Art in Berlin

Berlin has a very vibrant art scene and last week I went in Berlin to see the Berliner Liste and 14th Art Forum, two big exhibitions where gallerists exhibit their artists.

First I explored the area close to my hostel and discovered Auguststrasse, which is a long stretch of galleries and related shops. I paid an entrance fee to see a group exhibition from the KW Institute of Contemporary Arts. It was housed in three stories of a rather ancient complex. If I had not negotiated a student fee of Euro 4 I would have been tempted to ask for my money back. The exhibition space though enormous was almost empty.

KW Exhibition

In the photo above, taken on the first floor, you might be able to see the exhibit on the back wall. It was titled Monochrome Till Receipt (white), Ink on paper with spray fixative. It was the sort of receipt you are handed with your groceries. The very light coloured lettering (like a faded receipt) made reading it too difficult to spend time deciphering so I didn't bother to study it in detail to see if there might be a satirical side to it. I just wondered if all Berlin art was so behind the times. (This sort of art statement seems very last century to me.)
Gallery in a courtyard on Auguststrasse

Fortunately this was not the case. Other galleries showed intriguing and thought provoking works. I don't remember the artist who created these interesting textile works (photo above) which I photographed through a window in an inner courtyard. The coloured figures are photographs and the white figures are thread and they were about life sized. Somehow they seemed very appropriate to this area which is revitalizing itself and in which you feel the hand on history on your shoulder.

There is a lot of interesting public art in the area, like these indoor outdoor paintings. Paintings in an inner courtyard of a community complex (above and below).

The Berliner Liste Fair for Contemporary Art was housed over three stories of a glass fronted building not far from the National Gallery.
Buying refreshments at Berliner Liste Exhibition

This exhibition purported to show artists who had been chosen because of their innovative methods and it was a fascinating if exhausting journey. I am not sure why looking at art is so tiring, but it is, especially if there are a lot of artists you have never seen before and who are presenting really interesting work.In all there were about 300 artists represented: painters, photographers and a smattering of sculptors.

I collected brochures instead of taking photos but one work I did photograph was by Cony Theis who paints seaside pictures using oil on transparent paper (below). Capturing tiny swimmers in the surf is difficult and I thought the method that Cony Theis used enabled her to achieve the effect of the seaside better than most.
Work by Cony Theis

By the time I had seen all the 300 artists I was exhausted so next day, instead of going to the Art Forum (which I thought would probably be more of the same) I visited the Emil Nolde Gallery near the Gendarmenmarkt and spent time luxuriating in the work of my favorite artist.

I love Nolde's colours and his figurative work, in particular his series of unpainted pictures, small scale colour masterpieces created during the years un which he was forbidden to paint by the Nazis. The letter from the authorities to Nolde, informing him that his work had been confiscated because it did not fit the direction of art that had been determined by the Fuhrer was on display with these paintings. This typewritten letter on typical beige coloured paper had obviously been folded and unfolded many times as it had come apart in the middle and was stuck together with sellotape.

In the evening I amused myself by making little paintings in the style of Nolde.
Berlin Woman.

Backpackers Pool Game