Gallery Weekend Berlin’s 10th anniversary commences today, sounding off what’s certain to be an exciting weekend program to commemorate the decade milestone. Unsure how to navigate the art labyrinth? Here are our recommendations!
Michael Sailstorfer | “Antiherbst”
Johann König
St. Agnes | Alexandrinenstrasse 118-121, 10969
Opening: May 2 | 6 – 9pm
Open: May 3 – 7
www.st-agnes.net
Antiherbst is Michael Sailstorfer’s fourth exhibition staged in the monumental St. Agnes church, noted for its brutalist architecture. The exhibition touches upon the subtle changes in natural landscape. A singular tree is poised at the former alter space, emerging from the surrounding dark space. Antiherbst was first realized for the 2013 Emscherkunst exhibition near Duisburg, when Sailstorfer and his team preserved fallen leaves, dyed them green and re-attached them to the tree, all the while documenting the process. The final sequence omits the clips in which the artist and his team reworked the tree, leaving only the images of the standing tree evolving into a more unreal and artificial state.
Stefan Rinck | “A Sunny Place for Shady People”
Cruise & Callas
Alexandrinenstr. 1, 10969
Opening: May 2 | 7-10pm
Open: May 3 – June 14
www.cruisecallas.com
German artist Stefan Rinck will be exhibiting black and white marble/sandstone sculptures of of macabre figures and mythical creatures accompanied by a video projection, which features one of his crafted figurines breaking into the third dimension from its 2D origin. There is a primitive demeanor to these creatures who seemingly arise from a diverse reference of folklore and fairytales.
Peter Fischli & David Weiss | “Eine Ansammlung Von Gegenständen”
Sprüth Magers Berlin
Oranienburger Str. 18, 10178
Opening: May 2 | 6 – 9pm
Open: May 3- August 30
www.spruethmagers.com
Eine Ansammlung von Gegenständen – A Group of Objects – will be presented at the gallery, which has been transformed into a non-descript suburban work and storeroom. The space appears as a repository for discarded mundane objects. Keys, cigarettes, a shoe, a chain saw, and an old phone crafted from polyurethane sit amongst other forgotten objects whose utility and purpose have long expired. The exhibition of the polyurethane objects as artwork, tediously presented as if they were just mundane things offers a layer of paradox and irony—the crafted objects evoke a sense of utility, yet in their pure and perfected state, they exist without purpose aside from being looked at by gallery guests.
David Ostrowski | “Emotional Paintings”
Peres Projects
Karl-Marx-Allee 82
Open: May 3 -June 21
www.peresprojects.com
For artist David Ostrowski painting is the search for meaning in nonsense. In his own words “My works are me, everything that I am, say, do, that I have ever painted and will paint sometime soon and is yet to be lived. My works are like French film: romantic and seemingly meaningless—and they always lead to an end.” His abstract expressionist works are a surrender to missteps, lapses, and inaccuracies that achieve unforeseen beauty.
Philip Guston
Aurel Scheibler
Schöneberger Ufer 71
Opening: Film screening May 1
Open: May 2 – June 28
www.aurelscheibler.com
Aurel Scheibler Gallery will be exhibiting a group of later drawings and paintings from the late abstract expressionist Philip Guston, a period which saw a controversial return to figurative works. The exhibition will also feature a small collection of Guston’s earlier works and is accompanied by the film “Philip Guston: A Life Lived”, which will be shown at Hackesche Höfe Kino and Filmkunst 66 during Gallery Weekend.
Ignacio Uriarte “Acht Stunden zählen” | “Counting for Eight Hours”
Berlinische Galerie
Alte Jakobstrasse 124 -128 10969
Opening: May 3 |11am
Open: May 4
www.berlinischegalerie.de
“Acht Student zählen” is a sound installation by artist Ignacio Uriarte conceived for the entrance lobby to the Berlinische Galerie. The piece is an exploration of routine and boredom. The installation is what its title implies —a man counting away monotonously for eight hours with each unit of sound accounting for a unit of time —one number for each second. The seemingly simple piece is a reflection on language as a means of structuring time.
Flying Into the Storm by Duncan Zhivago
KIK Two | “An die Freunde”
Kino International Kunst
Karl-Marx-Allee 33 10178
Opening: May 2 | 9pm – late
Artists: Oystein Aasan, Awst & Walther, Ariel Reichman, Maxime Ballesteros, Marcel Buhler, Jonas Burgert, Ed Clive, Zhivago Duncan, Martin Eder, Thomas Eller, Cecile Evans, Amir Fattal, Anthony James, Fiona James, Marin Majic, Jonathan Meese, Paul Green, Nicolas Provost, Cornelia Renz, Emilie Trice, Pete Wheeler, Peter Wilde, Christopher Winter
Curated by Anna Erickson
This group exhibition at the beautiful Kino International brings together artists whose whose paths have converged in Berlin. Their works show various methods and media, but find common ground within the framework of the city. Berlin’s wealth of space and time —qualities noticeably absent from other cultural capitals have made Berlin a breeding ground for artistic experimentation, creative exchange and critical discourse.
Liam Gillick “ REVENONS À NOS MOUTONS”
Esther Schipper Gallery
Schöneberger Ufer, 65 10785
Opening: May 2 | 6 – 9 pm
Open: May 2 – June 28
www.estherschipper.com
REVENONS À NOS MOUTONS is Liam Gillick’s exercise in self reflection. The exhibition brings together major aspects of the conceptual artist’s practice and will include new sculptural works accompanied by textual passages and a film by the the artist, “Hamilton: A Film by Liam Gilliam” The diversity of Gillick’s oeuvre encompasses a wide range of media including writing, architectural and graphic design, sculpture, film and music.
