Art is in the Air ?

Dear friends and Art lovers,

Its that time of the year again… Art week is in town.

This year’s Berlin Art week, starting officially today, offers an extensive program with a lot to see: two art fairs, eleven private collections, art awards (I counted five), countless openings and more…  I was also very happy to notice a wide (and blessed!) presence of female artists in this year’s program, such as Lee Bul at the Gropius Bau, Angiesyka Polska at the Hamburger Bahnhof, Geta Brătescu at the n.b.k, Evelyn Taocheng Wang at the KW, Cecilia Jonsson at the Schering Stiftung, just to name a few.

Since it is simply impossible to visit it all, I usually put my main focus of attention on the events and exhibitions taking place exclusively during this weekend. The other exhibitions which continue after the art week – I leave for later. Less queues, less hassle. Here are my 5 highlights for the Berlin Art Week 2018:

1. Put on your walking shoes and get ready for the two art fairs – art berlin and POSITIONS opening tomorrow. Both will be held for the first time this year at the Hangars of the historical Tempelhof airport until sunday. art berlin (Hangars 5 & 6), in cooperation with Art Cologne for the second year – will present around 120 galleries from 21 countries and will be divided into three sections – “Galleries”, “special projects” (galleries that will show individual artists) and “salon” – a section curated by Tenzing Barshee which brings together several, mostly young, galleries. Positions Berlin Art Fair (Hangar 4) will present around 70 galleries, showing more than 200 artists. On Friday from 18:00 to 21:00 all the Berlin participating Galleries will be opening their exhibitions across the city.
2. Don’t miss a chance to visit some of Berlin’s private collections, many of them are opening their spaces exclusively for Berlin Art Week. A highly recommended private collection is the Ivo Wessel Collection – Wessel is a software developer and a creator of watch apps and echo devices. He collects contemporary art and literature since his school days and always try to reconcile his three obsessions art, books and computers. His collection includes painting, photography, conceptual, media and video art. His private collection will be open to the public on Saturday and Sunday between 14:00 and 18:00, this year the focus is on two early 4-channel video works by Julian Rosenfeldt.
3.  The Gropius Bau under its new director Stephanie Rosenthal, keeps on providing us with a fascinating program. On Friday evening “Crash“, the first solo exhibition of Lee Bul in Germany is opening. Lee Bul is one of the most important Korean artists of her generation. I was lucky enough to get a sneak peek to the exhibition’s installment process and it was super interesting for me to see the work in progress of such an establish museum. This large scale exhibition includes installations, landscapes, sculptures and more. Believe me – it will blow your mind! Blessed with tones of talent and imagination, Bul is dealing with the ideas of Utopian worlds, futurist theories and science fiction while using a variety of materials such as glass, leather, pearls and hair.
4. The Swiss French artist Julian Charrière is the winner of this year’s GASAG art prize, which is being awarded for the fifth time within the partnership between the Berlinische Galerie and GASAG – the Berlin based energy service provider (and also Berlin Art Week’s main sponsor this year). Every two years, an artist who works at the interface between art, science, and technology is being awarded. In his multimedia spatial installation “As We Used to Float” Charrière will take the visitors of the Berlinische Galerie underneath to the pacific ocean by creating a physical three dimensional experience inspired by Bikini Atoll – the US nuclear weapons testing area. Another intriguing event takes place tonight 23:00 at the Berghain – Charrière will show his work “An Invitation to Disappear” – an 80 minute multimedia work, consists of a film and a live set performed by the DJ and producer Ed Davenport (“Inland”), inspired by the eruption of the Tambora volcano in 1815, that created a world of darkness and extreme weather.
5. PalaisPopulaire – the much anticipated opening of the Deutsche Bank’s new Art hall, not far from their former kunsthalle, at the historic Prinzessinnenpalais on the Unter den Linden.  Kicking off with “The World on Paper” – a beautiful exhibition of around 300 works on paper by 133 artists from the Deutsche Bank Collection such as Anish Kapoor, Rosmerie Trockel, Leiko Ikemura, Katharina Grosse and more. Free admission between the 27th of September and the 1st of October.

Curious to know what was YOUR favorite experience during Berlin Art Week, please don’t hesitate to leave your comments.

Wishing you all inspiring days of good Art and culture! Hope to meet you at one of the venues!