Curated with
Intention.
W/ Soul is a Munich-based curatorial and editorial platform. We present the work and the artist together — with the depth that each deserves.
Eight represented artists. Nine editorial issues. One legacy archive. A programme built slowly, deliberately, and with full conviction in what it represents.
W/ Soul was founded on a single conviction: that presenting an artist well is an act of curatorial responsibility. The work alone is not enough. Context, depth and continuity are what turn an exhibition into a cultural record.
We build programmes around artists, not around market cycles. Each represented name carries a body of work, an editorial presence in the magazine, and a long-term relationship with the gallery — not a seasonal slot.
Based in Munich and operating internationally, W/ Soul is present wherever the work demands presence: art fairs, institutional exhibitions, private viewings and the editorial archive.
"We don't represent works.
We represent artists."
Leite.
Marcelo Leite's relationship with art began long before the gallery. As a child in Brazil, he came into contact with the world of the artist through Aristeo J. Piovesan, whose atelier his father frequented. That proximity — to the artist, the studio and the life surrounding the work — became his first understanding that art is not only something to be seen, but something encountered.
Years later, his relationship with Jerci Maccari revealed another side of that encounter: the work of the gallerist. Through presenting an artist, building context around the work and creating the conditions for it to meet an audience, Marcelo discovered the role that would ultimately lead him to found W/ Soul Art Gallery in Munich in 2024.
The gallery grew from that experience. Its purpose is not simply to place works on walls, but to make artists visible with the depth their practices deserve — creating encounters between the people who make art and the people who are changed by it. The name W/ Soul carries that idea literally: a gallery built around the meeting of souls, with the artist always at its centre.
Alongside his curatorial work, Marcelo maintains a personal artistic practice under the name De Morais.
Essen.
Ellen Essen holds an M.A. in Art History, with a focus on South German Baroque, and brings to W/ Soul a perspective shaped by both art-historical research and her own sustained practice as a painter.
As Curator of W/ Soul Art Gallery, she is part of the gallery's artist admissions committee and contributes to the curatorial selection of works and exhibitions. Her role extends from evaluating artistic practices and developing exhibition contexts to helping shape how the gallery's programme is presented publicly.
Ellen also leads the curatorial research and preparation of material for W/ Soul's applications to major exhibitions and art events. This reflects a deliberate direction for the gallery: while commercial art fairs remain important for both the gallery and its artists, W/ Soul increasingly seeks participation in curatorially driven exhibitions and programmes where the work can enter a broader cultural and critical dialogue.
W/ Soul operates as a curatorial platform — present where the work demands presence. Art fairs, institutional exhibitions, private viewings, editorial publications and long-term archive projects.
The programme grows slowly and deliberately. We accept artists based on the quality and weight of their practice. Each addition to the roster is a curatorial statement — not a commercial decision.
W/ Soul.