Berlin Gallery Weekend
My love for the art gallery re-charged
Berlin gallery weekend held this year on the 1st to the 3rd of May was exciting, inspirational and accessible – made more accessible through an arm of Momentum’s Rachel Ritz-Volloch – the red headed sweetheart who connects as much as she profoundly engages. As usual, there is hardly enough time to see all there is on offer, so a curated tour was necessary – and it did not disappoint! Here are my highlights, and as you will read, a lot of familiar faces turned out!
Shows ranged from the eponimously named EPIC collaboration between celebrity photographer Lorenzo Agius and Berlin based artist Izzy Weissgerber in the decommissioned St Elisabeth-Kirche to the politically charged performance, ‘Do Not Poke the Bear’ by Candice Breitz – a show called ‘Hot Potato’ at KOW’s new space with the backdrop of works reminiscent of Jane Eyre schooling style punishments -the artist ‘self flagellating’ in a tongue in cheek way to her ‘cancelling’ after showing pro-Palestine support. The show also included a multi part documentary film – A Song for Esther – with interviews with anti-fascism activist, Auschwitz’s survivor Esther Bejarano – who speaks passionately against the Israeli state behaviour. This was, for me, the most powerful work this gallery weekend.
Next came a couple of studio visits to Momemtum artists Nina Schönefeld and Inna Artemova – both of whom showed in Malta at the show ‘Deep Throat’ at Valletta Contemporary. I had the privilege of having a private screening of a few of Nina’s works on film – a series of futuristic Dystopic works – exploring imagined post-apocalyptic scenarios – beautifully rendered.
At one of my favourite galleries, AOA87, I was showed around by uber-charismatic gallerist Angie – who will show two of my favourite Malta-based artists Madeleine Fenwick and Kane Cali during Berlin Art Week in September. The gallery showed artist Holger Schmidt Huber who has become a staple of the city’s art scene.
Philip Groezinger at 68 Projects, run by Kornfield Gallery, put up a colourful and playful body of work. Playfulness is clearly back in Berlin indicating a clear necessity to escape to innocence and connect with our inner child, perhaps in the rather dreary state we find ourselves in as humans.
Alexander Levy Gallery had on an eclectic group show with more playful works varying from ethereal, in horse hair and dandelion seeds by Christiane Loehr, to mobile sculptures – robotic giant teapots and kinetic water columns which was further testament to this need for colour, naivety and nature.
I met up with artist Andreas Blank at Contemporary Showroom (CSR.art) in the Bikini Building run by Stephanie and Andreas Kramer who run the Art@Berlin platform – and tried convincing them to visit Malta as soon as possible – as usual in my mission to increase the visibility of the thriving scene. The group show ‘REAL?!’ with works by Andreas Blank but also Rene Wirths, MK Kaehne and Nazar Kwazar deals with issues surrounding truth and reality in these increasingly confusing world were we are being held under water drowning in Ai generated imagery and narratives in every medium possible.
The magical works of Sasha Frolova – works in expanded latex which skew the human form into surreal shapes where on show at xxxxx while an old butcher shop turns into a pop-up collective aptly named ‘Fleisch’ (meat) – with powerful works by artists – big and emerging including a work in metal by the same Nina Schönefeld.
The giant commercial galleries like Esther Schipper Gallery and Galerie Max Hetzler this time showed some colossal works – up for grabs were a Jeff Koons Cicciolina sculpture and XXX photo as well as the Tracey Emin video – currently also being shown at the Tate Modern – at her ‘Second Life’ show. A work that resonates with me – showing the middle finger to the men and community which slut shamed Tracey in her youth.
Energy, after parties immersed in the ever present Berlin nightlife culture, the intellectual and stimulating generosity of gallerists, curators and artists is palpable. Definitely a fixture in my calendar. Berlin shows that artists can still be free, the market will recover, and the thirst for art will never go away.
