Berlin will soon fade out of grey and the art scene will shine brighter in the summer sun. This month three or more events per day is the expected quota, plus there is a lot to look forward to : big openings, big Berlin Art Prize ceremony, and sadly, big closing party of the wonderful Praxes. 

 

THURSDAY 04.06

19.00 Patrick Palucki – “Beat Park” @ SomoS

WHY: “Beat Park” is a photography exhibition by the Berlin-based visual artist Patrick Palucki. The detailed, large scale panoramas of Beat Park document how Berlin and East Germany’s post-wall music and art scenes have made innovative use of dysfunctional and historic authoritarian structures and buildings, and re-imagined them as temporary enclaves of experimentation, freedom, and anarchy.

Somos / Kottbusser Damm 95, 10967 Berlin, U Schonleinstr. / open through 19.06 / free entry / more info

 

FRIDAY 05.06

18.00 Johannes Wohnseifer – “Honey and Money” @ König Galerie

WHY: König Galerie presents Johannes Wohnseifers new works. Two new series of pictures will be on view in the downstairs gallery, St. Mary’s Chapel. Very different in facture, the two series are nonetheless closely related on the level of content. While the six-part Colony Collapse Disorder explicitly addresses the epidemic of beehives dying out, the three pictures in the Megayacht Paintings play on the design of the enormous luxury yachts that cruise the Mediterranean Sea in the summer months.

König Galerie (St. Agnes) / Alexandrinenstraße 118-121, 10969 Berlin, U Prinzenstr. / more info

 

19.00 Sebastian Bartel – “Constellations” @ Centrum

WHY: For his exhibition, Sebastian Bartel, who holds this year’s Schloss Ringenberg scholarship, will develop a site-specific installation for Centrum’s large window, which will include some of his most recent works in painting and drawing. Bartel is interested in scientific imagery and its potential to render spheres visible, which to the bare human eye are imperceptible. Having before concentrated on the microcosm (microscopic images), he currently focuses on the macrocosm (telescopic images).

Centrum / Reuterstr. 7, 12053 Berlin, U Hermannplatz / open through 14.04 / free entry / more info

 

19.00 Ich gab mir Mühe, damit ich nicht an Unlust früh verglühe @ Gitte Bohr

WHY: The exhibition was inspired by the writings of Robert Walser, and take up his central themes of work, pleasure and subjectification between heteronomy and self-determination in the context of today. It deals with topics such as the reluctance to submit one's self to contemporary society's demands of efficiency and self-promotion, and the search for a subject position that is not subsumed under those demands. At the opening, artist publication À propos Das Stellengesuch, first edition, 1914/2015 by Laura von Niederhäusern & Eva May will be presented.

Gitte Bohr / Skalitzer Str. 133, 10999 Berlin, U Kottbusser Tor / open through 07.06 / free entry / more info

 

20.00 The Offenbach Manifest @ Das Gift

WHY: The four artists Achim Boy, Maximilian Köhler, Carolin Kastner and Eric Reh show their works, developed from the guidelines of The Offenbach Manifest for the first time in public.The Offenbach Manifest stands for authenticity, progression and detachment from the dogmatism of subcultures. Its rawness shows powerful, honest, and to its essence reduced works. Paintings, photographs and drawings based on the manifest will be shown. Furthermore, an interactive performance (sausage & booze) is planned.

Das Gift / Donaustrasse 119, 12043 Berlin, U Rathaus Neukolln / free entry / more info

 

THURSDAY 11.06

10.00 DMY International Design Festival Berlin 2015 @ Kraftwerk Berlin

WHY: Over a period of 4 days young designers and renowned creatives present the newest developments in contemporary design, giving Berlin designers the opportunity to network with the international design scene. Current developments are showcased, future trends detected, and interdisciplinary projects and utopian designs encouraged. The borders between art and design are often free flowing. DMY Berlin represents the German capital as the “City of Design” (UNESCO) all year round; with exhibition events on a global scale it has won worldwide recognition as a contemporary exhibition platform in and from Berlin.

Kraftwerk Berlin / Köpenicker Str. 70, 10179 Berlin, U Heinrich-Heine-Str. / ongoing until 14.06 / more info

 

FRIDAY 12.06

12.30 Checkpoint California – 20 Years Villa Aurora in Los Angeles @ Deutsche Bank KunstHalle

WHY: In the 1940s, the former exile residence of Marta and Lion Feuchtwanger called Villa Aurora was a meeting point for European intellectuals. Today it is an artists’ residence. On the occasion of its 20th anniversary, the Deutsche Bank KunstHalle presents nine fellows in the exhibition “Checkpoint California”. Their works expose experiences of transit and exile, as well as transatlantic differences and contradictions. “Checkpoint California” will be accompanied by an extensive program of concerts, film screenings, performances, and talks.

Deutsche Bank KunstHalle / Unter den Linden 13/15, 10117 Berlin, U Französische Str. / open through 28.06 / more info

 

18.00 Berlin Art Prize – Award Ceremony & Exhibition Opening @ District Berlin

WHY: The Berlin Art Prize is an independent award annually honoring contemporary art from Berlin. It aims to support the city’s artists by establishing a non-institutional prize awarded by a jury of local art professionals. The artist is evaluated anonymously, with the jury only taking artistic ability into consideration. This year the award ceremony, the exhibition, and a broad program of concerts, talks, and events will be hosted by District Berlin. Opening of the exhibition with works by thirty nominees starts at 18h, followed by award ceremony at 20.30h, and afterparty from 22.30h on.

District-Kunst und Kulturförderung / Bessemerstr. 2-14, 12103 Berlin, U Alt Tempelhof / ongoing until 04.07 / more info

 

18.00 Gerrit Engel – “Richtfest” @ Sexauer Gallery

WHY: Gerrit Engel was the only photographer who had access to Palast der Republik during the entire process of demolition. The result is a unique series of artistic photographs documenting the demolition from the first screw to the last grain of sand. This intriguing work of art is simultaneously a unique document of the city's history.

Sexauer Gallery / Streustr. 90, 13086 Berlin, Station Friesickestraße Straßenbahn 12 & M13 / open through 18.07 / free entry / more info

 

SATURDAY 13.06

19.00 Grand Closing Party @ PRAXES

WHY: After two years of high-intensity activities – exhibitions, publications, and a great number of talks, screenings, performances, and programmed events – PRAXES will close its Berlin venue. The founding directors Rhea Dall and Kristine Siegel, selected as Co-Conveners of the 2016 Bergen Assembly in Norway, will mold and extend the experiments of the alternative institutional framework developed at PRAXES to intersect with a widespread contemporary exhibition model, the art biennial. Join for the last party on the roof terrace, with live music, DJs, food, and drinks.

PRAXES / Alexandrinenstraße 118-121, 10969 Berlin, U Prinzenstr. / more info