Art Autumn is about to begin – and it’s going to be a whirlwind! The best place to start is the Julia Stoschek Foundation, where two new exhibitions await you. “Unbound: Performance as Rupture” explores how, over time, artists have connected the body to the lens, questioned ideologies of oppression, ruptured historical narratives, and shattered notions of identity. In contrast to the traditional notion of performance as an ephemeral art form, “Unbound” focuses on using the camera as a central element of artistic expression. Artists such as Eleanor Antin, Peter Campus, Akeem Smith, and P.Staff explore the interface between presence and virtuality. However, this is only the prelude to a multifaceted video art program that the Julia Stoschek Foundation is currently offering visitors. The exhibition “Double Feature” with Young-jun Tak is part of a new series of solo presentations of young artists, which will be shown in Berlin and Düsseldorf.

“Wish You a Lovely Sunday” (2021) and “Where to?” (2022) are two recent works by Young-jun Tak created in Berlin that explore questions of community and queerness. “Wish You a Lovely Sunday” contrasts the church at Südstern with the queer club SchwuZ. In “Where to?” the camera focuses on the rearview mirrors of cars driving on the highways around Berlin. The objects in the mirrors and the scenes in the back seats tell a story about the German Autobahn as an ideological project but also as a site for projections of identity and desire. Kraftwerk’s legendary track “Autobahn” provides a fitting soundtrack. And in case you want to take a closer look at one or the other work, You don’t have to go at Autobahn speed, and you are free to take it slow because your ticket is valid for the entire duration of the exhibitions! So you can return as often as you like and look at all the work at your leisure.

Text: Alison Musch / Photos: Howardina Pindell, Pipilotti Rist & Robert Haumacher

Julia Stoschek Foundation, Leipziger Str.60, 10117 Berlin–Mitte; map

Unbound: Performance as Rupture 14.09.2023–28.07.2024 & opening 13.09.2023 18–22h

Double Feature: Young-Jun Tak 14.09.2023–17.12.2023

Tickets for the exhibition are 5€ (free for young people and students).

@juliastoschekfoundation

The galleries are returning from their summer breaks, and the museums are preparing for their big shows: Just in time for the beginning of autumn, Berlin Art Week is taking place, celebrating its twelfth edition this year. From September 13 to 17, the city’s art institutions, private collections, and project spaces will ring in the new season together. We’re drawn to Coco Fusco’s first retrospective on Wednesday in Germany. The Cuban-American artist takes over the KW Institute for Contemporary Art with videos, photographs, texts, installations, and live performances in which she addresses colonial history and the self-image of Western societies. Meanwhile, at the Schering Stiftung, artist Annika Kahrs demonstrates how gravitational waves can sound, while the LAS Art Foundation shows Marianna Simnett’s first stage work at HAU. Simnett, known for her humorously grotesque works, combines Greek mythology with AI technology. She shares a fascination with hybrids, between nature and machine, with Anicka Yi, whose fascinating installations transform the Esther Schipper gallery space into an alternative universe. One can also expect a spatial dissolution of boundaries with Pamela Rosenkranz at Sprüth Magers: After flooding the Swiss pavilion with pink liquid at the 2015 Venice Biennale, she has received critical acclaim for scenes full of fleeting beauty and capitalist disenchantment.

Together with the Brücke Museum, the Schinkel Pavillon presents an exhibition project that transcends epochs: “The Attack of the Present on the Rest of Time” asks how art responds to war – from works of the New Objectivity to video works of the present. Lin May Saeed’s first solo museum exhibition in Germany is an immersive experience. The show commemorates the sculptor, who died far too early at the end of August after a serious illness. She formed enchanting animal sculptures and reliefs from simple materials such as Styrofoam, which are now juxtaposed with the bronze figures of the great Renée Sintenis from the 1920s. Animals and our relationship with them also interest Leiko Ikemura. In the Feuerle Collection, she is exhibiting stuffed animals from her private collection alongside impressive terracotta animal figures. Animals, or more precisely marble lions, are the focus of the performance by Nina Beier and Bob Kil at the Haus am Waldsee. On the shores of the lake, you can glide into autumn – and who knows, maybe a ray or two of late summer sun will show up. You can also raise a glass at the “BAW Garten,” which will be a guest at the Neue Nationalgalerie this year. In addition to drinks, a diverse supporting program awaits you here, from performances to parties.

Text: Laura Storfner / Credit: Zhou Yujie; Johanna Dumet, KEWENIG Berlin; Sebastiano Pellion di Persano

Berlin Art Week, various locations around Berlin 13.–17.09.2023
You can find the full program here.

@berlinartweek