the excitement of a bird rook, like the stillness of an orchid. Each work delves into the depths of this poetic sphere. Three of the four artists in this exhibition currently live in Germany: Professor Chen Hongjie of Peking University, Jiang Huiquan, a graduate of the Central Academy of Fine Arts and Massachusetts College of Art, and Li Peng, a graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich, Germany. The fourth artist, Francesca Mitterrand, currently lives in France and has exhibited several times in China. Her works are deeply rooted in Eastern aesthetics and Zen enlightenment.

The Galerie Olymp summer group exhibition showcases new works by six artists from China, Japan, and Germany. Titled "Movements" the exhibition explores physical movement, shifts in thinking and spirit, and captures both concrete activity locations and abstract traces of motion. The artworks encompass various mediums such as oil painting, acrylic, ink painting, watercolor pen, and photography, conveying the artists' evolving artistic ideas and their multidimensional perspective. Immerse yourself in this fascinating exhibition where elegance and movement merge in harmonious unity.

Time is frozen in the heights of the Himalayas. The water of millions of years is frozen in the layers of the respective times. The glaciers look into the firmament from the top of a deserted world, peacefully watching the world rise and fall. Until the advent of modern life, the ice masses drizzled imperceptibly away in this hard-to-reach area. With man-made global warming, this natural process is dramatically accelerated. These are the abstract tears of time that few get to see. Chinese photographer and explorer Jin Ping is one of the few artists who have witnessed the passage of time in this way. He has so far climbed Mount Everest ten times, capturing the face of time frozen in the glaciers with his camera. Since last year, Jin ping has been trying to combine photography, sculpture as well as installation in order to offer the viewer a more visually immediate and even more realistic experience. For this purpose, he has produced crystal stones and processed them in such a way that they imitate the structure of melting ice in the Himalayas and make his photographs appear three-dimensional.