The Blind Gallerist

- Blurb -

The autobiography of Johann K nig, an influential art gallerist who lost his vision at the age of twelve. Andy Warhol, Isa Genzken, On Kawara, Rosemarie Trockel-from childhood, Johann K nig has been surrounded by great artists and their art. At the age of twenty, K nig founded a gallery, despite the fact that he could hardly see anything. What does it mean not to be able to see and to become a gallery owner? How does one access art when one can' t rely on one' s eyes? What is seeing at all when the world around you blurs? As a child, Johann K nig was given Indian cassettes by Gerhard Richter. Growing up Johann' s father Kasper took him to the St delschule (where Kaspar K nig was professor and later rector) and to Jeff Koons' s studio in New York. At the age of twelve, a tragic accident threw him completely off course. In the midst of this crisis, and at his lowest point, K nig realized that art would be his salvation. Today in Berlin, from a concrete church built in the 1960s, he runs one of Germany' s most spectacular galleries. The Blind Gallerist has received rave reviews and was been mentioned all across German media upon its German release. "The book not only tells the moving story of an accident, it also reflects our visual society-and reveals a lot about the mechanisms of the art world"-Die Zeit"Entertaining and disarmingly honest"-Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung"While reading this memoir you ask yourself again and again, how was this all possible, if your eyesight is so limited. . . . this is a manifesto of someone who tells us what it is like to see and experience the world as a seeing person as well as a blind person. Always knowing that one will return to darkness eventually. "-Die Welt"When K nig was twelve years old, he lost his eyesight due to an accident. After numerous operations, he attended a school for the blind, before he eventually established himself in the art world. How all of this is possible when you can hardly see anything, and what it was like when, after an operation, he was suddenly able to see things again and couldn' t get enough of the world-that makes for an incredibly moving and touching read, even for those who aren' t particularly interested in art. "-Zeit Magazin