GUIDES DE COEUR Gallery Weekend Conscious Art & Bike Tour by Maíra Goldschmidt
Finally Spring! That time of the year when everyone in Berlin is out in the fresh air, every one with new stories to tell. The Gallery Weekend end of April makes a perfect backdrop for grooving through the city on bike. So check your tires, breaks, lights and bells and enjoy a Gallery Weekend Art & Bike Tour from Mitte to Neukölln, visiting some art galleries on the way – it is what I call a perfect combo: a lot of art input and environmental consciousness aligned. Following here you will find an easy tour with some interesting pit stops. Saddle up!
Our starting point is Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery with the exhibition WOVEN AND ILLUMINATED. The opening on April 26th at Linienstr.130 is presenting colorful works by the British artist Sinta Tantra and the New Zealand-born artist André Hemer. Space, light and materiality are all around Tantra´s sculptures, paintings and installations and her vinyl window displays act as a colored threshold between the two gallery spaces. As sunlight projects the colors onto the ground throughout the day, it is constantly changing both the artwork and the feel of the gallery itself. Light is also a tool for Hemer. For his recent work, physical objects created from paint were scanned en plein air on a flatbed, to then merge together the surrounding landscape and atmospheric conditions of each particular day, thus of the object. And, wait, that’s not all! The scanned images are then hand processed with thick, lush color strudels to add a new layer to the three-dimensionality of image structure, creating a transaction between the used materials.
26.04 to 01.06.2019 @ Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery Berlin: Linienstr. 130, 10115, Berlin | kristinhjellegjerde.com
Still on Linienstrasse, you can swing by the photographic exphibition W(h)AT REMAINS by Guido Brancher at the space of René Talmon L’Armée. The showcased images were taken when Brancher visited Koh Kham, an abandoned island in Thailand off the coast of Cambodia. He stumbled on a half-finished- and since then abandoned luxury resort which was slowly reclaimed by nature, reminding him of a modern days’ Angkor Wat (hence the title W(h)AT REMAINS). The questioning here is about mankind’s brutalist intrusion in a perfect paradise, because on second look he saw that the vegetation that was now covering the concrete was actually landscaped and part of the architectural concept. “Out of the sudden the entire place looked staged and posed questions as to what is real and what is fake. I found that to be a fitting analogy of what is going on in our society right now”, says Brancher. Visitor can experience what remains (literally!) in one of his pieces he is exhibiting: a billboard-print mounted on plywood was left outside during the harsh Berlin-winter, so that it would decay by being exposed to the elements and thus becoming a testimony of what remains of a perfectly produced photograph.
26.04.2019 @ René Talmon L’Armée: Linienstr. 109, 10115 Berlin | renetalmonlarmee.com
Around the corner, on Linienstrasse and still in Mitte is the show DIE ZUKUNFT WAR EIN ORT at Janine Bean Galerie. Located in Torstr. 154, they present works by the Cuban Artist Juan Miguel Pozo, who is inspired by cities like Havana and Berlin, especially based on their history and political background and combines this with the individual urban architectural elements. For his neo-pop art creations he is using techniques, such as abrading and scraping, which give to all objects in the images a worn and aged appearance or an incomplete look. An effect that guides the viewer to his divided universe of utopia and dystopia. For those visiting the show on Sunday, you can have an exclusive reading with Kathrin Günter Celebrity Tarot (from 15h to 18h).
26.04 to 15.06.2019 @ Janine Bean Galerie Berlin: Torstraße 154, 10115, Berlin | janinebeangallery.com
Now we start heading south into the fashion side of Mitte. For cool labels and a smart selection of sustainable brands, have a look at Kauf Dich Glücklich (Rosenthaler Str. 17). To eat something before crossing Alexanderplatz, try “The Good Bank” on Rosa-Luxemburg-Str. 5, with their super local production, aka indoor garden and healthy menu. After “Alex” your route is practically straight ahead.
If you manage not to stop for a beer in Kreuzberg, yes we know that’s nearly impossible, we suggest to have your well deserved beverage at the co-creating 5PACE located at the idyllic Paul-Lincke-Ufer 42. For Gallery Weekend they are presenting the group show DISRUPTING IDENTITY. The show opens Friday at 6pm. On Saturday 27th at 6pm they propose a panel discussion about “The Art world in 2019: State of disruption by technology”, followed by a Jazzpunk Performance by Die!Landschaft, feat. Andreas Schlaegel on the drums and the exhibiting artist Manfred Peckl on vocals. The groupshow is a diverse mix of international artists who are sharing their perspective on DISRUPTING IDENTITY. At its core is a question of the meaningfulness of one’s own development and the focused intent to create something new from it.
Featured artists include Tobias Hantmann (Berlin, Düsseldorf), Benedikt Hipp (Amsterdam, Munich), Britta Lumer (Berlin), Martin Mannig (Dresden), Christine Moldrickx (Amsterdam), Rainer Neumeier (Berlin), Manfred Peckl (Berlin), Patricia Reinhart (Paris), Helga Schmidhuber (Bad Schwalbach, Wiesbaden), Holger Schmidhuber (Bad Schwalbach, Berlin), and Christian Schwarzwald (Vienna).
26.-28.04.2019 @ 5space.berlin: Paul-Lincke-Ufer 42, 10999, Berlin | 5pace.berlin
To wind down a bit and get into the right mood for the final stop and the cherry on the pie we recommend to stop on Graefestr. 18, at Umbras Kuriositätenkabinett. To gid up some old books and have a nice strong coffee go to Kaffeebar Graefestr. 8! With fresh energy and caffeine in your veins, enjoy the last green part of our bike tour, crossing Hasenheide Park, a beautiful way to shake off the city and take in some nature… Voilá!
You have arrived at Luisa Catucci Gallery on Allerstr. 38! As lively as Neukölln are the exhibitions here and for Gallery Weekend they are showcasing sculptures and collages from two artists: the Spanish Lido Rico and the Italian Francesca Belgiojoso: DYNAMIC CONNECTIONS AND INNER LANDSCAPES. They are opening Friday, 6pm throughout the whole weekend. Both embrace non-conventional forms to express emotions and feelings and often make references to myths and culture of the Mediterranean Classical Age. While Rico’s sculptures use the brain as a protagonist to recreate human forms – he even uses himself as living calc for his creations, Belgiojoso explores the abstract side of our mind, meaning human psychology and the subconscious. The mix of those two artists results in a beautiful combination of colors and textures – a feast for the eye at the end of our bike tour.
Tip: The Luisa Catucci Gallery will be also at Paper Positions, presenting Francesca Belgiojoso and and Elena Monzo, booth 33
Until 25.05.2019 @ Luisa Catucci Gallery: Allerstraße 38, 12049, Berlin | luisacattuci.com
Header Photo: Francesca Belgiojoso “An ostentatious display”, 3d collage with pins on canvas, in plexiglass box, 2019, courtesy of Luisa Catucci Gallery
Author: Maíra Goldschmidt