An exterior view of the Ira Stehmann Fine Art Gallery with the current exhibition.

AROUND…

Ira Stehmann Fine Art

23. June 2025

Ira Stehmann has been a member of Open Art Munich since January 2025. Her gallery is located at Prinzregentenstraße 78. The exhibition “Traces of Decay: Fragility and Time” currently awaits us at IRA STEHMANN FINE ART. The exhibition brings together the works of Chantal Elisabeth Ariëns and Christopher Thomas. The two artists’ works invite visitors to explore transience, memory and the dignity of the inconspicuous.

Ira Stehmann herself says: “It is a feast for the eyes, a very emotional exhibition, very physical. The nudes by Chantal Elisabeth Ariëns are fragile and strong at the same time. The still lifes by Christoper Thomas are old masterly. The tonality is delicate and elegant.”

The exhibition can be seen until June 30.6.

Chantal Elisabeth Ariëns: „Fragile Geschichten“

Amsterdam-based artist Chantal Elisabeth Ariëns creates photographs that transport the viewer into a poetic world. Her cinematic image compositions, characterized by intimacy and depth, focus on the fragility and at the same time the self-determination of her subjects.
The use of the photopolymer etching technique gives her works a special feel and uniqueness. The unpredictability of this process allows for random elements that emphasize the fleeting nature of the moment and imperfection as an expression of authenticity. Her works are not traditional portraits, but timeless stories that interweave fragility and poetry.

Christopher Thomas: „Eternity – Ewige Zeugen“

In his series “Eternity”, Munich-based artist Christopher Thomas focuses on the silent existence of plastic flowers that he has photographed in cemeteries around the world. These artificial flowers, originally intended as a substitute for living plants, bear the marks of time – faded colors, dust and oblivion.
Thomas shows these objects in an aesthetic that overcomes their apparent banality and redefines them as symbols of transience and remembrance. They are silent witnesses of love and loss, and their artificial longevity stands in fascinating contrast to the natural transience they mimic.

Chantal Elisabeth Ariëns, Dutch, 1968, NYMPHES #16, 2024, Photopolymer 4 colour Photogravure Print on cotton rag paper 19.7 x 14 cm (image size), 33 x 25 cm (sheet size), Edition of 5 plus 2 APs, Archival Pigment print on cotton rag paper, based on 4 colors photopolymer etching, 41 x 27 cm (image size), 50 x 33 cm (sheet size), Edition of 5 plus 2 APs, 92 x 64 cm (image size)

Our visit

We now visit this wonderful, fine exhibition and want to linger a little longer in the area, in beautiful Bogenhausen.

The best place to go is La Cucina – typically Italian – where, according to Ira Stehmann, we eat the best linguine agli scampi in town. https://www.lacucina-trattoria.com

We walk on, our destination will be Wiener Platz, from where we can take the streetcar home.

Our next stop is Alexa von Harder – a café with the finest patisserie in Ismanninger Straße. https://www.alexavonharder.com

Here we treat ourselves to a coffee and a small tart.

We then continue past Villa Stuck to Maria-Theresia-Straße. We turn left into the street and see beautiful villas in the stately style of the Prince Regent era. We now leave Bogenhausen along this street and walk to Haidhausen, with the villas on the left and the Maximilian complexes on the right, which extend over the slope of the Isar high bank to the Isar.

The street ends at Wiener Platz, we stroll across the market to our streetcar.