With so much to do for Berlin Art Week, it seems the only way to see everything is to be everywhere at once! Since no one has quite been able to master this skill just yet (unless you have one of those gold time turner thingys from Harry Potter) we have sent our dutiful reporters out to locations around the city to bring you up-to-date reports of all of the festivities. So if you missed any of the action today, we have it all here for you in our daily round-up!

The Stranger Side Of Reality
Hamburger Bahnhof – “Secret Universe” September 11th-September 14th

Wandering up a side staircase, expecting a few cheery snaps of children’s toys in fancy frocks, “Secret Universe” makes you stop in your tracks (in a good way; the floors aren’t sticky or anything). Confronted immediately with a grinning figurine of a young girl posing flirtatiously, this exhibition challenges all perceptions of what we consider beautiful, deviates from anything we could have expected and dares to defy the lack of vitality in traditional photography. These uninterrupted rows of photographs and handmade dolls are on display in Hamburger Bahnhof and are weirdly addictive.

Bartlett created 15 dolls, each more bizarre than the last, now being presented to indulge your curiosity.  As if this wasn’t creepy enough, peering inside a glass case and realizing you’re looking at tiny hands, feet and ears is enough to make onlookers think they have entered another world.  Despite the disturbing nature of the pieces, it’s impossible not to be impressed by the craftsmanship.  The artist spent around 50 hours working on each face, meticulously imitating realistic features and various expressions.

Other fascinating exhibits are worth checking out too, especially Die Toten, a thought-provoking set of media photographs archived and donated to the gallery by Hans-Peter Feldmann, which seriously hits you in the face with the number of deaths resulting from riots and demonstrations.  Whatever happens, don’t miss the Marx Collection, including works from Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein.

But whatever you do, don’t miss “Secret Universe.”The resounding opinion from exhibition visitors: “urgh, totally spooky, but you’ve got to see it.” Artparasites, you’ve been warned.

Report by: Colleen O’Brien

Seductive and Provocative

C/O Berlin – “Timeless Beauty”

Exhibition: “Timeless Beauty” photo by: Andrea Ongaro

The blurry limit between art and commerce has always lent itself to a particular kind of image. “Timeless beauty 100 years of fashion photography from Man Ray to Mario Testino” at the C/O Berlin explores the saga of fashion photography, from its very beginning to the present.

Dark rooms and an elegant display of photos tell us how this amazing genre recorded the costume of an era an influenced the dreams of so many people during a century, inventing a strong impact style for magazines like Vogue and Vanity Fair that still rule today.

The eccentric language of the wonderful photos (and models!), leads us not only through the exhibition and lets us retrace its glossy past, but it also gives us a huge amount of tips on how to utilize the elegance of the past in our own fashion  choices today.

Report by: Andrea Ongaro

Color and Contrast
Galerie Guido W. Baudach Wedding – “JANUS”  September 11th-October 27th 12-6pm

Onlooker examines the “JANUS” Exhibition. Photo by: Marie Burrows

Tucked away in a courtyard in Wedding is Galerie Guido W. Baudach, currently housing the work of Dutch artist  Erik van Lieshout.  His latest exhibition ‘JANUS’ is his second solo exhibition and consists primarily of two videos, ‘JANUS’ and ‘Jail’, which are housed in a large, colourful construction made of materials including wood, colored card, and lace. The back wall is also lined with three impressive large scale drawings, which are also part of the erratic, collage-like production process Lieshout employs.

Over on Friedrichstrasse at Galerie Christian Ehrentraut is the Indonesian artist Yudi Noor‘s exhibition ‘Accumulation and the Hereafter Perception’. Noor’s second solo exhibition at the gallery includes a number of carefully placed assemblage pieces, sculptures and embroideries which playfully combine notions of mysicism, minimalism and pop-culture.

Floor sculptures combining architectural material samples sit alongside embroidered sculptures and other assemblages making use of a a wide range of materials, including wood, metal, rubber and plexiglass. Paticularly interesting is installation sulpture ‘Patience on top of patience’ which includes quirkliy embroidered denim presented on a pole like structure. Overall an interesting and fresh perspective of Noor’s conceptual, spiritual and social outlooks.

Report by: Marie Burrows

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