In Berlin Spring season is art season. While sunshine and blue skies may not always be a certainty this time of the year (or really any time), you’ll always have Gallery Weekend. You might not get your daily dose of vitamin D but you certainly can get inspired and refreshed by some invigorating art intake. Like every year around 50 galleries throughout the city open its doors and invite the public to discover new works from established artists and promising works from emerging artists.
To keep a cool head in the abundance of things to see, SLEEK selected some gems around the upcoming weekend. From parabolic mirror photography to Toni Morrison inspired art pieces and cartoonish mythical creatures, Spring in Berlin is looking bright, regardless of the weather.
Artwork by Hito Steyerl.
Esther Schipper – Hito Steyerl, Contemporary Cave Art
Esther Schipper presents a side-specific iteration of Hito Steyerl‘s video installation “Animal Spirits” consisting of a film and a live computer-generated animation as well as spatial installation elements. In “Comtemporary Cave Art” the artist is transforming the exhibition into a cave-like space. Spherical glass containers with LED growth lamps shining on plants and soil highlight the relationship between technology and biology. In return, the glass containers’ sensors are collecting and re-processing the collected data.
The exhibition touches on topics of post-pandemic conditions of cultural production, the boom of cryptocurrencies and NFT art, as well as the possibilities for systems of decentralisation and autonomy, inspired by biological systems behind fermentation.
Opening Apr 28, 2023 | Tue– Sa 11-18 | Potsdamer Str. 81E, 10785 Berlin
Artwork by Marlene Rothaus.
ChertLüdde – Marleen Rothaus, Chapel of Care and Rage
For Chert Lüdde‘s Bungalow, which has been specifically dedicated to emerging artists, the artist, activist and social worker Marleen Rothaus explores the role of matriarchal values around community and care. She created a protective and organising space for women’s knowledge which is preserved in the depths of social life despite ongoings attempts of annihilation.
Her research-based process shows how resilient verbal history can be, such as the theories of Jineoloji, the science of the women-led Kurdish freedom movement or the myth of Şahmaran. Through her translation into clear and colorful compositions and their energetic and powerful presence, the artist interrupts historical storytelling and offers a room for potential communal healing.
Feb 4 – May 27, 2023 | Tue-Sa 12-18 | Hauptstr. 18, 10827 Berlin
Artwork by Hiwa K.
KOW – Hiwa K, LIKE A GOOD, GOOD, GOOD BOY
The Kurdish-Iraqi artist Hiwa K presents a new video installation in which he returns to his native Sulaymaniyah at Kow. The three-part work depicts a journey back to three places from his childhood and youth: His family’s modest home, now a ruin, his old school and the notorious Amna Suraka prison, where, between 1979 and 1991, Saddam Hussein’s henchmen tortured, raped, and murdered countless men, women, and children.
The videos are interconnected through different perspectives following a rope intertwining the stories and histories of the sites and question not only the Saddam Hussein’s oppressive regime but also the complicated period and systematic repression after his fall.
Apr 28 – Jul 1, 2023 | Tue–Sat 12–18 | Lindenstr. 35, 10969 Berlin
Artwork by Cy Twombly.
Bastian Gallery – Cy Twombly, Forms and Shades
A ride to Dahlem might be worth the extra distance this Gallery Weekend when it’s the opening of a new Cy Twombly exhibition at Bastian Gallery. “Forms and Shades” was conceived in close collaboration with the Cy Twombly Foundation and show the artist as photographer. Cy Twombly’s photographic oeuvre began already when he was a student at Black Mountain College and ranges from landscapes and seascapes, studio scenes to still life, flowers and blossoms.
The artist enlarged his pictures of blurriness, taken with an instant camera, and printed them in an extraordinary dry print process on matte paper. Its essence is revealed in light and shadow.
Apr 29 – Jun 17, 2023 | We-Sa 11-17 | Taylorstr. 1, 14195 Berlin
Artwork by Cao Fei.
Sprüth Magers – Cao Fei, Duotopia
Sprüth Magers presents for this Gallery Weekend “Duotopia”, a major exhibition by Cao Fei, which premieres several new works outside of China that delve on the topics of metaverse, virtual reality and the interactions between human and machine consciousness. Fei continues her exploration of the porous limits between the physical and virtual worlds.
A throwback to her first virtual-reality construction, interviews, an installation of pandemic memorabilia photographs and props as well as a variety of video installations will transform all of the gallery’s spaces into the quest of what it means to be human in the twenty-first century.
Apr 28 – Aug 19, 2023 | Tue-Sa 11-18 | Oranienburger Str. 18, 10178 Berlin
Artwork by Federico Solmi.
Guardini Stiftung – Federico Solmi, The Drunken Boat
Gallery Weekend is slowly approaching with a few exhibitions escaping the rush by opening already this weekend, among them “The Drunken Boat” by Federico Solmi. The multimedia artist is showing a selection of animated work, that focuses on certain aspects of everyday life in the Western world through the lens of absurd stories told in a playful and irreverent manner.
The artwork consists of a combination of drawings and paintings made through new technologies such as 3D animations and video game software. Solmni stages virtual realities, in which our leaders become puppets and the absurdity of today’s exploitation gets highlighted. Satire to portray dystopian visions of today’s society plays a central role in his work.
Apr 22 – Jun 21, 2023 | Mo-Fr 13-18 | Guardini Stiftung, Askanischer Platz 4, 10963 Berlin
Artworks by Nezaket Ekici.
Kühlhaus Berlin – BOTTOM UP #2
BOTTOM UP #2 is another exhibition opening this weekend. After the great success of the group exhibition BOTTOM UP in 2018, the second presentation offers another broad overview of contemporary art in Berlin. The only reference point is Berlin, the city, in which the artists work and live. The selection was not made by any individual or institution and was not limited in terms of subject or media.
The idea behind BOTTOM UP steams from a self-organised group of artists, who decided to invite some of their colleagues to exhibit on three floors of the Kühlhaus Berlin. The title of the show plays with the idea of self-organization in social systems from “bottom to top,” in which the big picture is understood by observing how individual parts connect – induction instead of deduction.
Apr 22 – Apr 29, 2023 | Mo-Fro 10-17 | Kühlhaus Berlin, Luckenwalder Str. 3, 10963 Berlin
Artwork by Eva Jospin.
Ruinart Maison 1729 – From Reims to Berlin
For the last 15 years Ruinart has been inviting renowned artists to create an art pieces inspired by their unique interpretation of the brand. After Liu Bolin, Vik Muniz and David Shrigley, has this year’s carte blanche been given to Eva Jospin. Jospin has created an installation titled “Promenade[s]” influenced by the richness of the French Champagne terroir as well as a selection of drawings, sculptures and embroideries sinking deeper into the exploration of the Champagne region.
The artist’s work will continue to travel to Art Basel and Frieze New York. The exhibition will be complemented by a “Food for Art” dinner, created by Sophia Rudolph at Lovis, who will also be offering a masterclass. The pogramm is rounded up by a scent and aroma workshop with the Norwegian smell researcher Sissel Tolaas.
Apr 27 – May 2, 2023 | Daily 12-20 | Amtsalon & Lovis Restaurant, Kantstraße 79, 10627 Berlin
Artwork by Marco Siciliano.
UdK HALBHAUS – Jumping Traffic Lights
Artists from the University of Arts‘ classes of Monica Bonvicini, Thomas Zipp and Valerie Favre, are exhibiting their work under the theme of “Jumping Traffic Lights”. The title plays with the desires of breaching pre-determent rules and restrictive structures and the positive effect it can sometimes have to swim against the stream. The location in the heart of the city, adopts to the message – young artists at the beginning of their career daring to claim their own space in the midst of the established art business.
The urban and lively surroundings of Potsdamer Str., where the space is located, shapes the exhibition in the same way the city shapes the works of the young artists, addressing intercity socialization, as well as their own experiences and longings in Berlin.
The exhibition closes on Sunday, 30.4.2023 with a party at HALBHAUS, with DJs Grippe, BBY JSS, On a Crac, among others.
Apr 27 – Apr 30, 2023 | 12-19 | HALBBAUS (1st floor, not barrier-free), Potsdamer Straße 120, 10785 Berlin
Artwork by Rhea Dillon.
Sweetwater – Rhea Dillon, We looked for eyes creased with concern, but saw only veils
Rhea Dillon is an artist, writer, and poet based in London whose work examines rules of representation and presentations of Blackness. Her exhibition at Sweetwater for Gallery Weekend, titled “We looked for eyes creased with concern, but saw only veils”, takes Toni Morrison’s debut novel The Bluest Eye (1970) as inspiration, following its narrative and characters through painting, sculpture, and installation.
April 26 – June 10, 2023 | Tue–Sa 11-18 | Leipziger Str. 56-58, 10117 Berlin
Artwork by Renata Lucas
neugerriemschneider – Renata Lucas, short cut
For her solo show at neugerriemschneider Renata Lucas invites the visitors to immerse into a world questioning internal and automated patterns of experience and interpretation. Her interactive installation, inspired by coin-operated lighting occasionally found in churches, momentarily illuminating a particular painting once a tithe is deposited, interacts with our codes of conduct and the behavioural influence of one’s surroundings to create interventions that subvert expectations.
Her work offers new angles of once-familiar environments and highlights hidden and subconscious understanding, such as the commodification of everyday life or spaces which only seem to be liberated from such norms at first glance. The loop-like play with time and perception contain the capacity for rebalancing social dynamics.
Apr 28 – May 27, 2023 | Tue-Sa 11-18 | Linienstr. 155, 10115 Berlin
Artwork by Olaf Nicolai.
Eigen + Art – Olaf Nicolai, I never look at you from the place from which you see me
Olaf Nicolai presents a series of photographic works taken in June 2022 in Olympia, Greece. The landscape and the historical facilities of Olympia are not only represented as motifs but in form as well. The images were created using parabolic mirror – the mirror most commonly used to ignite the Olympic Flame by the sun’s rays, so images mainly associated with the parabolic mirror are those of the media staging of the major event “Olympic Games”.
These include the lighting of the Olympic flame as well as the torch relay that has followed since 1936. The parabolic mirror is meant to center rays of light inside on a focal point so that a flame can be ignited. Nicolai’s photographies play with this paradox: a mirror, built to reflect inward confronted with the mirror of the camera, opening up many different layers while losing its direct origin.
Apr 27 – May 27, 2023 | Tue-Sa 11-18 | Auguststr. 26, 10117 Berlin
Image Courtesy of RÄUME.
RÄUME – HumAin – I create therefore I am
The curatorial platform RÄUME asked ChatGPT for an artist prompt as starting point for their upcoming experimental exhibition. Have we arrived in the future we’ve always dreamt about? When is an artwork considered human made and can AI take the role of the artist? These are some of the questions surrounding the show “I create therefore I am”, curated by RÄUME, as well as a panel talk, initiating a dialogue between artists and Artificial Intelligence. The artists are invited to play with the algorithm, to marvel at the complex beauty of AI and to critical engage.
Image Courtesy of Zoeppritz & Joshua Wilks.
ZOEPPRITZ x SLEEK Gallery Pop-Up
SLEEK have teamed up with ZOEPPRITZ, the oldest wool-weaving company in Europe and textile lifestyle brand, on an exclusive collection of high quality blankets and pillows featuring photographs from artists Sebastian Zimmerhackl and Joshua Wilks.
The launch will be celebrated this weekend during a gallery pop-up and will be available for purchase in SLEEK’s online shop starting this Friday.
Image Courtesy of Alexx and Anton.
Alexx and Anton – Weinen Nude Wine, Coquet Vadou
As an extension of their visual aesthetic, the creative director duo Alexx and Anton stepped into the world of wines and fragrances. With an intimate approach, the wines are left in their purest, nude form, embodying the god of ecstasy Dionysus. Exploring the theme of a golden boy entering adulthood and its hardships, the fragrances aim to combine past, present and future, ultimately creating an intrinsic expression of life.
The limited edition extraits de parfume and trio of natural wines can be experienced from April 28th to April 30th in Alexx and Anton’s gallery located in Brunnenstrasse 6.