Gerhard Richter – Editions 1965-2011

Press Preview: Friday, 10 February 2012, 1–4 pm, me Collectors Room Berlin / Stiftung Olbricht, Auguststrasse 68, 10117 Berlin

Gerhard Richter is one of the most important and most successful German artists of the present day. He is best known for his paintings, which have become a common feature in museum collections all over the world. But in the last few years, his editions have also increasingly become the focus of attention for collectors, museum curators and art enthusiasts. Editions are original works of art that are not produced as unique pieces but in a certain number of impressions. The Olbricht Collection is probably the only private collection in the world to contain virtually all of Gerhard Richter’s editions from 1965 to 2011.

Open Sunday: February, 12, 2012, 12 - 6 pm
Duration of the exhibition: 12 January–13 May 2012
Opening hours: Tue–Sun 12am–6 pm
www.me-berlin.con

Caption: Kerze II, 1989, © Gerhard Richter, 2011, photo: Jana Ebert

Pacific Standard Time - Kunst in Los Angeles 1950–1980

Press Conference: March 14, 2012, 11 am, Opening: March, 14, 2012, 7 pm, Martin-Gropius-Bau Berlin, Niederkirchnerstraße 7 | Ecke Stresemannstr. 110, 10963 Berlin

The exhibition project “Pacific Standard Time – Art in Los Angeles, 1950-1980” traces the development of the Los Angeles art scene during the post-war period, when the city on the Pacific hosted an impressively varied and versatile art scene, thus proving that it was more than Hollywood and a sprawling metropolis in the land of sunshine and palm trees. “Pacific Standard Time” features such internationally esteemed artists as John Baldessari, David Hockney, Edward Kienholz or Ed Ruscha as well as such less well-known figures as the abstract painters Helen Lundeberg and Karl Benjamin, the ceramicists Ken Price and John Mason, and sculptors such as DeWain Valentine.
The mega show – over 60 institutions and galleries in Los Angeles were involved – is taking the two main core exhibitions of the Getty Museum and the Getty Research Institute to Europe. The sole European venue is the Martin-Gropius-Bau in Berlin.

Exhibition: March, 15 - June, 10, 2012
Opening hours: Thur - Mon, 10 - 7 pm, on Tuesday closed
www.berlinerfestspiele.de

Capture: David Hockney, A Bigger Splash, 1967, Acryl auf Leinwand, 96 x 96, © David Hockney, Collection: Tate Gallery, London, 2011

Maja Bajević - To Be Continued

Opening and Performance: Friday, February 10, 2012, 7 - 9 pm

To Be Continued ist ein ursprünglich für den Kristallpalast im Parque del Retiro in Madrid konzipiertes Projekt „in progress“, das nun in veränderter Form, als Performance und Installation, in der daadgalerie gezeigt wird. Im Zentrum steht ein von Maja Bajević aufwendig recherchiertes Archiv politischer bzw. in der Wirtschaft verwendeter Slogans der vergangenen 100 Jahre, die von der Künstlerin als Massenmedium und Leitmotive bestimmter Phasen der jüngeren Geschichte analysiert und kategorisiert wurden. Dieses Archiv wird in der Ausstellung in Form einer mehrteiligen Installation öffentlich zugänglich gemacht. Sie besteht aus eine Präsentation des Slogan-Archivs, einer performativen Installation der Slogans mittels einer ungewöhnlichen Dampfmaschine und aus einem Soundtrack. Zusätzlich bilden die historischen und zeitgenössischen Slogans den Ausgangspunkt für eine mehrtägige Performance.

Daily performance: February, 7 - 11, 2012, each day 3 - 6 pm
Exhibition: February, 7 - 18, 2012
Opening hours: Mon - Sat, 11 - 6 pm
www.daadgalerie.de
www.berliner-kuenstlerprogramm.de

Capture: Foto: Felix Gmelin, Puerta del Sol, Madrid, Mai 2011

Ai Weiwei in New York – Photographs 1983–1993

Until 18 March 2012, Martin-Gropius-Bau, Niederkirchner Strasse 7, 10963 Berlin

For the first time in Germany, the Martin-Gropius-Bau is showing more than 220 photographs from the period 1983 to 1993 spent by Chinese artist Ai Weiwei in New York. For the young Ai, born in 1957, this extended period of stay in the USA was very influential on the style of his future artistic works. The selection of the photographs was made by Ai Weiwei himself. The photographs come together to make up an artistic installation that retraces the personal experiences, thoughts and impressions of the artist.

Caption: Ai Dan and Ai Weiwei, 1987, 8x10 cm, Inkjet on Fantac Innova Ultra Smooth Gloss, © Ai Weiwei; Courtesy of Three Shadows Photography Art Center

Duration of the exhibition: until 18 March 2012
Opening hours: Wed–Mon  10am–19pm, Tue closed
www.berlinerfestspiele.de

Chloe Piene – Eiserne Frau

Artist talk with Chloe Piene and Ellen Blumenstein: Friday, February 24, 2012, 7 pm, Galerie Barbara Thumm, Markgrafenstrasse 68, 10969 Berlin

Chloe Piene is well known for her ability to straddle an extremely wide spectrum, both in the physical play of her materials and as a certain philosophical position. Her work has included such diverse associations as prisoners, love letters, ironworkers, Christian mystics, ruins, political dictatorships and instruments of torture. A sudden discovery of works in wax by Medardo Rosso, (1858-1928), resonated for her as bodies found accidentally in forests. It reminded her of archaeological ruins and the burial sites of kings or families in Ireland and across the European Continent. Iron was at one time a sacred material touched only by the blacksmith, who was given both a high rank and magical status for his ability to transform it.

Capture: Chloe Piene, Eiserne Frau, 2012, Wachs, Eisen, Holz, Gips/ Wax, Iron, Wood, Plaster, max. 140 x 195 x 318 cm, Courtesy the artist and Galerie Barbara Thumm, Photo: Jens Ziehe

Duration of the exhibition: 14 January–3 March 2012
Opening hours: Tue–Sat 11am–6pm
www.bthumm.de