ART TALK, Gallery KOKO at the Bachmair Weissach Spa & Resort on October 10, 2025

"ART MUST TOUCH THE SOUL"

At Lake Tegernsee, art has always been a hotly debated topic.
Now, there is a stage for it:
The Art Talk at Gallery KOKO @ Spa & Resort Bachmair Weissach

Hotelier Korbinian Kohler opened Gallery KOKO in his Spa & Resort Bachmair Weissach in June 2025. Around 190 works by 19 young as well as established artists can be discovered. The first exhibition was created in cooperation with the MAX 33 & Friends initiative founded by art expert Peter J. C. Hansen. It was curated by Bettina Beckert (Head of Office Sotheby’s Munich). Hotel guests can purchase the works in the exhibition immediately. Art lovers who are not staying at the hotel are also warmly welcome at Gallery KOKO @ Spa & Resort Bachmair Weissach.

On October 10, 2025, gallerist Korbinian Kohler celebrated another premiere:
In his Gallery KOKO @ Spa & Resort Bachmair Weissach, he hosted Art Talk #1 – with many more to follow.
In front of 300 guests, including artist Matilde Romagnoli, who created the bronze monument in honor of Franz Beckenbauer at the Allianz Arena, former minister Dr. Beate Merck with attorney Christian Dennler, collector Christiane zu Salm and actor Michael Brandner ("Hubert ohne Staller") with his wife Karin, among many others, the discussion focused on a central theme:

The role of the gallerist – for the artist, for the collector, for society.

As discussion partners, gallerist Korbinian Kohler invited two luminaries who have been deeply familiar with the art world for decades:

Dr. Lisa Zeitz, Editor-in-Chief of WELTKUNST and KUNST UND AUKTIONEN
Prof. Thomas Girst, author and cultural manager

"Art and market belong together," says Dr. Lisa Zeitz in the Art Talk.
"A healthy art market is important. Art history exists because people have bought art over the centuries. I believe that society should appreciate even more what gallerists accomplish. With their dedication, with their belief in the artists they often support for years when they have no audience at all. That is an enormous achievement by gallerists."

"Art does indeed have to do with market and money," adds Prof. Thomas Girst. "I find it appalling when students at academies are encouraged by their professors to create art that is not meant to be sold. These are professors who, as civil servants, receive a high salary. Their students are released into unemployment, because only one out of 100 can demonstrably live from their art – and always thanks to a gallery."

"I am overjoyed that we are doing this," says Korbinian Kohler about Gallery KOKO @ Spa & Resort Bachmair Weissach. "We can support young artists and offer our guests something exceptional. We give them the opportunity to meet interesting, wonderful people. Of the 190 pieces in our first exhibition, we have already sold the majority. Buyers usually took them with them immediately, and we replaced them with new works. When selecting the works, it is crucial to me that they reach the viewer on an emotional level. Art must touch the soul – that is the most important thing to me."

Dr. Lisa Zeitz: "Those who buy art live with it. You see it in the morning while having coffee, you see it when you come home tired from work or when you get a glass of milk from the fridge at night and switch on the light. This life with art can be lived on a trial basis here at the hotel. What does that feel like?"

Korbinian Kohler: "Many of our guests are art-affine. Here they can see the art in the morning in their bathrobes on the way to swim, after dinner, with the family. They can, so to speak, test-drive the artwork and thus gain a completely different access than would be possible in the white cube of a conventional gallery. Lightness plays a very important role in this. The works here start in a four-digit price range. Our guests can treat themselves and say: this is now an icon of our vacation."

Prof. Thomas Girst: "For me, art fairs are like a dating platform for art – swipe and gone! They are not an ideal place to look at art in peace. It is telling that at fairs, where money and monetary transfer are ultimately at stake, both are hardly mentioned. Works are 'placed' and not 'bought'. That is why it is particularly lovely that in this gallery within the hotel one can pause and perhaps arrive at a moment of insight in complete tranquility. Art is the product of a creative process that involves the artist and the viewer. It must come from a human being – only then does it have something to say to other human beings. Only then can a profound engagement take place, something that sociologist Hartmut Rosa describes as 'resonance'."

At Art Talk #1 in Gallery KOKO @ Spa & Resort Bachmair Weissach and in front of listeners such as Katharina Vossenkuhl (Collection Goetz Director), Dorothea Wahl (PIN), Daniela Hauck (Friends of Haus der Kunst), Dr. Günther Engler (Friends of Haus der Kunst), Kim Kluehspies (Business Development Coordinator Christie’s), investor Benedict Rodenstock with wife Irmin, Veronika Rost (Philip Morris), Mirijam and Dr. Martin Mihalovits (Board Kreissparkasse Miesbach-Tegernsee), Amrei Heyne (Artmapp art magazine and app), Stefan Wilke (Zeitverlag) with Patricia Rudigier, artist Karolina Vocke, designer Lola Paltinger, cultural manager Stan Hruz, art expert Michael Hatzl, Sabina Kraupa-Tuskany, Susanne Hermanski (Süddeutsche Zeitung), Beatrice von Thurn und Taxis, Georg Seitz (Actors Talk), Georg Gomolka (Bild München), Katrin Nikolaus (State Parliament Correspondent Bayerisches Landwirtschaftliches Wochenblatt) as well as the artists Vivienne Furtwängler, Feodora Hohenlohe, Suse Kohler, Jan Davidoff, Sebastian Maas, many more exciting topics were discussed:

• Where does the primal drive to create art come from? How important is the “Sense of Urgency” that Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan calls for? The urge that drives the artist.
• What is the state of the German art market compared to the American one? Is the widespread belief true that Americans buy with their hearts, Germans with their minds?
• What is art? The eternal question with countless answers. Actor Michael Brandner (“Hubert ohne Staller”), who collects art, reveals his very personal view at dinner in the Weissach-Stuben after the talk.

Michael Brandner: "A good gallerist helps keep the art market in motion and attractive for everyone. I appreciate that very much. There are people who recognize what touches others. I never buy art because I speculate on an increase in value. If I perceive something as art, I don't care at all whether it has any value for others. Art lies in the eye of the beholder."

About Gallery KOKO @ Spa & Resort Bachmair Weissach

The artists featured in the current exhibition at Gallery KOKO @ Spa & Resort Bachmair Weissach featuring MAX 33 & Friends (until February 2026) include Andreas Zagler, Andrei Hancu, Charlie Koolhaas (daughter of Dutch star architect Rem Koolhaas), Christian Offman, Fabian Pfleger, Florian Noethe, Florian Tenk, Jan Davidoff, Jozua Gerrard, Matilde Romagnoli, Moritz Moll, Natacha Ivanova, Otto Solms, Pascal Koertel, Ruben Benjamin, Sebastian Maas, Sebastian Quast, Vivienne Furtwängler, as well as former Lüpertz student Suse Kohler.
The exhibition was curated by Bettina Beckert (Head of Office Sotheby’s Munich). The works were selected by art expert Peter J. C. Hansen, founder of the art initiative “Max 33 & Friends” and Chairman of the Board of the “Association for the Promotion of Villa Stuck e. V.”.

About the Spa & Resort Bachmair Weissach

The Spa & Resort Bachmair Weissach is a modern resort on Lake Tegernsee that combines timeless elegance with contemporary luxury. Condé Nast Traveller, one of the world’s most renowned travel magazines, awarded the hotel the newly introduced Wellness & Spa Award 2025. In the “Family Hideaway” category, the five-star resort on Lake Tegernsee was named the best hotel in its class – for a unique concept that unites luxury, culture, nature and family excellence at the highest level. With the award-winning MIZU ONSEN Spa, the unique Tegernsee Phantastisch experience world, the resort’s own stream, with a spacious and lush garden, a variety of restaurants and exclusive dependences by the lake and on the Wallberg, the resort offers guests from all over the world a multifaceted experience at the highest international level.

Free press images via link:
Art Talk in Gallery KOKO at HOTEL BACHMAIR WEISSACH in WEISSACH ROTTACH-EGERN on 10.10.2025
Photo credit: Michael Tinnefeld, API for Bachmair Weissach