Beautiful Minds @ Humboldt University Campus Nord

Although creative and immediately interesting, the idea to put up an exhibition in the anatomy department doesn't work so well for art. What would you rather be looking at - an almost  empty shelving unit (actual art work) or the glass cases filled with body parts? I mean, look at this! Amazing! 

+27 for anatomy art  (and even more because you might also develop some empathy for your internal organs when you see them disintegrated like this)

It does get a bit too school-ish here and there... -9 for evoking highschool traumas

I would recommend this wholeheartedly to geeks and anyone with a slight interest in science. Taking a guided tour is a bingo - you get to see all of the otherwise closed labs and you actually notice the exhibits and learn about them instead of just wandering around the university premises aimlessly. This is far from a regular everyday exhibition, so use the opportunity to see it while it's there. (A)

Painting Forever! @ KW 

Good? Bad? Ugly? What do you think of this curatorial move? Treating paintings like Bravo Hits posters? Or maybe like study samples gathered closely for a better/wider perspective on the issue. Painting Forever with a question mark rather that exclamation point. Regardless of our personal opinions, this exhibition is as intelligent, bold and brave as the reactions to it. 

+11 for the provocateur's piece - Despina Stokou's sarcasm poking in the gallerists' eye

A lot of meek quotes on the wall; I believe there are more exciting or funny or wise things said about painting. Or maybe we're still waiting for those to be said... I am quite optimistic about Saturday - at 19h the participating painters will elaborate on their artistic agendas, and hopefully speak up without restraints. (A)

OSTKREUZ @ C/O Berlin

I thought my coworkers were mad at me when they told me I had to catch the U2 from my apartment near Pankow all the way down to Charlottenburg for an outdoor opening on a particularly chilly night. The diversity represented by both the artworks and the guests made up for it, however. I am not going to lie—being new to town, I did not know much about Charlottenburg outside of my friends telling me not to live there.

The photographs varied in size, subject, and narrative, but all aimed to inventory west Charlottenburg and explore the inherent diversity. Some artists chose to focus on the people of the changing landscape the neighborhood offers; others intentionally left people out of the frame. The show had some (relatively) pricey beer and wine options, paired with free and delicious mini cheesecake bites. +100 for the following photograph. (N)

Painting Forever! Franz Ackermann @ Berlinische Galerie

Since the Berlin Art Week started, in any of the galleries and spaces I have visited I haven't felt the need to stay for longer than one hour. So, when we were planning to go to Berlinische Galerie we chose to go there an hour before the closing time, thinking it would be more than enough. And it wasn't, not at all. There are two currently running exhibitions - the first one includes massive paintings by Franz Ackermann. The composition and the installation of the show really impressed  me. In every single piece you can totally get drawn into the wonderful swirl of colors. Finally contemporary art where contemporary doesn't equal minimal.

Other parts of the gallery we just ran through and decided to come back. Next time with plenty of time reserved for the show. (E)

Gerard Byrne - Older Works @ Praxes

Looking good! Gerard Byrne & The Curators 

- It was way more crowded than it looks here

Praxes is truly a refreshing occurence in the art scene - their second event continues to explore the same artist but with a different (older) set of works. It's modest in quantity, but showed with a lot of respect to the artist and his practice. This kind of microscopic approach really brings the audience as close to the artist as possible. It wouldn't be a bad idea to spread this curatorial strategy as a virus among other art spaces. We often really do need the artist to talk about his specific work and the audience to react to it; otherwise a lot of it stays overseen or ignored. (A)

Körnelia — Goldrausch 2013 @ Galerie im Körnerpark

- The Goldrausch girls

- possibly maybe a photo of an artist watching herself in her video

I could have sworn that I saw Kirsten Dunst running across Körnerpark in a wedding dress while I was approaching the gallery from the other end of the park. Being there for the first time on a rainy night that smelled of apocalypse reminded me of the movie Melancholia just a little bit too much. It only continued being weird with the portraits of all the Goldrausch girls shining from the inside and a huge golden bling decoration on the entrance (+15 for da bling!). I was there like a lost peasant entering a seemingly idyllic palace, unsuspicious of all the creepy things that are about to happen. Not much happended really. Inside it was pretty lively although the interior is tailored for tea&biscuits parties. A lot of parents with their children and actually a lot of artists - if you count the portraits above, you will reach the number 16. I found all of the works there to be interesting in some way; you could feel that it was a special kind of selection and people were showing a lot of interest for every piece. (A)