Ketuta Alexi-Meskhishvili- Self-portrait in a Convex Mirror, 2020. Courtesy of Efremidis.
As social distancing rules are relaxed in Berlin, the city’s art galleries and museums are coming out of a months-long slumber. While most of these institutions have extended their current exhibitions to give visitors the opportunity to see shows that were shuttered prematurely, some have managed to put together new projects while in lockdown. KOW, for instance, have dusted off works from storage to create Out of the Dark II, which celebrates a few “old flames” as well as fresh productions made in the past few weeks. Elsewhere, artworks that were on display before the crisis hit Europe have taken on new meaning in our post-corona landscape, as is the case at ChertLüdde where lung-like sculptures originally shown in 1969 appear oddly prophetic in our current moment. Unsure where to begin? No problem, we’ve collected together a list of ten exhibitions to get you started. Just don’t forget to take a mask!
Kara Walker at Sprüth Magers
Kara Walker. National Archives microfilm M999 Roll 34: Bureau of Refugees, freedmen and abandoned lands: Six Miles from Springfield on the Franklin Road, 2009. Courtesy of Sprueth Magers.
Kara Walker’s installation at the Tate Turbine Hall might have been forced to close early due to the Covid-19 outbreak, but Berlin-based residents still have a chance to see the American artist’s work in this recently opened exhibition at Sprüth Magers. Featuring a large-scale mural and an animated film, both of which tell the stories of enslaved African Americans, the show continues Walker’s decades-long interest in the Antebellum Period of American history.
Through to 30 June 2020. Visit their website to book an appointment.
Hassan Sharif at KW Institute of Contemporary Art
Hassan Sharif, Jumping, 1983. Courtesy of KW Institute of Contemporary Art.
One of the most influential artists working in the Middle East in the 20th century, Hassan Sharif is known “as the godfather of conceptual art in the Gulf”. This exhibition, which is the artist’s first major retrospective in Europe, features 150 works, including several large-scale installations and assemblages as well some of Sharif’s early political cartoons.
Open from 30 May through to 19 July 2020.
Lee Mingwei at Gropius Bau
Lee Mingwei, Our Peaceable Kingdom, 2020. Photo: Laura Fiorio. Courtesy of Gropius Bau.
One of the first museum exhibitions to reopen after social distancing measures were relaxed in Berlin, Lee Mingwei: 禮 Li, Gifts and Rituals had to be extensively reworked for the post-Covid-19 era, not least because many of the artist’s performances involve one-on-one interactions with the general public. Centring on the acts of giving and receiving, at various times in the day performers can be found singing to visitors or repairing their damaged items of clothing.
Through to 12 July 2020. Tickets are available contact-free online.
Reverie at Efremidis
Juliette Blightman, Revelry and Reverie, 2020. Courtesy of Efremidis.
Featuring thirteen artists, including Mathis Altmann, Puppies Puppies and Monster Chetwynd, the works in this group show are “bound up in bodily sensations, colour and pop music,” according to exhibiting artist Juliette Blightman. The exhibition also marks a new era for the gallery, as it’s the first organised by new program director Tenzing Barshee. The independent curator and writer started working with the gallery earlier this year.
Through to 3 July 2020.
Niclas Riepshoff at stadium
Niclas Riepshoff installation view. Courtesy of stadium.
There’s no better place to see emerging Berlin-based artists than at stadium, a tiny project-space located on Potsdamer Straße. Right now they’re showing an installation by Niclas Riepshoff based on the artist’s research into the former uses of the exhibition room. Back in the early ‘80s it was the home of the weekly West Berlin listings paper called Die Zweite Hand, which acted as a proto-Craigslist for the city’s residents.
Open May 24 2020 and by appointment.
Franco Mazzucchelli at ChertLüdde
Franco Mazzucchelli, Abbandono (Santa Margherita Ligure), 1971. Courtesy of ChertLüdde.
In the time of coronavirus, Franco Mazzucchelli’s pneumatic sculptures take on a whole new meaning. Inflating and deflating like lungs, it’s impossible not to think of ventilators as you circle these buoyant objects. In nearby rooms, archival videos and photographs depict historical works by the Italian artist including his 1969 exhibition at Galleria Canale in Venice, which this poignant show is based on.
Through to 30 May 2020.
Anna Witt at Galerie Tanja Wagner
Anna Witt, Unboxing the Future, 2020. Courtesy of Galerie Tanja Wagner.
For Unboxing the Future, Anna Witt has created a new three-channel video that looks at labour in the age of automation. Shot in the Japanese city of Toyota, the film features dialogue between the artist and assembly line workers, engineers and developers. Employed in one of the Toyota car company’s manufacturing facilities, where over 50 percent of the “workers” are robots, these men mediate on the future of their jobs. Art lovers still sheltering can also watch the videos in full on the gallery’s website.
Out of the Dark II at KOW
Frédéric Moser & Philippe Schwinger, Un fond de vérité, 1998. Courtesy the artists and KOW.
“Works of art that no one sees are tragic creatures,” begins the press release for Out of the Dark II, which is made up of a mix of “old flames” and new productions. Featuring artists such as Candice Breitz, Santiago Sierra and Barbara Hammer, the exhibition promises to be a return to form for this social-oriented gallery.
24 May through to 15 July 2020.
Richard Mosse at Carlier | Gebauer
Richard Mosse, Katydid with Nepenthes. Courtesy of Carlier | Gebauer.
Best known for his photography in conflict zones, at Carlier | Gebauer Richard Mosse has turned his infrared light onto the rainforest for his latest exhibition. The result is a set of highly detailed images of plant and insect life captured in rich pinks and purples. For Mosse, this series also has a political dimension. “We have the technological means to protect this extraordinary natural beauty,” he has said of the rainforest ecosystem. “[It] is essential for our survival.”
Through to 30 May 2020.
Thomas Schütte at Konrad Fischer Galerie
Thomas Schütte, Frauenkopf, 2019. Courtesy of Konrad Fischer Galerie.
This expansive exhibition at Konrad Fischer Galerie offers a museum quality overview of one of Germany’s best-known living artists, from his “depression” drawings to his glazed ceramic heads. Outside, visitors are also treated to two enormous bronzes depicting a pair of men ankle deep in mud. By using traditional materials in non-traditional ways, Schütte adds some much-needed humour to this centuries-old technique.
Through to 30 September 2020.