Whispered words in the foyer as you enter the Akademie der Künste’s location on Pariser Platz: it is Edith Clever’s voice that seeps almost imperceptibly into the ear canals in an invisible sound installation – and the first work in the exhibition “Luc Tuymans – Edith Clever” (until 26.11.2023), shown there. The show is the first in a new series by the Visual Arts department of the Berlin Akademie der Künste: members invite other members from different disciplines. So now the painter and the actress begin. And what a start it is! What at first seems like a contrast dissolves into almost self-evident parallels: Clever’s language, subtle and intense like Thyman’s colors and motifs; Thyman’s complex themes, pressing like the force of Clever’s monologues; their unique, brutal physicality as present as the violence in his visual oeuvre. Paintings and installations, video and textiles complement each other effortlessly, perhaps also supported by the works created for the exhibition, some of which are site-specific. The new concept of the Akademie der Künste succeeds brilliantly here. And whets the appetite for what comes next.
Text: Hilka Dirks / Credit: Luc Tuymans, Private collection; David Zwirner, New York London On loan from the Gesellschaft für Moderne Kunst in Dresden e.V. im Albertinum, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden; Syberberg Clever Monologe, film@syberberg.de / Photos: Studio Luc Tuymans, Ben Blackwell & Hans-Jürgen Syberberg
Akademie der Künste, Pariser Platz 4, 10117 Berlin–Mitte; map
Tue–Fri 14–19h & Sat–Sun 11–19h, entrance is free on Tuesdays.
Luc Tuymans – Edith Clever bis 26.11.2023
@akademiederkuenste
