Pace Pop-up Featuring Maysha Mohamedi
Maysha Mohamedi, Back to the Tuna Scheme, 2024. Photo courtesy of Pace
Pace Gallery is set to host a pop-up exhibition during Berlin Gallery Weekend, showcasing the work of Los Angeles artist Maysha Mohamedi. Known for her expressive abstracts created using intricate lines and hand-applied paint, Mohamedi's exhibition titled "Mute Counsel" will be held at Mercator Höfe on Potsdamer Straße from April 26th to June 26th. This event signifies Pace's efforts to bolster its presence in Berlin following the establishment of a private office in 2023, signaling a commitment to both local artists and the vibrant cultural landscape of the city. Laura Attanasio, senior director of Pace in Berlin, expressed enthusiasm for Berlin's embrace of innovation and diversity, highlighting the gallery's dedication to connecting artists with the city's institutions and collectors. Featuring nine new abstract paintings, "Mute Counsel" marks Mohamedi's debut exhibition in Germany and her second with Pace Gallery since joining their roster in 2022. The artist, whose distinct style captivates with its blend of spontaneity and precision, previously showcased her work in a solo exhibition titled "Gamebreaker" in New York last summer. Pace's decision to anchor its presence in Berlin underscores its commitment to fostering artistic dialogue and engagement within the global art community, reflecting the city's status as a hub for creative exploration and collaboration.
Mark Grotjahn at Galerie Max Hetzler
Installation view, Mark Grotjahn, 2024. Photo courtesy of Galerie Max Hetzler.
Galerie Max Hetzler presents "Kitchens," Mark Grotjahn's inaugural solo exhibition, featuring his large-scale butterfly drawings at Potsdamer Straße 77-87 in Berlin. Grotjahn's three-decade-long artistic journey challenges conventional visual language boundaries, spanning painting, drawing, and sculpture. Working meticulously within distinct series, he navigates the interplay between abstraction and figuration, developing a unique pictorial vocabulary that continually evolves. Among his notable series is the ongoing "Butterfly" drawings, including "50 Kitchens" exhibited at LACMA in 2018, characterized by angular motifs, vibrant colors, and a playful sense of symmetry, aiming to disrupt traditional artistic structures. Inspired by a single composition initially hung in the artist's kitchen, the "Kitchen Drawings" stem from Grotjahn's "Butterfly" series, originating in 2001. Executed in chromatic pairs with black and cream pencil, these drawings explore tonal variations and complementary colors, meticulously hung to create a prismatic display. Reminiscent of Op art yet invoking movement akin to Kinetic artists, the works invite viewer engagement, continuously shifting and pulsating beneath their gaze. The dynamic interplay between light, changing hues, and the spatial arrangement of the drawings result in a multi-dimensional viewing experience, blurring the lines between the artwork's materiality and the viewer's subjective perception.
Eliza Douglas: Gift, at Contemporary Fine Arts
CFA: Visual for the exhibition "Gift" by Eliza Douglas. Photo: Courtesy CFA, Berlin.
Eliza Douglas's debut solo exhibition at CFA, titled "GIFT," will showcase a fresh collection of paintings delving into their significance within modern society and personal journey. Preferring painting as their primary medium, Douglas navigates the intersection of image and cultural artifact with appreciation rather than sentimentality or skepticism. Through their work, Douglas celebrates painting's dynamic ability to capture the intricacies of human perception and experience, avoiding nostalgic or cynical tones.
Eliza Douglas, an American painter currently based in both Frankfurt and New York, has carved a distinctive path in the realm of contemporary art. Initially drawn to the world of photography, Douglas pursued studies in this medium before embarking on a transformative journey to Germany to delve deeper into the realm of painting. It is within this dynamic artistic landscape that Douglas's creative spirit truly flourished. Douglas's artistic vision is characterized by a profound exploration of figural representation. Through a captivating blend of elegant simplicity and unyielding honesty, their paintings transcend conventional boundaries, offering viewers a glimpse into realms both familiar and enigmatic. What distinguishes Douglas's work is its steadfast refusal to conform to stylistic or subjective categorizations. Instead, each piece emanates a sense of individuality and autonomy, inviting audiences to engage with the artist's unique perspective.
Ann Veronica Janssens at Esther Schipper
Installation view, Ann Veronica Janssens, entre le crépuscule et le ciel, Collection Lambert, Avignon, 2022. Photo courtesy of Esther Schipper.
The upcoming spring exhibition of Janssens' works follows closely on the heels of a highly acclaimed solo display at Milan's Pirelli HangarBicocca. Over the span of her career since the late 1970s, Janssens has cultivated an artistic practice centered on light, color, and natural optical phenomena. Her pieces, ranging from new to historical works, delve into the depths of human perception, utilizing carefully chosen materials like glass, mirrors, and aluminum to craft experiences that challenge our understanding of reality. The exhibition orchestrates a delicate interplay between the artworks, encouraging viewer interaction to fully grasp their essence. Through "performative sculptures" that necessitate movement, Janssens invites observers to engage with the transformative qualities of light and space, fostering a heightened awareness of the ever-changing nature of human cognition. The exhibition not only showcases Janssens' ceaseless experimentation, exemplified by her collaboration with Dr. María Boto Ordóñez in the Structural Color series, but also underscores broader themes of vulnerability, ephemerality, and resilience. Pieces like Swings and Atlantic evoke childhood nostalgia and the tranquility of natural landscapes, while works such as Magic Mirror Chill Saphire and Untitled delve into the tension between fragility and strength, beauty and danger. Through a synthesis of artistic innovation and philosophical inquiry, Janssens' exhibition prompts viewers to contemplate the intricate interplay between perception, existence, and the interconnectedness of all things in the present moment.
Wolfgang Tilmans at Galerie Buchholz
Wolfgang Tillmans “Intermodal Container In Mongolian Landscape, a”, 2023. Photo courtesy of Galerie Buchholz.
Wolfgang Tillmans' latest exhibition at Galerie Buchholz continues his exploration of capturing the essence of materiality and sculptural forms through photography. Rooted in the tangible world, Tillmans' works undergo a transformative process through the lens of his camera, where everyday objects lose their conventional functionality and take on a meditative, almost abstract quality. From a steel urinal to a stranded freight container, each subject becomes an invitation to contemplate its presence, size, and shape, transcending its utilitarian purpose to evoke deeper reflections on form and texture. Tillmans' photographic practice is deeply attuned to moments of heightened awareness and shifts in perception, where he encounters subjects that both draw him in and are drawn to him. This symbiotic relationship between the artist and his surroundings imbues his images with a sense of relatability and intimacy. One striking example is Tillmans' capture of raindrops falling outside his Berlin studio, utilizing new camera technology to freeze each droplet and transform them into glass-like spheres, reflecting the world upside down and inviting viewers into a mesmerizing exploration of perception and reality.
Andy Warhol at Galerie Bastian
Andy Warhol, 'Gem', 1987. Photo courtesy of Galerie Bastian.
Andy Warhol, a seminal figure of 20th-century art, is renowned for his keen observation and deconstruction of the illusion of individuality, revealing the uniformity of societal imagery. His later works delve into the realm of everyday myths, reflecting the consciousness industry and consumer culture of America in the digital age. Warhol's art transforms reproduced images from media sources into template-like representations, exploring the interchange between art and life in an era dominated by digital and social media. Through his cool, agnostic approach to appearances, Warhol navigates the deluge of visual stimuli, creating a surface of apparent utopia where sender and receiver exchange analog messages. The exhibition "Andy Warhol: Late Works" at Bastian gallery marks a focused exploration of Warhol's artistic output during the last decade of his career. Through an exemplary selection of works, viewers are invited to witness Warhol's evolution beyond screen printing, as he employs techniques such as drawing and painting to enlarge, hatch, and fragment pictorial objects sourced from newspapers and advertisements. This exhibition, coinciding with Gallery Weekend Berlin 2024, provides a unique insight into Warhol's innovative late period, shedding light on his enduring influence on contemporary art.
Open House at Boros Collection
Exterior of Boros Collection. Photo courtesy of Conde Nast Traveller.
The Boros Collection in Berlin stands as a testament to artistic vision and historical resonance. Curated by the discerning eyes of Christian and Karen Boros, this private collection inhabits the depths of a former Nazi bunker turned Soviet prison, now transformed into an iconic gallery space. Spanning 80 rooms within its imposing concrete walls, the collection offers a diverse array of contemporary artworks that provoke thought, challenge conventions, and spark dialogue. With exhibitions rotating every four years, visitors are treated to a dynamic journey through the ever-evolving landscape of contemporary art. From immersive installations to thought-provoking sculptures, the Boros Collection captivates audiences with its depth, diversity, and unwavering commitment to artistic expression.
Installation view, Boros Collection. Photo courtesy of Sammlung Boros.
Works by the following artists are on display in the current collection presentation:
Jean-Marie Appriou, Julian Charrière, Eliza Douglas, Thomas Eggerer, Louis Fratino, Cyprien Gaillard, Ximena Garrido-Lecca, Yngve Holen, Klára Hosnedlová, Anne Imhof, Alicja Kwade, Victor Man, Kris Martin, Nick Mauss, Jonathan Monk, Adrian Morris, Paulo Nazareth, Berenice Olmedo, Amalia Pica, Bunny Rogers, Michael Sailstorfer, Wilhelm Sasnal, Pieter Schoolwerth, Anna Uddenberg, Julius von Bismarck, Eric Wesley, He Xiangyu
Xie Nanxing at Capitain Petzel
Xie Nanxing, ‘F O R A D E C A S A’, 2024. Photo courtesy of Capitain Petzel.
Capitain Petzel presents “f o r a d e c a s a”, a solo exhibition of paintings by Xie Nanxing, an artist who lives and works in Beijing and Chengdu, China. The exhibition is comprised of eight paintings considered as one complete body of work. The title of the exhibition is an abstraction of the Portuguese phrase, “fora de casa” or “jogo fora de casa,” meaning “the away game”. Xie was greatly influenced by a trip to Lisbon where he came across a notebook filled with green pages marked with the lines of a football pitch. Xie considers how painting, very much like the sport of football, is a paradox; both can be trivial and exist in a serious nature simultaneously. While Xie reveres painting and has spent three decades in a deliberate and meticulous practice, he has also expressed mistrust towards the process, recognizing that while painting is not just a game, it also is not the truth. Rather, painting is “more like a game that is close to the truth, or rather a truth-mimicking game”. Showcasing Xie’s use of canvas printing technique, one that he has often returned to over the past 15 years, each painting balances gestural but controlled movements on the canvas, suggesting an almost anti-painting sentiment to the works.
