Shifting Perspectives (21 October 2017 – 08 April 2018)
A Cinematic-Photographic Journey through East Germany
The exhibition Shifting Perspectives charts the transitional period of East Germany, from the GDR and the post-reunification era to the present day. Using the collection of the Brandenburg Museum for Modern Art as a starting point, the exhibition shows the work of 22 artists who focus on the shifting landscapes and urban structures in East Berlin and Brandenburg. Overgrown border zones, cities in transformation and personal stories hint at imminent change or depict the development of public spaces since reunification. Participating artists include Arno Fischer, Seiichi Furuya, Stephanie Steinkopf, Clemens von Wedemeyer, Ulrich Wüst and Tobias Zielony, whose work is set against the architectural sculptures of raumlaborberlin.
IDENTITY, PHOTOGRAPHY AND PUBLIC SPACE
Political, economic and social conditions constantly leave their mark on our environment. At the same time, external structures also shape the people who live within them. The artistic positions presented in the exhibition powerfully convey the significance of public space in the formation of identity. The visual language of the works employs documentary strategies as well as subjective associations.´A historical point of reference is the photographic volume Fotografie und Gedächtnis [Photography and Memory], commissioned by the 'Association for Pictorial Research and Contemporary History' in the 1990s. The works shown in Shifting Perspectives are both and creative visual reflections and valuable testimonies.
PHOTOGRAPHY AND MEMORY
An important historical reference point for this exa minationis the photographic volume Fotografie und Gedächtnis[Photography and Memory], commissioned by the Association for Pictorial Research and Contemporary History in Berlin between 1993 and 1996. The images featured in the book provide an art-photographic view of East Germany after the fall of the Berlin Wall, and portray unremarkable places in
Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-West Pomerania and Saxony-Anhalt. Some of these places now radiate a new lustre after their renovation, while others see their very existence under threat. Part of the exhibition shows selected photographs from Brandenburg that reflect the breaks and shifts since the reunification era.
FEATURED ARTISTS:
Laurenz Berges, Katja Eydel, Arno Fischer, Seiichi Furuya, Sven Gatter, Andreas Gefeller, Jean-Pierre Giloux, Göran Gnaudschun, Anne Heinlein, Alexander Janetzko, Monika Lawrenz, Manfred Paul, Merit Pietzker, Ludwig Rauch, Jürgen Rehrmann, Joachim Richau, Stephanie Steinkopf, Ingeborg Ullrich, Clemens von Wedemeyer, Thomas Wolf, Ulrich Wüst, Tobias Zielony; architectural sculpture by raumlaborberlin
THE COLLABORATION BETWEEN THE ZKR AND THE BLMK
Shifting Perspectives is a collaboration between the Brandenburg State Museum for Modern Art (BLmK), Cottbus/Frankfurt (Oder). In early 2018, an exhibition on the same theme will be shown in the town hall of the BLmK location Frankfurt (Oder), while the BLmK site in Cottbus will host a series of events addressing issues of changing identities and societal conditions in East and West Germany.
Shifting Perspectives
An exhibition in collaboration with the Brandenburg State Museum for Modern Art
Dates: 21 October 2017 – 08 April 2018
Between Spaces (28 April – 08 October 2017)
Artistic Perspectives on Architecture and Urban Space
How do political and economic interests shape the urban environment? Which boundaries and power structures are encoded in it? And which creative media are best suited to give them visibility or to overcome them? In Between Spaces, 15 artists examine questions and contradictions found in urban life. The exhibition places work by Gordon Matta-Clark and perspectives on East Berlin into a dialogue with current artistic positions.
On 27 April 2017, the ZKR opened its second group exhibition, Between Spaces, bringing together diverse artistic perspectives on urbanism, architecture and public space. The historical basis for the exhibition is the pioneering work of Gordon Matta-Clark (1943-1978). The New York artist revolutionised the practice of art in the public realm in the 1960s and 1970s, and to this day remains a source of inspiration to contemporary artists across many disciplines. In the first part of the exhibition, the work of Matta-Clark is set against that of contemporary artists and artist groups. In the second part, the urban landscape of Berlin is brought into focus: Works by artists from the former GDR enter into a dialogue with standpoints of young Berlin-based artists. The focal point of the exhibition is the notion of urban space as the social, artistic and political hub of a society. Between Spaces was realised in collaboration with external curators and the Kunstarchiv Beeskow.
In Between Spaces, 15 artists examine questions and contradictions found in urban life. The exhibition places work by Gordon Matta-Clark and perspectives on East Berlin into a dialogue with current artistic positions. The featured artists appropriate unused sites and lend new forms to inconspicuous in-between spaces. From 1970s New York to 1980s East Berlin and the global village of today, the exhibition brings together these various frames of reference: thus, itself, shifting “between spaces”. A historical point of departure is the pioneering work of Gordon Matta-Clark, the New York artist who began cutting buildings in the 1970s to reveal their innermost core, and who created places of social interaction in urban
wastelands. Matta-Clark revolutionised the practice of art in the public realm, and to this day remains a source of inspiration for contemporary artists.
Featured artists, Between Spaces:
Annemirl Bauer (DE), Sibylle Bergemann (DE), Simon Faithfull (UK), Antje Fretwurst-Colberg (DE), Brigitte Fugmann (DE), Raumlabor (DE), Gordon Matta-Clark (US), Isa Melsheimer (DE), Sabine Peuckert (DE), Andrea Pichl (DE), Marjetica Potrč (SI), KUNSTrePUBLIK (DE), Tomás Saraceno (AR), Diana Sirianni (IT), Ursula Strozynski (DE)
Project Landscape (10 September 2016 - 17 April 2017)
The Inaugural Exhibition of the new ZKR – Center for Art and Public Space Schloss Biesdorf
The inaugural exhibition, Project Landscape, showcases almost 30 artistic positions ranging from landscape painting to multimedia installations and botanical experiments, juxtaposing internationally renowned contemporary stances and artworks from the former DDR. The selected artists examine our notions of landscape, query the relationship between the individual and the environment, and touch on questions of societal responsibility and social function within urban and landscape planning.
Director Katja Aßmann sheds light on the concept: “Human-made landscapes originating from across different eras and cultures have influenced our idea of the landscape. By retaining them in the form of drawings, paintings, photographs, films and sound, artists are able to embed these images in the collective memory. The exhibition Project Landscape is dedicated to an array of distinct artistic positions that all regard the landscape as a cultural projection.”
ABOUT THE EXHIBITION
The exhibition Project Landscape introduces new perspectives on a seemingly familiar issue: internationally-renowned artists such as Jeppe Hein (Copenhagen, Berlin), Martin Kaltwasser (Berlin), Janet Laurence (Sydney), Michael Sailstorfer (Berlin) and Jeanne van Heeswijk (Rotterdam) examine the relationship between the individual and the environment, and challenge the perceptions of the observer. Artists such as Kurt Buchwald (Berlin), Manfred Butzmann (Potsdam), Joseph W. Huber (Halle), Nuria Quevedo (Berlin and Sant Feliu de Guíxols) and Olaf Wegewitz (Huy-Neinstedt), who were active in the DDR, combine their exhibited works with personal and political themes.
PROJECT LANDSCAPE – THE ARTISTS’ POSITIONS
Atelier le Balto, Joachim Bayer, Günther Brendel, Kurt Buchwald, Manfred Butzmann, Martin Colden, Wolfgang Domröse, Erik Göngrich, Jeppe Hein, Joseph W. Huber, Köbberling / Kaltwasser, Janet Laurence, Seraphina Lenz, Nuria Quevedo, Otto Möhwald, Charlotte E. Pauly, Uwe Pfeifer, Anna Rispoli/Zimmerfrei, Michael Sailstorfer, Hanns Schimansky, Margot Sperling, Jeanne van Heeswijk, Ralf Rainer Wasse, Olaf Wegewitz.
The exhibition Project Landscape was curated by Katja Aßmann, Angelika Weißbach, and Jeannette Brabenetz and was realised in collaboration with the Kunstarchiv Beeskow.
Artistic Positions
atelier le balto (DE/FR) | Kurt Buchwald (DE) | Günther Brendel (DE) | Manfred Butzmann (DE) Wolfgang Domröse (DE) | Erik Göngrich (DE) | Jeanne van Heeswijk (NL) | Jeppe Hein (DE/DK)
Joseph W. Huber (DE) | Köbberling/Kaltwasser (DE) | Janet Laurence (AU) | Seraphina Lenz (DE)
Charlotte E. Pauly (DE) | Nuria Quevedo (DE/ES) | Michael Sailstorfer (DE) | Ralf-Rainer Wasse (DE)
Olaf Wegewitz (DE) | ZimmerFrei (BE/IT)
And the graphic portfolios:
Kamern, 1969/70 mit Arbeiten von Sigrid Artes, Klaus Drechsler, Dietrich Fröhner, Willy Günther, Walter Lauche, Klaus Magnus, Gerhard Schwarz, Elfriede Seibt, Lothar Sell, Erika Stürmer-Alex, Aini Teufel, Christine Wahl, Matthias Wegehaupt
Landschaften – 8 Grafiken zu Gedichten von Johannes R. Becher, 1981
mit Arbeiten von Otto Möhwald, Uwe Pfeifer
Natur und Umwelt, 1982 mit Arbeiten von Meinhard Bärmich, Rudolf Sittner
Stadt Landschaft Berlin, 1987 mit Arbeiten von Joachim Bayer, Martin Colden, Olaf Nehmzow, Hanns Schimansky, Margot Sperling