{"id":60076,"date":"2017-12-20T15:16:58","date_gmt":"2017-12-20T14:16:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/?p=60076"},"modified":"2017-12-20T15:16:58","modified_gmt":"2017-12-20T14:16:58","slug":"best-berlin-art-shows-2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/de\/article\/best-berlin-art-shows-2017\/","title":{"rendered":"Berlin's 13 Best Art Shows of 2017"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"While we were all watching the world burn in 2017<\/a>, it looks like the fire ignited many artists to make great work, and many curators to show it. Of Berlin’s best art shows in 2017, a baker’s dozen rose above the rest, and imprinted themselves on our hearts and minds. In no particular order, these are the 13 best Berlin art shows of 2017. If you are worried that reading a list of all the brilliant things you weren’t at will further your winter blues, you\u2019re probably right \u2014 but lucky for you, a couple of these gems are still running.<\/span><\/p>\n

1. Candice Breitz, “Love Story”, KOW Berlin<\/h2>\n

Candice Breitz’s \u201cLove Story\u201d offered an incredibly thought-provoking commentary on our collective perception of refugees in western\/central Europe. At the core of “Love Story” is one of the most crucial questions of our times: how can we create empathy in a heartless world? Breitz explores this by getting two megastars, Julianne Moore and Alec Baldwin, to recount shocking true stories of violence, war, trauma and abuse as if they were their own. These accounts are based on the real lives of six refugees currently living in Berlin, and it’s chilling how much empathy they conjure when\u00a0 plucked out of the news cycle and placed into the mouths of famous white actors. The overall impact is discomfiting. Thankfully, Breitz doesn’t just use the two actors to front these histories; the six participants also voice their own experiences. “Love Story” is an intelligent and subtle work which avoided pandering to sensationalism; w<\/span>e’re excited to see what Breitz does next.<\/span>
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2. Lu Yang,\u00a0\u201cWelcome to LuYang Hell\u201d,\u00a0Soci\u00e9t\u00e9<\/h2>\n

Lu Yang took us into her virtual hell, and we revelled in our condemnation. Post-internet art might be on its way out but, somehow, Yang managed to draw us back in. She doesn’t care for the defunct and overcooked ideas of what it means to exist in digitised world \u2014 rather, she revels the internet’s narcissism. The artist’s virtual face literally sneered out at us from every corner, most memorably in the form of a giant hot air balloon monster. Honestly, Yang, condemn me for life.<\/span>
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3. Anna Uddenberg, “Sante Par Aqua”, Kraupa-Tuskany Zeidler<\/h2>\n

Uddenberg’s latest solo show consists of four soft textile objects, which resist easy definition. Are they absurdist massage chairs from the future? Deconstructed car interiors? Futurist fetish spa furniture?\u00a0Every piece begs to be touched, to be engaged with. “Twin Generators and Upgraded Space” was a personal favourite: the soft, fur-lined mechanical-bull-meets-salon-chair calls you to take a ride as you shuffle your feet about the enclosed space. \u00a0<\/span>
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\nAnna Uddenberg “Sante Par Aqua” is running till 13.01.2018 at\u00a0Kraupa-Tuskany Zeidler, Berlin.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

4. Dara Friedman, “Dichter”, Supportico Lopez<\/h2>\n

Late last year, Dara Friedman held an open audition where people were asked to recite a personal poem which had influence and meaning in their life. Friedman then chose 15 of her favourites to be filmed on 16mm film in a Kreuzberg studio. Friedman adapted Jerzy Grotowski\u2019s vocal techniques to fill the speakers’ bodies with their own sound waves, investigating ideas of thinking with the body as well as the mind. The result was an eerie and arresting multi-video installation. The red, pink and purple backdrops united each of the works, and created a bold and memorable aesthetic.\u00a0<\/span>
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\u00a05. “the new liquid model”, DUVE Berlin<\/h2>\n

This packed-out, one-night exhibition <\/span>featured works by Jala Wahid, Rindon Johnson, Julia Colavita and Adam Chad Brody,\u00a0<\/span>followed by a contemporary dance performance by <\/span>Shade Ther\u00e9t<\/span>. “the new liquid model” explored the environmental, social, structural and political impact the world has on the body, bringing us back to the physicality of human existence. Any show that ends with the audience participating in an impromptu jelly fight definitely deserves a mention.<\/span>
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6. “Jaguars & Electric Eels”, Julia Stoschek Collection<\/h2>\n

“Jaguars & Electric Eels” was the second exhibition of the recently re-opened space showcasing art collector Julia Stoschek\u2019s immense collection<\/a>. Stoschek selected 28 media artists whose work explores evolution, nature and the supernatural. The result questioned our binary understanding of the artificial and the natural, while moving towards a hybrid future.\u00a0<\/span>
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7. Hiwa K, “Don\u2019t Shrink Me to the Size of a Bullet”,\u00a0KW Institute for Contemporary Art<\/h2>\n

In conjunction with Schering Stiftung, KW Institute for Contemporary Art presented a selection of works by Hiwa K, winner of the 2016 Schering Stiftung Art Award. “Don’t Shrink Me to the Size of a Bullet” combined work from the last ten years with Hiwa K’s latest project, which was co-produced by the Ernst Schering Foundation themselves. Together, the works formed<\/span>\u00a0a deeply personal exploration of Hiwa K’s own diasporic identity, deconstructing the resulting\u00a0social and political implications through stories told by the artist, as well as his friends and family members. This quotation from 2016’s “Don’t Panic” sums up the tone of the whole show:<\/span>
\n\u201cLast time I saw my mom before my farewell, I said, ‘Mom, I am leaving for good. I don\u2019t know\u2026maybe I will not make it like the other 28 people who got shot last week.’ She said ‘Son, if death comes, don`t panic. It is just death.”<\/span><\/em>
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8. “Squishy: eels swim in snakey”, Julius<\/h2>\n

The dramatic space at Juliusstrasse 38 amplified the playful artworks by D\u00e9bora Delmar Corp,\u00a0Joey Holder, Ittah Yoda, Sachin Kaeley, Miriam Lenk and\u00a0<\/span>Selou Sowe. Aside from the bold works and memorable staging, “Squishy: eels swim in snakey” is definitely a contender for Best Show Title of the Year.\u00a0<\/span>
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9. Ed Atkins, “Old Food”, Martin-Gropius-Bau<\/h2>\n

Atkins is known for his digitally rendered films featuring strange avatars in even stranger settings. In this regard, “Old Food” at Martin-Gropius-Bau<\/a> was no exception. The multi-room video installation, featuring interweaving loops of video footage, “Old Food” was a show for the curious, and those who aren’t easily unsettled.\u00a0<\/span>
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\nEd Atkins “Old Food” is running till 07.01.2018 at Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin.<\/em><\/p>\n

10. Olymphia, “Termination of the World’s Last Harbour”, Acud Gallery<\/h2>\n

Created by Olymphia (artist duo Kristian Emdal and Loke Rahbek), ‘Termination of the World’s Last Harbour” merged music, dance and live sculpture to form one of the most engaging shows of the year.\u00a0Four orange-robed performers moved across a sheeted expanse, intertwining with each other as a poem\/narrative sounded overhead. They began to mix a plaster-like glue, before playing with various ropes and props \u2014 the overall narrative was often unclear, but it was undeniably hypnotic.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n