AUTOCENTER: 10th Anniversary

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

The Berlin not-for-profit artspace Autocenter has just celebrated its 10th birthday, charting a move from off-space to established venue for eclectic and innovative art. Founded in 2001 by artists Joep van Liefland and Maik Schierloh in a Friedrichshain car workshop, Autocenter shows art outside the context of the traditional gallery space. The eclectic program mixes well-known artists such as the video-art pioneer Karl-Horst Hödicke and Olafur Eliasson, who really needs no further introduction, with less well-known faces. Jonathan Meese contributed a four hour brass music performance to their Octoberfest event – Schierloh still cringes at the memory.

The owners run the space in their spare time, and have succeeded in creating a platform for curatorial and artistic experimentation over the last ten years. Autocenter’s shows change frequently and showcase a wide variety of works. These have included seven metre murals painted onsite (Saus Braus, Tatjana Doll, 2002) and bus-ride performances: the artist Daniel Seiple charted a coach, and instructed the driver to navigate a series of points in the courtyard of the gallery, picking up bemused passengers at a single stop. Currently, they are showing Karl-Heinz Hödicke’s video works and installations – the artist is also currently being exhibited as part of the Live to Tape show at the Hamburger Bahnhof.

For the duration of Based in Berlin, Autocenter will be on location in the Monbijoupark. The first exhibition is a groupshow, curated by Max Henry, with the title The Cannibal’s Muse II, combining Ezra Pound with Pink Floyd and the artists Nader Ahrima, Michael Bauer, Lutz Braun, Katinka Bock, André Butzer, Dadarhea, Verena Dengler, Matthias Dornfeld and Mark Flood.