As Cologne’s art scene prepares to welcome spring, Zander Galerie has announced an exciting new exhibition. One of the most important names in contemporary woodcut printing, Christiane Baumgartner, invites us to the boundaries of time and light with her solo exhibition “The Long Goodbye,” opening on 28 March.
Baumgartner’s monumental seascapes and sunsets collide the speed of the digital age with the slowness of traditional craftsmanship, taking the viewer on a meditative journey.
From Pixels to Wood: Slowing Down Time
Baumgartner’s working method is one of the most meticulous processes in contemporary art. The artist starts with video frames and digital photographs she has taken herself, but then painstakingly engraves these fleeting moments onto wooden blocks over the course of weeks.
Line Grid: From a distance, you see an endless sea horizon or a mesmerising sunset. But as you move closer, these images dissolve into Baumgartner’s signature grid of perfectly vertical lines.
Perception of Time: A fraction of a second of captured light is transformed in the artist’s hands into a monumental print through laboratory-like precision. This is Baumgartner’s way of slowing down the flow of time.
“Sunken Treasure” and Political Unease
At the centre of the exhibition, the “The Long Goodbye” series treats the horizon line and sunset not merely as symbols of romantic longing, but also as spaces of quiet unease and political uncertainty.
In the standout works titled Sunken Treasure, light emerges as purple and green glimmers filtering from beneath the water. Using techniques such as ink pressure, layering, and selective abrasion on the reverse side of the paper, Baumgartner turns each print into a unique monotype. The result is a living light experience that barely resembles the original photograph it came from.
The Long Goodbye illuminates the fragile space between control and uncertainty, digital speed and manual labour. If you’re in Cologne, make a note in your calendar for late March to look at the horizon through Baumgartner’s lines.
Exhibition Information
Artist: Christiane Baumgartner
Title: The Long Goodbye
Venue: Zander Galerie, Cologne
Dates: 28 March 2026 onwards
