empathy

Bright Lights of Language

Yesterday evening, at the opening of Robert Montgomery‘s Echoes of Voices in High Towers, the sun bowed graciously behind the looming structures at Tempelhofer Park allowing the British artist’s illuminated sculptures to burst into bloom in the evening’s darkness. Here, as part of Montgomery’s largest exhibition to date, were two short poems mounted on billboards, each letter traced with light. The exhibition, held in collaboration with gallery, Neue Berliner Räume, is surely set to be one of this summer’s highlights.

 

Light Sculpture. Photo by Morgan MeakerRobert Montgomery’s poetic billboard in Tempelfhofer Park. Photo: Morgan Meaker

 

Yet this is the tip of the iceberg, alongside the two illuminated pieces in the disused airport, Montgomery’s work sprawls across Berlin; three billboards stand in front of the airport’s main building and ten more occupy advertising space in the city’s streets (see if you can spot them over the coming months!), with ten more works yet to be revealed. At the end of the summer, we will also be treated to an exhibition of his drawings (location to be confirmed soon) during the first Berlin Art Week.

 

His poems, tinged with romance, address the history of Berlin; a place formed by its past yet liberated by its future. His billboards stand in the street, anonymous and unnamed, white words on black background. They untie themselves from the shackles of ‘art’, allowing the passer by to look upon them through curious eyes, absorbing the words without preconceptions.

 

Montgomery’s Berlin takeover lasts throughout the summer, so there’s plenty of time to find each piece. For something truly special, we highly suggest scheduling your visit to the Tempelhof sculptures to coincide with the sunset; for here is melancholia at its most beautiful.

 

  • Find three billboards in front of Tempelhof Airport’s main building, the two light sculptures in Tempelhofer Park (Main Entrance: Columbiadamm 126) and ten billboards hidden in Berlin. HINT: try starting your search on Yorckstrasse. (Price Rance: €1,000 (for billboards) – €20,000 (for light sculptures)

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