A Visit to Thomas Leimer and publicartists.online
There are places within the art world that do not claim to be a final destination, and it is precisely in this that they unfold their value. Not every artistic path begins with an established gallery, and not every work finds its first resonance within a white cube steeped in art-historical pedigree. Sometimes visibility begins where people encounter art in passing – in the midst of the city, between everyday life, chance, and curiosity.
One such place is CITYgalleryVIENNA by publicartists.online, run by Thomas Leimer, located in Vienna’s 1st district, Mahlerstraße 11.
From the very beginning, my visit was marked by an atmosphere one does not encounter all too often in the art world: open, uncomplicated, and profoundly human. One does not enter a space that creates distance, but rather a place that first and foremost extends a welcome. A glass of prosecco, a quiet moment to look at the works, a conversation free of threshold anxiety – all of this creates a remarkably familiar and inviting atmosphere.
For artists seeking to build visibility, this holds a very particular quality. The focus here is not primarily on exclusivity, but on presence. Art becomes visible, immediate, and part of the urban flow of the city.
Its location in the very heart of Vienna naturally plays an essential role in this. Passers-by, international visitors, tourists, as well as genuinely art-interested people – the audience is heterogeneous, and therein lies its own dynamic. The reasons why people acquire art can be very different. Some follow a spontaneous aesthetic impulse, others a concrete collector’s interest, and others simply the feeling that a work has found a place in their life.
One may smile when someone says that a certain colour would fit perfectly with the sofa. And yet this too belongs to the reality of art in public space. Art does not live solely in discourse; it also lives in its relationship with the everyday world of people.
For precisely this reason, I consider it extraordinarily important that such low-threshold opportunities exist – both for artists and for those interested in art. Not everyone naturally steps into a major gallery or museum. A space like this removes inhibitions, opens doors, and creates that first encounter from which more can grow.
For me, this is where one of the central qualities of the concept lies: it brings art closer to people. Perhaps a passing glance becomes an initial interest. From interest, curiosity may arise; from curiosity, the first conscious decision in favour of a work. And not infrequently, this is exactly where the path begins that turns a viewer into an art buyer and perhaps, one day, even into an art collector.
With publicartists.online, Thomas Leimer has created a space that consciously navigates this threshold between professional visibility and immediate accessibility. For many artists, this can become a first stage – an opportunity to present works in real space beyond the confines of the studio and beyond digital platforms.
What makes the concept particularly appealing is the fact that the exhibited works change every Sunday. This constant movement keeps the place alive and invites one to return from time to time. A visit is never final, never complete. What hangs today may tomorrow already have made way for an entirely different artistic cosmos.
And herein lies a wonderful idea: art is not presented as something static, but as something living, mutable, and continually open to rediscovery.
If you happen to be nearby, I can only recommend stepping in. It is precisely the diversity of the works on display that makes the visit so engaging. The most varied artistic signatures, formats, and modes of expression meet here – and sometimes exactly what art can do at its best takes place: one stops in front of an image and suddenly feels that this is precisely the work one would most like to take home and entrust to one’s own living room.
Not every space must become the final home for every artistic position. Yet as a place of encounter, visibility, and exchange, publicartists.online is without doubt a beautiful and important way of bringing art into the public sphere.Begegnung, der Sichtbarkeit und des Austauschs ist publicartists.online zweifellos eine schöne und wichtige Möglichkeit, Kunst in die Öffentlichkeit zu tragen.