^{Athi-Patra Ruga (18.01 @ SAVVY Contemporary)}

This week Berlin is all about fashion, but the opening calender indicates that the force is almost as strong with art. Good luck to everyone who will try to coexist both in the art and the fashion world these days - we dedicate our weekly tips to You (see the Fashion Week tips here). 

WEDNESDAY 15.01

19.00 Sharon Paz - Restraining Motion @ L40

WHY: In her video installation ' Restraining Motion' - newly developed for the windows of the Kunstverein at L40 - Berlin based Israeli artist Sharon Paz explores the role of the individual within society. Her representation of coercion and rebellion of the individual against circumstances and external constraints is subject to a highly stylized choreography with a penchant for the absurd. All this within the strikingly rejuvenated medium of the shadow theatre. In addition, the film ' The Right to Leave' will have its premier inside L40.

L40 / Linienstrasse 40, 10119 Berlin, U2 Rosa Luxemburg Platz / show open through 02.02 / free entry / more info

FRIDAY 17.01

18.00 Just came to say HELLO @ KLEMM'S

WHY: In the context of our fast-paced, production-based, globalized postmodern society, the exhibition deals with the questions of identity and integrity, the relation between the individual and the society and the ever occuring need for isolation. It plays in the thematic corridor of aesthetic self-exploitation, whether in the form of artificial self-isolation, or in the form of a conscious creation of seemingly religious idols. This exhibition is the second part of a sequence of 3 exhibitions conceived by Klemm's together with artists Alexej Meschtschanow and Ulrich Gebert.

KLEMM'S / Prinzessinnenstr. 29, 10969 Berlin, U8 Moritzplatz / show open through 01.03 / free entry / more info

18.00 Ryszard Wasko  - Time Frames. Conceptual Work From the 70s @ Zak Branicka

WHY: Ryszard Wasko is a legendary figure in Polish conceptual art. The 1970s were a key period for him - at this time he created films, video art, photographs, installations, and drawings in which time, space, movement, and perception were the main subjects. These elements were analytically broken down into their basic components, allowing the artist to deconstruct the media photography and video. Wasko was among the first artists to make conscious use of the camera as an element of performance, and not just as a tool for documenting a performance.

Zak Branicka / 3rd floor Lindenstrasse 35, 10969 Berlin, / show open through 08.03 / free entry / more info

18.00 John von Bergen - Prey Voidant @ alexander levy

WHY: With his new exhibition 'Prey Voidant' John von Bergen presents his recent works . He uses common construction materials that stretch, crumble and morph into new forms by implementing repellant materials such as lead, fiberglass, and rust. These constructed studies invite a range of ominous scenarios for the visitor to imagine. An interesting addition to the show is the recently released Bergen’s first monograph titled CORE.

alexander levy / Rudi-Dutschke-Strasse 26, 10969 Berlin, U6 Kochstrasse / show open through 01.03 / free entry / more info

19.00 "DIE FEIER" - 5 Jahre Axel Obiger @ Galerie Axel Obiger

WHY: Axel Obiger gallery is turning 5 these days, and what better way to mark it than to put up a group show with all of the gallery artists. A proper birthday party is to be expected, so put on your festive clothes and join the celebration.

Galerie Axel Obiger / Brunnenstraße 29, 10119 Berlin, U8 Rosenthaler Platz / show open through 14.02 / free entry / more info

19.00 United Colors @ Cruise & Callas

WHY: In the exhibition "United Colors" that unites two artists and two artistic media, the artist Salome Ghazanfari will show her most recent photographs that will be spread all over the gallery wall, while Felix Oehmann will present his newest sculptures.

Cruise & Callas / Alexandrinenstrasse 1, 10969 Berlin, U Prinzenstr./Hallesches Tor / show open through 22.2 / free entry / more info

20.00 Olivia Parkes - Face Off @ Das Gift

WHY: Olivia Parkes' paintings talk about pictures: the way we make them, the way we see them, and the way those processes affect each other. Her wide-ranging source material draws from silent cinema, twentieth century history, Americana, and crime tabloids. Images get stitched together and saturated, dripping with color. Drop by and see her work for fresh paintings that still look wet.

Das Gift / Donaustrasse 119, 12043 Berlin, U7 Rathaus Nekölln / show open through 18.01 / free entry / more info

SATURDAY 18.01

19.00 Perhaps All The Dragons In Our Lives Are Princesses - On Somatic Morphing @ SAVVY Contemporary

WHY: This exhibition aims at examining the ways in which the appropriation and exploration of alternative identities, such as conscious impersonation, conduce the (in)cognisant revelation of the paradoxes of personhood and society. Framed around concepts of corporeality, personality and materiality, the exhibition brings together live performances, photography, videos and installations that investigate the desire to pass as someone or something else.

SAVVY Contemporary / Richardstrasse 20, 12043 Berlin, U7 Karl-Marx-Strasse / show open through 15.02 / free entry / more info