best of the bunch, below drawings by Lina Jabbour:
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Monday, February 25, 2008
doctor's office...or gallery?
Some berlin galleries love name plaques. I found a bunch in the Kochstrasse district where two main mazelike buildings of galleries mingle with medical and architectural businesses. It is all very formal yet another funny example of how art and everyday life mix in this city!
paper 8 @ upstairs berlin
upstairs berlin
butt johnson, Controllers (above) Et in Arcadia ego (below)
anna genger, The aberration of the heart
simon schubert, O.T. -these are really hard to capture in a photo but they are architectural space perspectives (staircases and halls) done by only folding the paper - so lines you see are actually creases!
pablo alonso, Ancestors (above) Primitives (below)
butt johnson, Controllers (above) Et in Arcadia ego (below)
anna genger, The aberration of the heart
simon schubert, O.T. -these are really hard to capture in a photo but they are architectural space perspectives (staircases and halls) done by only folding the paper - so lines you see are actually creases!
pablo alonso, Ancestors (above) Primitives (below)
julien collieux @ galerie 5213
From the ominous, back entrance exterior, galerie 5213's location reminds me a lot of a nicer version of the detroit russell complex. The large building is similar to other gallery homes in berlin - a sprawling brick building hosting a range of ground floor businesses, galleries, workshops and apartments, usually the upper floors. The galleries of this nature feel somewhere in between "do-it-yourself" artist run spots to respectable, up-and-coming trend setting contemporary galleries - again it is that mix of edgy grit and smart know-how; a thing berlin does really well.
This playful, UDK graduate artist, Julien Collieux (french born, works/lives in berlin) arranged a whimsical performance using 63 "extras" as his string pulling puppets. Laid out on each chair was a diagram for when the string puller would yank their card up to expose the white wall and and help reveal the black and white defined geometric shapes.
Collieux would call out the alphabet and the gridded ink spot patterns would reveal. The exercise in itself was a site to see as some people were slow to understand the timing causing for slight delays and audience laughter to brew. Collieux would call out "let's try it one more time" and then after a few rounds the string pullers would get it right. The process became more interesting than the simple forms that appeared on the wall and an amazing analysis of human response and group teamwork. The dichotomy and need of both, simple product/complicated process, is something to be considered for some time.
Collieux is like the "mad art scientist" who uses viewers as lab rats to make his experiments come to life.
Collieux reads from the scroll of directions in the background, as his subjects pay close attention to the task at hand.
The rest of the gallery displayed other works of Collieux ranging from drawings to his performance sculpture.
These are some amazingly detailed diagrams for the ECRAN performance.
This playful, UDK graduate artist, Julien Collieux (french born, works/lives in berlin) arranged a whimsical performance using 63 "extras" as his string pulling puppets. Laid out on each chair was a diagram for when the string puller would yank their card up to expose the white wall and and help reveal the black and white defined geometric shapes.
Collieux would call out the alphabet and the gridded ink spot patterns would reveal. The exercise in itself was a site to see as some people were slow to understand the timing causing for slight delays and audience laughter to brew. Collieux would call out "let's try it one more time" and then after a few rounds the string pullers would get it right. The process became more interesting than the simple forms that appeared on the wall and an amazing analysis of human response and group teamwork. The dichotomy and need of both, simple product/complicated process, is something to be considered for some time.
Collieux is like the "mad art scientist" who uses viewers as lab rats to make his experiments come to life.
Collieux reads from the scroll of directions in the background, as his subjects pay close attention to the task at hand.
The rest of the gallery displayed other works of Collieux ranging from drawings to his performance sculpture.
These are some amazingly detailed diagrams for the ECRAN performance.
***
here's some more pics of the backroom space.
here's some more pics of the backroom space.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
deutsche guggenheim
The deutsche guggenheim might be smaller than expected (only 5500sq/ft gallery) consisting of two medium sized main rooms and a small gift shop, but the exhibitions are concise, tightly curated and a refreshingly easy to digest. The museum sits in the bottom floor of Deutsche Bank, a major arts supporter and collection company (boasts over 50,000 works in its collection). Most big-time museums go with the motto "bigger is better" but this museum extension in germany carefully considers its shows, which are more in line with a regular gallery's format of single artists and themed exhibitions, to better make use of the space.
For better pictures and info on the current show, True North, go here.
****
Oh, and then there's the gift shop, which you can also access online. I got this very handy, funny shopper bag for only 5 euro and have already scored compliments from some very fashionable germans! This could be my new favorite, cheap find!
For better pictures and info on the current show, True North, go here.
****
Oh, and then there's the gift shop, which you can also access online. I got this very handy, funny shopper bag for only 5 euro and have already scored compliments from some very fashionable germans! This could be my new favorite, cheap find!Tuesday, February 19, 2008
contemporary fine arts berlin - CFA
jonathan meese 23 Januar 1970 and georg baselitz 23 Janar 1938
The new space (but not new gallery) in berlin's mitte district, just next to museum island, opened only last year! This central location is rebuilding and becoming the hub of arts, history and culture. Just north are tons of contemporary galleries and around the corner are the big modern art and history museums.
As big as jonathan meese is in the contemporary art market, this show was not a let down. First off the space is great - expansive, light-filled, contemporary...you know, chelsea-new york-like. I have seen meese's works in person in the mix of international shows like art basel, but seeing his works in berlin, large scale, in series, alone in one big room, was quite impressive - even for an art pessimist like me. I remember when an art friend said, "hey have you checked out jonathan meese's portraits...they're great...". So I looked online that night to find pictures like this:
I didn't know whether to be scared and think they were by the devil or worship them! I ended up the same week making them my "screen savers" at my work, thus I think sending a strange message to my adult co-workers.
Living in berlin really does add to the experience...and apparently I wasn't alone. This show has captured the eyes of collectors because even on an off day seeing the show, there still were couples scouting the works. Coming from a sleepy collecting town of detroit, this was an encouraging site to see!
The show, a birthday celebration theme, also celebrated works by georg baselitz - a great balance to see one floor up. The mostly recent works by baselitz were also huge and figurative like meese's. While the titles didn't imply, I saw them as hitler-like, break dancing men - very intentionally simplistic, a little funny, and morbid; a nice dichotomy with meese and a perfect show with "same birthdays". This was a high level, big name show, with a good premise, that could have instantly gone too gimmicky but prevailed with strong, comparatively curated works!
I didn't know whether to be scared and think they were by the devil or worship them! I ended up the same week making them my "screen savers" at my work, thus I think sending a strange message to my adult co-workers.Living in berlin really does add to the experience...and apparently I wasn't alone. This show has captured the eyes of collectors because even on an off day seeing the show, there still were couples scouting the works. Coming from a sleepy collecting town of detroit, this was an encouraging site to see!
The show, a birthday celebration theme, also celebrated works by georg baselitz - a great balance to see one floor up. The mostly recent works by baselitz were also huge and figurative like meese's. While the titles didn't imply, I saw them as hitler-like, break dancing men - very intentionally simplistic, a little funny, and morbid; a nice dichotomy with meese and a perfect show with "same birthdays". This was a high level, big name show, with a good premise, that could have instantly gone too gimmicky but prevailed with strong, comparatively curated works!
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