The exhibition features approximately 20 selected works from Ulrike Crespo’s “Miami” series (2012) in the atrium of the Crespo Open Space.
Miami is “photogenic”: Against a tropical backdrop, iconic motifs of the Art Deco and Streamline Modern architectural styles—as decorative as they are cool—line the famous Ocean Drive.

Even nature photographer Ulrike Crespo could not resist this allure. When she traveled to Miami in the winter of 2007, she reveled in the light that makes all colors glow. In 2012, she compiled this photo series into a slim volume with a pink cover and the title “Miami” in Art Deco style.

A companion volume with a gray cover, published in 2011, presents Miami in the black-and-white tradition of classical architectural photography and draws attention to the architecture shaped by Bauhaus modernism. The two small volumes depict the same city but from two photographic perspectives—and thus complement each other to form a keenly observed reflection on the possibilities of photography. Here, the focus is on the color volume: it celebrates light, color, and the city’s unique radiance.

June 15 – July 17, 2026, Crespo Open Space

Artistic Perspectives on challenges and empowerment

The anniversary exhibition celebrating the educational scholarship looks back on 20 successful years of SABA’s history. The presentation focuses on the scholarship recipients and supporters, showcasing their artwork, experiences, and personal perspectives on learning, living, and working with SABA in Germany. Through video works, photographs, paintings, prints, and texts, the exhibition explores not only success stories and empowerment but also the obstacles and structural challenges they have faced. The exhibition shows how people with migration backgrounds are making a fresh start in Germany—who believes in them and what they can achieve as a result. Visitors are invited to actively immerse themselves in the scholarship recipients’ experiences through creative formats. The accompanying program offers opportunities for deeper exploration of the themes and networking.

The SABA Educational Scholarship is a programme of the Crespo Foundation in cooperation with beramí berufliche Integration e.V. It supports people with migration and refugee backgrounds by providing empowering environments and financial resources to help them earn a high school diploma, enabling them to develop career prospects and look forward to a self-determined future.

August 27 – September 20, 2026, Crespo Open Space

In collaboration with C/O Berlin, the Crespo Foundation has launched the “After Nature . Ulrike Crespo Photography Prize.” Since 2024, the prize has been awarded annually to two international artists who use photography and image-based media to respond to the changing ecology of the present and explore new concepts of nature and art.

With Lisa Barnard and Isadora Romero, the Crespo Foundation presents two international artists and winners of the “After Nature . Ulrike Crespo Photography Prize 25” in Frankfurt. Lisa Barnard’s exhibition “You Only Look Once” and Isadora Romero’s “Notes on How to Build a Forest” bring together two research-based artistic practices that examine how environments are perceived, shaped, and negotiated—at the intersection of ecological, technological, and social con-texts.

March 13 – May 31, 2026, Crespo House

The show is the first to present around 120 works from Ulrike Crespo’s private collection, which encompasses painting, photography, works on paper, sculptures and even a video installation. It highlights the qualities of specific groups of works as well as the strengths of individual pieces. The selection testifies to Ulrike Crespo’s distinctive, free-thinking perspective as a photographer and psychologist, her dedication to female artists and emerging talent, and her penchant for depictions of the female body. Curated by Dr Mario Kramer. The exhibition also featured works from Ulrike Crespo’s photographic series ‘Ephemere’.

October 24, 2025 – January 18, 2026, Crespo Open Space

About the exhibition.

Together with C/O Berlin, the Crespo Foundation has launched the ‘After Nature . Ulrike Crespo Photography Prize’. Since 2024, the prize has been awarded annually to two international artists who use photography and imagebased media to respond to the changing ecology of the present and explore new concepts of nature and art. With Laura Huertas Millán (*1983, Colombia) and Sarker Protick (*1986, Bangladesh), the Crespo Foundation is presenting the 2024 prizewinners, whose artistic works look at a nature whose condition is inextricably interwoven with the social and political manifestations of our lifestyles. The exhibition also featured works from Ulrike Crespo’s photographic series ‘Cold Landscape’.

February 28 – May 25,  2025, Crespo Open Space

About the exhibition.

On the office floors of the Crespo House, which opened in October 2024, a first selection from the art collection of Ulrike Crespo (1950–2019) – comprising more than 800 works – is on view.

In Ulrike Crespo’s collection, the acquisition of each individual work was a deeply personal endeavor. The collector was herself a passionate photographer, but her profession as a psychotherapist also allowed Ulrike Crespo to pursue her own unique perspectives. She may have inherited her collector’s instinct from her grandfather Karl Ströher, a well-known entrepreneur and art collector, but she forged her own independent path.

Ulrike Crespo’s particular commitment to female artists and her preference for depictions of the female figure, as well as for intimate small-scale works, are evident. The collection is, however, also very diverse, a fact reflected in its presentation in the work and meeting rooms of the Crespo House. This presentation highlights the qualities of individual groups of works as well as the strengths of individual pieces. The variety of media ranges from photography to works on paper, painting, and sculptural works.

In my view, such an inaugural exhibition should highlight the diversity of interests and the unique perspective of the collector and artist Ulrike Crespo. After all, she placed particular emphasis on promoting young and lesser-known artists. This also offers a great deal of creative freedom and a joy of discovery that will be shared with the staff and guests of the Crespo Haus.

This initial selection includes, among others, works by Thomas Bayrle, Herbert Brandl, Ralph Fleck, Franz Graf, Joan Hernández Pijuan, Iryna Kalenyk, Thomas Kilpper, Sun-Rae Kim, Imi Knoebel, Sigrid Kopfermann, Marie-Joe Lafontaine, Rosa Loy, David Nash, Anke Röhrscheid, Herman de Vries, and Amelie von Wulffen.

Mario Kramer

Glenkeen Garden is a landscape park on Roaringwater Bay in West Cork, Ireland, designed by Ulrike Crespo. Since 2021, it has been the site of an artist in residence programme, the results of which were shown for the first time in the exhibition ‘The Glenkeen Variations: ArtNature/NatureArt’.

‘The Glenkeen Variations: ArtNature/NatureArt’ marked a premiere in two respects: it was the first exhibition of the first phase of the Glenkeen Garden Residencies and the first exhibition in the new Crespo Open Space. The exhibition also embodies the condensation of a network of relationships: of Ulrike Crespo’s centres of life in Ireland and Frankfurt, of her work as a photographic artist and garden designer and of her attention and support for artists.

The exhibition also featured works from Ulrike Crespo’s photographic series ‘Under Water’s Skin’ and ‘Ephemere’.

12 October 2024 to 26 January 2025, Crespo Open Space

About the exhibition.

Three extraordinary women from Frankfurt, three centuries, one passion: The artists Maria Sybilla Merian (1647–1717), Elisabeth Schultz (1817–1898), and Ulrike Crespo (1950–2019) are known for their observation of the plant world (flora) and its artistic documentation. The analysis of flora is an important field of biodiversity research. At the same time, depictions of plants in art are a captivating subject. In Frankfurt, these three artists achieved mastery in the artistic and scientific exploration and visualization of flora. The exhibition presents their works in a completely new context and sheds light on the relationship between science and art. The project is sponsored by the Crespo Foundation. Dr. Brigitte Franzen, Director of the Senckenberg Natural History Museum in Frankfurt; Rosemarie Heilig, City Councilor and Head of the Department of Environment and Women’s Affairs; Prof. Christiane Riedel, Board Member of the Crespo Foundation in Frankfurt am Main; and curator Dr. Ellen Wagner will open the evening. Beverages and snacks will be available at the bar. 

September 8 – December 3, 2023, Senckenberg Natural History Museum, Frankfurt

Link zum Buch

 

The Photo Books of Ulrike Crespo
Exhibition at CRESPO STUDIO, FRANKFURT
October 19 – November 12, 2022

Crespo Studio, Berliner Straße 27, 60311 Frankfurt
Opening Reception: October 18, 2022, 7:00 p.m.

www.crespo-foundation.de/naturschoenes

Exhibition at MMK ZOLLAMT, FRANKFURT
March 20 – March 28, 2021

Uwe Opper Gallery, Streitkirche, Tanzhausstrasse 1, 61476 Kronberg im Taunus
April 27 – May 13, 2018

Düsseldorf Photo Weekend 2018 and
DUESSELDORF PHOTO 2018
Franz Swetec Gallery, Kasernenstrasse 13, 40213 Düsseldorf
Invitation (PDF)
February 16 – March 31, 2018

 

Galerie be art, Ladenburger Strasse 31, 69120 Heidelberg
www.galeriebeart.de
Invitation (PDF)
November 18,  2017 – January 12, 2018

Blue House Gallery, Schull, Irland
June 16 – July 5, 2017

Galerie Hübner + Hübner, Grüneburgweg 71, 60323 Frankfurt
January 27 – February 12, 2017

Blue House Gallery, Schull, West Cork, Irland – 26.08. – 07.09.2016, Group exhibition with other artists from West Cork, Irland

Kerstner Gallery, Kronberg – Solo Exhibition

Blue House Gallery, Schull, West Cork, Ireland  – group exhibition “Maritime”

Galerie im Ersten, Vienna – Ulrike Crespo & Gerald Zugmann

“Landscape in my Mind”, Kunstforum Wien – Landschaftsfotografie heute. Von Hamish Fulton bis Andreas Gursky

BRAUBACHfive Gallery, Frankfurt am Main – Solo Exhibition

Blue House Gallery, Schull, West Cork, Ireland – Group exhibition with Sheena Jolley and Nuala Mahon

Blue House Gallery, Schull, West Cork, Irland – Group exhibition with other Irish artists from West Cork, Irland

Renate Bender Gallery, Munich – Solo Exhibition

BRAUBACHfive Gallery, Frankfurt am Main – Solo Exhibition