What a week! The massive Gallery Week roster ensured that there was plenty of good, definitely some bad, and always some ugly. Hopefully our survival guide and sneak peak helped you make some well-informed decisions about how to divide your time, but now it’s time to reflect on everything we saw and did. This week we have multiple voices from the Bigs team providing commentary on what was missed and what was dissed. Remember, the artwork is still there for the most part for you to visit on your own, we are here to comment on what goes on at the event not the exhibition.

MONDAY 22.04

Shameless/Limitless: Autre Ne Veut and 18+ @ Naherholung Sternchen- concert

+5 for great show and equally good merch…

WEDNESDAY 24.04

Haubrok Projects:
opening of FAHRBEREITSCHAFT

+13 for making the trip out to Lichtenberg worth the journey…The new Sammlung Haubrok venue hosted two exhibitions for the launch of the new space: art & project bulletins 1968-1989 in the old casino displaying the invitations from the former gallery in Amsterdam and abstract, a response to the surrounding worn-down storage depot. (R)

+8 for the abstract exhibition looking like it was all made by one very clever and multifaceted artist…but -8 for it being a group show including many artists that make similar looking work, with only a few of the actually “clever” ones (Jonathan Monk for example). (R)

+2 for the mirror art for the vain to check hair, makeup, teeth, or take selfies…You might be surprised how many of us there are….or maybe it's no surprise. (R)

+1 for the Boros bunker invitation in a car windshield...an innovative invitation technique or a new way to discard of invitations? (R)

Office Party: Multidimensional Spectrum of Voices @ Kinderhook & Caracas

project by Lorenzo Sandoval in collaboration with Broken Dimanche Press

John Holten (BDP) and Lorenzo Sandoval

+9 for an interesting project…Four writers (John Holten, María Ptqk, Eirik Sørdal, and Anna-Sophie Springer) interpret a selection of photos from a 1960’s office party in West Berlin; each text, in both written and audio form, is provided in a separate booth with the photos. It’s not the easiest project to grasp during an opening, but it’s worth going back to see or at least wait for the resulting publication. (R)

+5 for the bookshelf at the entrance with an exceptional selection of books...(R)

Laura McLardy and Flavia Spichtig, Ferrari Amaryllis @ Note On

+ 8 for the weather and the location that permitted staying outside on the street. The gallery couldn't take that much people in considering the exhibit almost as big as the room. (A)

032c Bar night

+ 7 for the house party atmosphere. (A)

- 3  for being overcrowded. The more is usually the merrier, but in this case  'more' for some people meant spending the evening on the stairs with a wistful look to the top floor. (A)

THURSDAY 25.04

Spectra Vision @ Hidari Zingaro

-5 for the colorful let down…The rainbow postcard really got my hopes up for this one; some big names were involved (curated by Anselm Reyle and it’s Takashi Murakami’s gallery), and it’s cool that such a big name has a gallery on Dieffenbachstr, but the work felt a bit trendy and underdeveloped. (R)

+6 for the performance with the hot people in the gallery looking bored…When art mirrors life, when life mirrors art, it’s profound. (R)

Katja Strunz @ Berlinische Galerie

The pictures speak for themselves, how many people are in the exhibit vs. how many people were at the bar. +5 for the unlimited drinks, by the way. (R)

FRIDAY 26.04

Beautiful Way curated by Charles Asprey @ Michel Majerus Estate

R.I.P. M.M. (R)

OM-D: PHOTOGRAPHY PLAYGROUND @ Opernwerkstätten Berlin

+ 25 for raising the bar of 'interactive' at the exhibitions and literally making a playground out of the gritty building – you get to climb on one installation (if nimble enough), play music on other, dress up and while at it take photos with the cameras available to borrow for the exhibition. Extra points for giving out memory cards you use with the camera. (A)

- 5 for an inconsiderate visitor making a queue in front of Martin Butler's „Alice Through the Key Hole“ while snapping family portraits. People were getting too serious about it. (A)

Despina Stokou, Delusions of Grandeur/ Größenwahn @ Krobath

+ 3 for a friend confidently asking about the price, since Basquiat is unaffordable. (A)

+ 10 for pretzels and meatballs for the latecomers. You don't get to see 'real' food on openings very often. More points for art folks not being shy to eat them like apples and then pack some more „zum mitnehmen“. (A)

- 3 for not feeling the chemistry between the space and the artworks. I may be hairsplitting here, but office-y Krobath isn't the place where I would imagine Despina's work described as scrawled, shaggy and acerbic. (A)

+ unlimited amount of points for seeing Despina in her „grandeur“! (A)
 

Hans Peter Feldman @ Johnen Galerie

+ 5 for the visitors being evidently amused by the artworks. (A)

+ 5 for free drinks (A)

+ 5 for overlapping with Krobath's opening next door. More people, more fun. (A)

Alicja Kwade, Nach Osten, presented by Johann König @ St.Agnes

+ 15  for the architecture and artwork complementing each other and creating a rather meditative ambient environment. (A)

+ 10 for a feel good atmosphere in the courtyard supported by free drinks. (A)

+ 5  for Berlin's fashionistas taking some extra effort for the Gallery Weekend. Spring/summer season is officially on. 
(A)

Klara Hobza, Der Totale Horror @ Soy Capitan

+8 for the cohesive and thorough installation… The projected text work is especially notable; it’s rare that I actually feel like reading something during an opening, but the presentation is seductive, and the text leaves you in suspense. (R) 
Sven Johne, Der Weg nach Eldorado @ Klemm’s

Jodie Carey, Immemorial, curated by Manuel Wischnewski @ Galerie Rolando Anselmi

 

Jorinde Voigt, 9 Times Philosophy @ Klosterfelde

stylish Jorinde on the left

+4 for the metallics! (R)

Aleksandra Domanovic, The Future Was at Her Fingertips @ Tanya Leighton

Sarah Morris book launch and conversation with Hans Ulrich Obrist @ Capitain Petzel

Relaunch @ KW

-3 for the execution of the relaunch…Although I like the idea of an expanded Salon Populaire, I’m already feeling nostalgic for knockout exhibitions like One on One. I like the idea of leaving the building open and free of an exhibition so we can really feel the space, and I like the “if these walls could talk” approach, but the text, the handwriting, was too cute, too much. It needed a bit more of a David Shrigley sinister attitude. The wall text in the front room about the counter was pretty perfect, and it would have been effective just to have that one! (R)

-3 for the sad attempt at a dance party…It’s not so nice to stand around in a loud room watching the three people try to get the party started; we’re all better off in the rainy courtyard. (R)

To end on a positive note, +5 for a promising program and piqued curiosity for what’s to come. (R)

 

SUNDAY 28.04

Artist Talk & French Breakfast @ Galerie Thore Krietemeyer

+9 for the lovely breakfast / tour through the exhibition with Annette Hollywood. The artist explained the concept behind her show "Art Songs" (also providing some insightful biographical details) and even played some samplers for us in the jukebox. We couldn't help but leave the space singing "Computer Art, Computer Art" with a big smile in our faces. More sundays like these, please!