Apr. 18, 2024
For its 20th edition this year, Gallery Weekend Berlin will see more than 50 participating galleries open their doors to the public and present both new and existing works, from April 26th to 28th. Peripheral to the main event, gallery spaces, museums and institutions all across the city will also be opening new exhibitions and hosting performances and events alongside the official program. Among these, Sellerie Weekend is once again helping cast visibility on the work of independent artists and project spaces. To help you navigate your way through this year’s selection, we have curated our own top picks for the upcoming weekend.
Schering Stiftung
Tabita Rezaire & Yussef Agbo-Ola: ‘Omi Libations’
Opening Reception: Wednesday, Apr. 24; 6–9pm
Exhibition: Apr. 25–July 7, 2024
scheringstiftung.de
Unter den Linden 32–34, 10117 Berlin, click here for map
The exhibition ‘Omi Libations’ at Schering Stiftung stems from a collaboration between the artist Tabita Rezaire (Amakaba), the artist-architect Yussef Agbo-Ola (Olaniyi Studio) and the biologists Alex Jordan and Anja Wegner from the Max Planck Institute for Animal Behavior in Konstanz. With a focus on water as the source of life, Rezaire and Agbo-Ola have created a site-specific temple structure inside the space, which is dedicated to the Yoruba Orisha Yemoja, considered to be the mother spirit of rivers and oceans and all creatures living therein. Inside the temple—the textile facade of which was made by Olaniyi Studio—visitors are invited to connect to an environment that the Yoruba people consider to be inhabited by both physical and spiritual beings. As an interactive and experiential space, the temple contains both an immersive sound installation as well as libations and offerings to the sea goddess, such as flowers and honey.
‘Omi: Yemoja Temple – Internal Energy,’ Render // Photo courtesy of Olaniyi Studio
Barbara Wien
Dan Lie: ‘Remains Remembering’
Opening Reception: Friday, Apr. 26; 6–9pm
Exhibition: Apr. 25–Aug. 9, 2024
barbarawien.de
Schöneberger Ufer 65, 10785 Berlin, click here for map
Barbara Wien Gallery presents a solo exhibition of work by Dan Lie, titled ‘Remains Remembering.’ The exhibition will showcase new sculptures and drawings that were developed during Lie’s residency at Callie’s in Berlin. Their practice primarily involves large-scale installations, drawings and performances and explores topics such as time and the human understanding of death, along with the underlying taboos and binaries that come with it. They frequently use natural elements within their works and the color yellow, which they develop with the use of turmeric to dye cotton fabric, permeates many pieces. Lie was heavily influenced by their grandparents’ comic book publishing house, Toko Buku Liong, which translates from Indonesian to “The Liong Book Store” and was active in the 1950s in Semarang, Indonesia. Since the pandemic lockdown, Lie has returned to drawing and some of those works will be on view at Barbara Wien during Gallery Weekend. This year, Lie was awarded both the Ars Viva Prize and the National Gallery Prize.
Dan Lie: ‘Untitled,’ 2024, traditional South Korean hemp fabric, naturally dyed with turmeric, cotton fabric, stones, wood cylinder wrapped in cotton, 200 x 114 x 20 cm // Courtesy the artist and Galerie Barbara Wien, Berlin, photo by Nick Ash
Hamburger Bahnhof
Alexandra Pirici: ‘Attune’
Opening Reception: Thursday, Apr. 25; 7–10pm
Exhibition: Apr. 25–Oct. 6, 2024
smb.museum/…/hamburger-bahnhof
Invalidenstraße 50-51, 10557 Berlin, click here for map
Romanian artist Alexandra Pirici, known for her choreography and performance art, is set to transform the Hamburger Bahnhof’s central hall into a vibrant landscape filled with chemical reactions and performers alike. Co-commissioned by Audemars Piguet Contemporary, the exhibition will play with physical, biochemical and social processes of self-organization, inviting visitors to reflect on how we interact with and resemble one another. The exhibition inaugurates a new annual commission for the Hamburger Bahnhof’s central hall, and aspects of the show, such as the mineral formations and chemical reactions, were made in collaboration with designer Andrei Dinu. In addition to the sculptural elements, ‘Attune’ will feature live performances, including musical pieces choreographed and composed by the artist.
Alexandra Pirici: ‘Encyclopedia of Relations,’ ongoing action, 2023, exhibition view, Central Pavilion, The 59th International Art Exhibition ‘The Milk of Dreams,’ La Biennale di Venezia // Photo by Eduard Constantin
KVOST
Group Show: ‘Die Auto-Perforations-Artisten (F.A.Q.)’
Opening Reception: Wednesday, Apr. 24; 7–9pm
Exhibition: Apr. 25–July 27, 2024
kvost.de
Leipziger Straße 47, 10117 Berlin, click here for map
In 1982, Auto-Perforations-Artisten emerged as a new and subversive form of performance art in East Germany. The Dresden-based group—consisting of Micha Brendel, Else Gabriel, Rainer Görß and Via Lewandowsky—created art that actively challenged the oppressive and dogmatic culture of the GDR and its limiting artistic style, Socialist Realism. The artists used their bodies to test the boundaries and ramifications of artistic expression under the Communist regime. The show at KVOST will be the group’s first institutional solo exhibition in Berlin.
Die Auto-Perforations-Artisten: ‘Spitze des Fleischbergs,’ 1986 // Photo by Andreas Rost, courtesy die Auto-Perforations-Artisten und KVOST
max goelitz
Troika: ‘anima atman’
Opening Reception: Friday, Apr. 26; 6–9pm
Exhibition: Apr. 26–June 22, 2024
maxgoelitz.com
Rudi-Dutschke-Straße 26, 10969 Berlin, click here for map
Exploring the relationship between virtual and material realities, London-based artist group Troika will showcase their solo exhibition ‘anima atman’ at max goelitz during Gallery Weekend Berlin. Through installation, paintings and sculptural work, Troika aims to differentiate between the boundaries of human and other forms of intelligence by raising philosophical questions regarding the processes that give life to matter, what constitutes intelligent life and where human ideas, knowledge and understanding belong within these problems. The exhibition will feature, for the first time, a collection of new large metal ‘Obsolete Landscapes,’ found within images of the sky extracted from different Mac operating systems’ desktop backdrops. Through this, the artists challenge the artificiality and obsolescence of hypothetical ecosystems. The main installation in the exhibition will depict an array of silicon and living plants that ‘anima atman’ deconstructs as a human-centric hierarchy of beings by exploring the influence of plant life.
Troika: ‘Sierra (Detail),’ 2024 // Courtesy of max goelitz, copyright the artists, photo by Marjorie Brunet Plaza
Galerie Nordenhake
Frida Orupabo: ‘All is Broken in the Night’
Opening Reception: Friday, Apr. 26; 6–9pm
Exhibition: Apr. 27–June 29, 2024
nordenhake.com
Lindenstraße 34, 10969 Berlin, click here for map
Frida Orupabo will present her second solo exhibition at Galerie Nordenhake. The artist will show an array of large-scale prints, sculptures and collages. Orupabo is known for her bold exploration into the power dynamics of archival practices, addressing themes of race, identity, gender and colonial violence. Drawing from her background in sociology and experiences working in human trafficking prevention and sex worker advocacy, Orupabo creates narratives that challenge lack of representation. By manipulating various found images available throughout the internet, she creates transformed collages that reimagine bodies and their various contexts, demanding active engagement from the viewer. Whether digital or physical, Orupabo’s works compel viewers to confront historical patterns of racial representation and reimagine them within a contemporary context.
Frida Orupabo: ‘Sickbed I,’ 2024, photogravure, 164×232 cm // Copyright the artist, courtesy of the artist and Galerie Nordenhake Berlin/Stockholm/Mexico City
Trautwein Herleth
Sung Tieu: ‘Perfect Standard’
Opening Reception: Friday, Apr. 26; 6–9pm
Exhibition: Apr. 27–June 1, 2024
trautweinherleth.de
Kohlfurter Straße 41/43, 10999 Berlin, click here for map
Rooted in her own upbringing and personal experience, Sung Tieu’s practice deals with issues of belonging and displacement. Born in Northern Vietnam, and immigrating to Germany shortly after the country’s reunification, in her work, Tieu explores the alienation stemming from these two once-divided nations and their ideological disparities. For her first solo exhibition at Trautwein Herleth, Tieu will present a new body of work examining standardization and measurability as tools for control, surveillance and extraction. The project delves into the intricate interplay between colonial interests, bureaucratic governance strategies and their lasting legacies of oppression and erasure. It highlights the asymmetry inherent in the universal application of the metric system implemented in Vietnam, revealing its dual nature as both a mechanism of exploitation and a facilitator of capital accumulation and global trade.
Sung Tieu: ‘The Ruling,’ 2023 (detail view), two different woods, engraved, varnished, brackets // Courtesy of the artist and Trautwein Herleth, Berlin
Galerie Buchholz
Wolfgang Tillmans
Opening Reception: Friday, Apr. 26; 6–9pm
Exhibition: Apr. 26–June 15, 2024
galeriebuchholz.de
Fasanenstraße 30, 10719 Berlin, click here for map
Wolfgang Tillmans, one of Germany’s most celebrated artists, will be exhibiting his work at Galerie Buchholz during Gallery Weekend. The show will provide a captivating exploration of materiality and sculptural forms through the distinctive lens of Tillman’s photographic practice. His work transcends the mundane, transforming ordinary objects into meditative, sculptural forms through his keen eye and technological prowess. From a stack of brussel sprouts inviting contemplation of scale and play, to a steel urinal emanating texture and reflection, Tillmans invites viewers to reassess the familiar. Through innovative techniques, such as freezing raindrops with new camera technology, Tillmans captures moments of heightened awareness, challenging our limited parameters of perception and constructed reality.
Wolfgang Tillmans: ‘33 1/3 years later (Stinson Beach),’ 2023 // Courtesy of Galerie Buchholz
Ebensperger
Heiner Franzen: ‘ANCHORS’
Opening Reception: Friday, Apr. 26; 6–9pm
Exhibition: Apr. 26–June 15, 2024
ebensperger.net
Fichtestraße 6, 10967 Berlin, click here for map
Ebensperger will be showing four solo shows at two different locations as part of the 2024 Gallery Weekend. The gallery space in the Fichtebunker in Kreuzberg will feature new work by artist Heiner Franzen. Franzen’s solo show ‘ANCHORS’ presents a collection of video material from news anchors or reports of international news programs, which he has been collecting for over 10 years. He focuses on moments where the subject is silent, whether due to a malfunction or a guest’s interjection, and further develops them into video loops that scrutinize the silent intervals, examining the shifts in the anchors’ presence.
Heiner Franzen: ‘ANCHORS,’ 2023, installation view Am Seegarten // Copyright Ludger Paffrath, courtesy of Am Seegarten and Ebensperger
Société
Trisha Baga: ‘Contact’
Helen Chadwick
Opening Reception: Friday, Apr. 26; 6pm
Exhibition: Apr. 27–July 6, 2024
societeberlin.com
Wielandstraße 26 , 10707 Berlin, click here for map
Trisha Baga’s fifth solo show at Société, titled ‘Contact,’ blends personal symbolism with starscapes taken from deep space photography. Through the transformation from outer space views to those of daily life, Baga’s paintings vaguely depict figures, objects and devices that connect us to the world beyond. Baga’s work encourages a sense of radical intimacy by emphasizing the care that is required for the reproduction of our species. Société will also showcase a solo exhibition featuring one of the most influential figures in British contemporary art, the late conceptual artist Helen Chadwick. A central work within this exhibition is a video performance titled ‘Domestic Sanitation,’ presented alongside a photographic series called, ‘In the Kitchen.’ These works present a narrative about the complex and often unspoken structures that shape women’s experiences in society.
Trisha Baga: ‘Mousepad,’ 2024, oil on canvas, 53.5×63.5×6 cm // Courtesy of the artist and Société Berlin
Ruinart
‘Ruinart Maison 1729 – From Champagne Vineyards to Berlin’
Exhibition: Apr. 25–29, 2024; 12–8pm
Food for Art Dinner at Verōnika: Apr. 25–29, 2024
clos19.com/ruinart-maison-1729-berlin
Am Tacheles, Oranienburger Straße 54, 10117 Berlin, click here for map
During Gallery Weekend Berlin, Ruinart will celebrate art, culture and food with its exhibition ‘Ruinart Maison 1729 – From Champagne Vineyards to Berlin,’ featuring works by Henrique Oliveira, Marcus Coates and Thijs Bierstekera. A meeting point for art enthusiasts from all over the world, the event at Am Tacheles invites visitors to experience the champagne house through the eyes of these international artists. Every year, under the concept of the white canvas (the “Carte Blanche”) selected artists enter into a dialogue with nature through the theme ‘Conversations with Nature,’ inspired by the rich terroir of Champagne. The resulting works will also later be exhibited at renowned art fairs and, from September 2024, in the historic garden of Maison Ruinart in Reims. Alongside this exhibition, visitors can experience Ruinart champagne tastings as well as the ‘Food for Art’ dinner at Berlin’s recently-opened and acclaimed restaurant Verōnika. The international, sustainable cuisine offers guests a unique Ruinart menu with champagne pairing.
Henrique Oliveira, installation view // Courtesy of the artist
