Exhibition: ‘Thomas Demand in Berlin’ at the Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin

Exhibition dates: 18th September – 17th January 2010

.

All photographs in the posting appear in the exhibition. Thankx to the Neue Nationalgalerie for allowing me to publish ‘Tavern IV’ (2006), ‘Bathroom’ (1997), ‘Haltestelle’ (2009) and ‘Office’ (1995).

A review of the catalogue that accompanied the exhibition can be found on the 5B4: Photographs and Books blog.

.

.

.

Thomas Demand
‘Diving-Board’
1994

.

.

Thomas Demand

Klause IV / Tavern IV
2006

C-Print / Diasec, 103 x 68 cm
© Thomas Demand, VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn

.

.

Thomas Demand
Badezimmer / Bathroom
1997
C-Print / Diasec, 160 x 122 cm
© Thomas Demand, VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn

.

.

“The Nationalgalerie presents Thomas Demand’s show National Gallery Berlin. From September 18, 2009, the Nationalgalerie – Staatliche Museen zu Berlin devotes a comprehensive solo show to one of the internationally most influential artists of our time: Thomas Demand. It is so far the largest presentation of his work in this country. However, the exhibition National Gallery is not designed as an overall retrospective but it is firmly dedicated to only one subject, which is perhaps the most important in Demand’s multi-facetted oeuvre: Germany.

Living in Berlin since 1996 Thomas Demand is an artist known for his large-format photographs, which explore the blank domain between reality and the ways it is being represented. He is undoubtedly regarded as one of the most renowned artists of his generation. Using paper and cardboard he builds three-dimensional, usually life-size models of places which often make references to pictures found in the mass media. By taking photographs of the scenery created in this way, he produces artefacts of a kind of their own which play with the beholder’s ideas of fiction and reality.

Until January, 17, 2010, about 40 works by the artist will be on display in the glass hall of the Neue Nationalgalerie built by Mies van der Rohe. There is hardly a location which is more suitable to convey to the beholder the panorama of a nation’s history than the large glass hall of the Neue Nationalgalerie, which is not only regarded as an incunabulum of post-war architecture but also as a symbol for the self-image of the Federal Republic of Germany at the former border between East and West. The exceptional exhibition architecture of the firm, Caruso St. John, London, forms an ideal link between Demand’s works and Mies van der Rohe’s bright hall.

Each picture shown in the exhibition is accompanied by a specific caption written by Botho Strauß which does not so much explain or define Demand’s work but rather creates a space between the pictures and the texts to allow new versions of interpretation.

Text from the Thomas Demand at the New National Gallery website

.

.

Thomas Demand
‘Copyshop’
1999

.

.

Thomas Demand
‘Drafting Room’
1996

.

.

Thomas Demand
‘Laboratory (77-E-217)’
2000

.

.

Thomas Demand
‘Haltestelle’
2009
C-Print / Diasec, 240 x 330 cm
© Thomas Demand, VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2009

.

.

List of works that appear in the exhibition:

Archiv / Archive , 1995, C-Print/ Diasec, 183,5 x 233 cm
Attempt, 2005, C-Print/ Diasec, 166 x 190 cm
Badezimmer / Bathroom, 1997, C-Print/ Diasec, 160 x 122 cm
Balkone / Balconies, 1997, C-Print/ Diasec, 150 x 128 cm
Brennerautobahn, 1994, C-Print/ Diasec, 150 x 118 cm
Büro / Office, 1995, C-Print/ Diasec, 183,5 x 240 cm
Campingtisch / Camping Table, 1999, C-Print/ Diasec, 85 x 58 cm
Copyshop, 1999, C-Print/ Diasec, 183,5 x 300 cm
Drei Garagen / Three Garages, 1995, C-Print/ Diasec, 108 x 223 cm
Fabrik (ohne Namen), 1994, C-Print/ Diasec, 120 x 185 cm
Fassade / Facade, 2004, C-Print/ Diasec, 178 x 250 cm
Fenster / Window, 1998, C-Print/ Diasec, 183,5 x 286 cm
Fotoecke, 2009, C-Print/ Diasec, 180 x 198 cm
Gangway, 2001, C-Print/ Diasec, 225 x 180 cm
Grube / Pit, 1999, C-Print/ Diasec, 229 x 167 cm
Haltestelle, 2009, C-Print/Diasec, 240 x 330 cm
Heldenorgel, 2009, C-Print/Diasec, 240 x 380 cm
Hinterhaus, 2005, C-Print/ framed, 26,9 x 21,5 cm
Kabine, 2002, C-Print/ Diasec, 180 x 254 cm
Kinderzimmer /Nursery, 2009, C-Print/Diasec, 140 x 230 cm
Klause 1 / Tavern, 2006, C-Print/ Diasec, 275 x 170 cm
Klause 2 / Tavern, 2006, C-Print/ Diasec, 178 x 244 cm
Klause 3 / Tavern, 2006, C-Print/ Diasec, 199 x 258 cm
Klause 4 / Tavern, 2006, C-Print/ Diasec, 103 x 68 cm
Klause 5 / Tavern, 2006, C-Print/ Diasec, 197 x 137 cm
Labor (77-E-217), 2000, C-Print/ Diasec, 180 x 268 cm
Lichtung / Clearing, 2003, C-Print/ Diasec, 192 x 495 cm
Modell / Model, 2000, C-Print/ Diasec, 164,5 x 210 cm
Paneel / Peg Board, 1996, C-Print/ Diasec, 160 x 121 cm
Parlament / Parliament, 2009, C-Print/ Diasec, 180 x 223 cm
Raum / Room, 1994, C-Print/ Diasec, 183,5 x 270 cm
Sprungturm / Diving Board, 1994, C-Print/ Diasec, 150 x 118 cm
Spüle / Sink, 1997, C-Print/ Diasec, 52 x 56,5 cm
Studio, 1997, C-Print/ Diasec, 183,5 x 349,5 cm
Rasen / Lawn, 1998, C-Print/ Diasec, 122 x 170 cm
Terrasse / Terrace, 1998, C-Print/ Diasec, 183,5 x 268 cm
Treppenhaus / Staircase, 1995, C-Print/ Diasec, 150 x 118 cm
Wand /Mural, 1999, C-Print/ Diasec, 183,5 x 270 cm
Zeichensaal / Drafting Room, 1996, C-Print/ Diasec, 183,5 x 285 cm

.

.

Thomas Demand
‘Sink’
1997

.

.

Thomas Demand
‘Tavern 3′
2006

.

.

Thomas Demand
‘Archive’
1995

.

.

Thomas Demand
‘Lawn’
1998

.

.

Thomas Demand
Büro / Office
1995
C-Print / Diasec, 183,5 x 240 cm
© Thomas Demand, VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2009

.

.

Neue Nationalgalerie
Potsdamer Straße 50
10785
Berlin
Kulturforum-Potsdamer Platz

Opening Hours:
Tues – Wed 10 – 6pm
Thurs 10 – 10pm
Fri – Sat 10 – 8pm
Sun 10 – 6pm
Monday closed

Thomas Demand in Berlin website

Exhibition: ‘Pierre et Gilles. Retrospective’ at the C/O Berlin Gallery, Berlin

Exhibition dates: 25th July – 4th October, 2009

.

.

Pierre et Gilles
‘Mercury’
2001

.

.

Pierre et Gilles
‘La Madone au coeur blessé’
1991

.

.

Pierre et Gilles
‘Le Petit Communiste Christophe’
1990

.

.

Pierre et Gilles
‘Le Grand Amour’ (Marilyn Manson and Dita von Teese)
2004

.

.

Pierre et Gilles
‘Extase’ (Arielle Dombasle)
2002

.

.

Pierre et Gilles
‘Legend’ (Madonna)
1990

.

.

“It’s hard to think of contemporary culture without the influence of Pierre et Gilles, from advertising to fashion photography, music video, and film. This is truly global art.”

Jeff Koons.

.

The cosmos of the worldwide renowned French artist duo is a vivid, colorful world poised between baroque sumptuousness and earthly limbo. Pierre et Gilles create unique hand-painted photographic portraits of film icons, sailors and princes, saints and sinners, of mythological figures and unknowns alike. Pierre et Gilles pursue their own, stunningly unique vision of an enchanted world spanning fairytale paradises and abyssal depths, quoting from popular visual languages and history of art. Again and again, they re-envision their personal dream of reality anew in consummate aesthetic perfection.

Pierre et Gilles are among the most influential artists of our time. In their complex, multilayered images, they quote from art history, transgress traditional moral codes, and experiment adeptly with social clichés. Their painterly photographic masterpieces exert an intense visual power that leaves the viewer spellbound.

Over the last thirty years, Pierre et Gilles have created photographic portraits of numerous celebrities including Marc Almond, Mirelle Mathieu, Catherine Deneuve, Serge Gainsbourg, Iggy Pop, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Nina Hagen, Madonna, and Paloma Picasso. They work almost exclusively in an opulently furnished studio, where their subjects are costumed lavishly and placed before three-dimensional backgrounds. Pierre photographs the model, and Gilles retouches and hand-colors the print. The reproducible portrait is rendered unique through painting, which highlights each detail with carefully selected materials and accessories.

As only venue in Germany, C/O Berlin presents the exhibition as the first of Pierre et Gilles in fifteen years. The show comprised a total of 80 unique large-format works – from their early photographies of the 1970s to the brand new pictures that were never shown in public before.”

Text from the C/O Berlin website

.

.

Pierre et Gilles
‘Saint Rose De Lima’
1989

.

.

Pierre et Gilles
‘Neptune’
1988

.

.

Pierre et Gilles
‘St. Sebastian’
1987

.

.

Pierre et Gilles
‘St. Sebastian of the Sea’
1994

.

.

Pierre et Gilles
‘The Matrydom of St Sebastian’
1996

.

.

Interesting text at Art Knowledge News website

.

C/O Berlin
Postfuhramt
Oranienburger Straße 35/36
10117 Berlin

Opening hours: daily 11 am to 8 pm

C/O Berlin website

Exhibition: ‘Gilbert & George: Jack Freak Pictures’ at Arndt & Partner, Berlin

Exhibition dates: 16th June – 18th September, 2009

.

My favourite pair of ‘agent provocateurs’ are at it again!!

.

.

Artist duo George (left) and Gilbert (right) pose in front of their work “The Church of England” in Berlin, Germany

.

.

Gilbert & George
‘DATING’
2008

.

.

Gilbert and George
‘BRITISHISM’
2008

.

.

“As the international tour of the last Gilbert & George retrospective (2007–2009) did not include Berlin, Arndt & Partner are now presenting a solo exhibition of the celebrity artist duo in its gallery rooms behind the Hamburger Bahnhof. It is the first Gilbert & George solo show in Berlin for 14 years. The exhibition features a selection of 20 large-scale pieces from the Jack Freak Pictures, the largest Gilbert & George group of pictures to date. The thrust of the content is given by the colors and shapes of the Union Jack flag that dominate the bulk of the pictures as well as the recurring motive of medals, emblems and trees. In the Jack Freak Pictures the artist duo explores aspects of nationhood and of the sentient individual in the nets of society. In his essay published in the catalogue accompanying the exhibition the British writer Michael Bracewell describes these pictures as “the most iconic, philosophically astute and visually violent works that Gilbert & George have ever created …”

.

.

Gilbert & George installation photograph of their exhibition ‘Jack Freak Pictures’ at Arndt & Partner, Berlin

.

.

“Gilbert & George, who met as students of sculpture at St. Martin’s School of Art in London 42 years ago, embarked on a joint artistic career that was to encompass a wide range of media from drawing to video and their trademark pictures. Further, the pair revolutionized the concept of sculpture by presenting themselves as “living sculptures” dressed in the quintessentially British tailored suit, shirt and tie. But it was their monumental trademark pictures composed of a gridlike array of smaller images which they began to create in the early 70s that first brought them international fame. Figures, cityscapes, symbols, plants, bodily fluids, excrements and text interlock in pictorial messages as visually powerful as their content is provocative. The pictures, which started out in black and white and later assumed increasingly luminous, bold colors, generally also depict portraits of the artists themselves and seize on taboo subjects like sexuality, race, religion and national identity with a brash and fearless candor.

.

.

Gilbert & George
‘JESUS SUITS’
2008

.

.

Gilbert & George
‘CHURCH OF ENGLAND’
2008

.

.

“The Jack Freak Pictures again feature the bodies and/or faces of the artists. In these compositions, their bodies function as stylized representatives of the individual in society, whose relationship to social norms and categories, to national, religious and sexual identification processes is relentlessly explored and commented upon. Departing from their earlier oeuvre, some of their new pictures split the raw images into much smaller fragments before merging them into new forms. The result is a fascinating kaleidoscopic mix of the monstrously grotesque with an intricate ornamental structure reminiscent of sacred art. In ever new variations, Gilbert & George order the signs and fragments of social life they find in their neighborhood – the multicultural East End of London –, where solidarity and friendship are as visible as intolerance and marginalization.

Press release from the Arndt & Partner website

.

.

Gilbert & George
‘POSTER DANCE’
2008

.

.

Gilbert & George
‘REALM’
2008

.

.

Gilbert & George
‘SPIDER’
2008

.

.

Gilbert & George
‘UNION WALL DANCE’
2008

.

.

Arndt & Partner
near the Hamburger Bahnhof
Invalidenstraße 50-51
D-10557 Berlin

Opening Hours
Tue-Sat: 11am-6pm

Arndt & Partner website

Berlinische Galerie Opens Panoramic Photographs of Berlin, 1949 – 1952 Exhibition

 

Details of the exhibition on Artdaily.org