Thomas Kratz “Artemis” (Nude) at Croy Nielsen
Die folgende Woche verspricht künstlerische Hartnäckigkeiten: Christof Schlingensiefs Operndorf Afrika soll mittels einer spekatulären Auktion im Hamburger Bahnhof endlich Spendengelder erhalten, die vielversprechenden Künstler Thomas Kratz und Markus Saile zeigen ihre neuesten abstrakten Gemälde und geben die Malerei nicht auf, Evan Gruzis stellt uns seinen Pop Noir vor und Bjarne Melgaard findet Shelly Duvalls Auftritt in The Shining so beschissen, dass er gleich einen Film darüber gemacht hat. Ab nächster Woche ist meine Urlaubsvertretung vorbei und ihr werdet wieder von eurem vollbärtigen (und mittlerweile halb-Latino) Frank mit brandheißen Kunst-Tipps versorgt. Mir bleibt, mich für euer Lesen und Vetrauen zu bedanken! Ich bleibe euch natürlich nach wie vor auf meinem Kunstblog artfridge.de und gelegentlich hier – auf iHeartBerlin – erhalten. Zu meinem vorerst letzten Guide gelangt ihr nach dem Klick…
Tuesday, Mar 06
Norwegians are famous for their Heavy Metal and their good looking men. Bjarne Melgaard, a Norwegian-Australian painter and video artist, combines both features. His art is drawn to terror, horror, orgiastic events. His movie After Shelley Duvall ’72 (Frogs on the High Line) emerged from an exhibition that he curated in New York – his current home. Shelly Duvall, to jumpstart your memory, was the charming wife in Kubrick’s masterpiece The Shining. Melgaard explained his fascination with her: “Honestly, if I had her around I would become Jack Nicholson too. Because she is so fucking annoying, so terrorizing in her silence that she is the real moment of horror in that film.” The screening takes place at Galerie Guido W. Baudach (Carmerstr. 11, Berlin-Charlottenburg, 19h)
Thursday, Mar 08
Christof Schlingensief left his admirers and the art world a large heritage – including several unfinished projects. In order to fulfill his presumably most ambitioned last will, Hamburger Bahnhof (Invalidenstr. 50/51, 19h) now hosts a spectacular auction to gather money for Schlingensief’s Operndorf Afrika (Opera Village). World famous artists and many of Schlingensief’s close friends, such as Marina Abramovic, Georg Baselitz, Olafur Eliasson, Andreas Gursky, Wolfgang Tillmans, Matthew Barney or Patti Smith, have donated their works. The precious pieces will be auctioneered up from 20h, doors open at 19h. All information on www.auktion3000.com
David Zink Yi currently presents his photography and video-work, which focusses on Cuba’s crumbling socialism and the population’s rituals and traditions, at Neuer Berliner Kunstverein (Chausseestr. 128/129). The curator Kathrin Becker will interview the artist in a public talk at 19h, which will be a great chance to get to know his personal impressions and opinions on his research.
Friday, Mar 09
Duve Berlin, a small and yet great gallery close to Hamburger Bahnhof Museum, features the solo show Alpha Wave by American artist Evan Gruzis. Creating somewhat of a “Pop Noir” art, his drawings, paintings and installations absurdly play with aspects of the avant-garde and the mainstream. The exhibition opening takes place at Invalidenstr. 90, from 18-20h.
Thomas Kratz paintings have a seemingly simple surface – a concept – often monochromes. Based on the titles of his pieces though, he proves to work with a very humorous concept. “Back view of a nude with eyes like potatoes” from his 2010 series “Me, Me, Me” tests the borders of painting, challenging the viewer to rethink composition. His show No Tracks, No Traces at Croy Nielsen (Weydingerstr. 10) opens at 18h.
Another abstract painter, the 1981-born Markus Saile, will exhibit his show Schichtwechsel at Reception Galerie (Kurfürstenstrasse 5/5a) from 18-21h. Saile belongs to a group of emerging and frequently exhibiting artists in Cologne, where I once saw several of his small paintings at Drei – Raum für Kunst and I got really fond of them. Absolutely recommendable!
Saturday, Mar 10
The art space Essays and Observations (Maxstr. 1, Berlin-Wedding), by the lovely Sonja Ostermann and Matthew Burbidge, celebrates their tenth show: The artists trio Galerie C&V follow a trace back to the 1970s in Los Angeles, documenting and investigating in a purposefully planned catalogue-fake and now presenting their results in the show Another Decade of California Color: Suitable for Framing. The private view starts at 19h.
And eventually, my last Weekly Art Guide for the time being concludes with an event relating to the current iheartberlin-exhibition-favourite: You Killed Me First. The Cinema of Transgression at KW Institute for Contemporary Art (Auguststr. 69). If Jens review on iheartberlin and my review on artfridge haven’t convinced you yet, the screening of Angélique Bosio’s Documentary Llik Your Idols might be a good reason to go and get to know all about the Cinema of Transgression. The director will be present and the screening starts at 19.30h.
Anna-Lena Werner is a graduate art theorist, writer and freelance curator. On her blog artfridge.de, she collects interviews with emerging artists and other creative people, talent discoveries and exhibition reviews from Berlin, Cologne and London. For the next weeks, Anna-Lena will write The Weekly Art Guide on iheartberlin.
Experiments Public Screenings at Galerie Guido W. Baudach
David Zink Yi “Horror Vacui”, 2009, exhibited at NBK
Christoph Schlingensief at his “Opera Village Afrika” in Burkina Faso
Evan Gruzis “Diamond Variation” at Duve Berlin
Markus Saile “ohne Titel (untitled)” at Reception Galerie
Another Decade of California Color: Suitable for Framing Galerie C&V at Essays and Observations
Thomas Kratz at Croy Nielsen
