BMW Art Guide by Independent Collectors

Maike Cruse

2020 Gallery Weekend Berlin

Maike Cruse. Photo: Gene Glover
Maike Cruse. Photo: Gene Glover
Ugo Rondinone, Exhibition view: Seven Magic Mountains, 2016 – 2021, Courtesy: the artist and Esther Schipper, Photo: Gianfranco Gorgoni
Ugo Rondinone, Exhibition view: Seven Magic Mountains, 2016 – 2021, Courtesy: the artist and Esther Schipper, Photo: Gianfranco Gorgoni

Gallery Weekend Berlin (GWB), this year in its 16th edition, was pushed later from its typical April scheduling to September. Tell us a little bit about the history of GWB.

Gallery Weekend was founded in 2005 by the major galleries to bring the international artworld, who they frequently met at art fairs all over the world, to their local gallery spaces in Berlin. It has swiftly become one of the most-favoured contemporary art events, this year with 48 galleries opening their doors to our visitors.

How do you, as director, ensure that the event stays contemporary and current in the (existing) fast-paced world that is the art market, further now amongst our Covid crisis?

Gallery Weekend is bringing together and supporting the participating and partnering galleries. The galleries themselves are adapting constantly to the current conditions and keep adjusting to the current topics.

Every year we are inviting some new galleries who build up artists in a sustainable way.

This year we expanded Gallery Weekend digitally with a new online appearance. The website provides virtual introductions to the exhibitions on each of the galleries’ individual pages and will be regularly updated to further function as a sales platform during Gallery Weekend. In addition, it offers a comprehensive overview of topics relevant to the Berlin art scene, highlighting the views of key figures within it as well as granting a historical review of the capital’s art market.

Grit Richter, As Long As You Are Here, 2020. Courtesy: Galerie Tanja Wagner
Grit Richter, As Long As You Are Here, 2020. Courtesy: Galerie Tanja Wagner
D’Ette Nogle, Dresses, 1996, Courtesy: the artist and Sweetwater
D’Ette Nogle, Dresses, 1996, Courtesy: the artist and Sweetwater
Ebensperger Rhomberg. Marta Górnicka, Jedem das Seine (production photo), Premiere 2018 at Münchner Kammerspiele. Courtesy: Maxim Gorki Theater, Photo: David Baltzer
Ebensperger Rhomberg. Marta Górnicka, Jedem das Seine (production photo), Premiere 2018 at Münchner Kammerspiele. Courtesy: Maxim Gorki Theater, Photo: David Baltzer

Is there something as part of this year’s GWB program that you are particularly looking forward to?

I am looking forward to see the exhibitions of our new participants, the acclaimed galleries Tanja Wagner, Sweetwater and Ebensperger.

Apart from this I am looking forward to a mix of new works by artworld heavyweights as Phillipe Parreno, Ugo Rondinone, Miriam Cahn, Andreas Gursky, Olafur Eliasson as well as the shows of younger artists like Josephine Baker, Ambera Wellman, Wilhelm Klotzek and Tina Braegger.

Andreas Gursky, Pigs I, 2020, Copyright Andreas Gursky / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn, 2020 Courtesy: Sprüth Magers
Andreas Gursky, Pigs I, 2020, Copyright Andreas Gursky / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn, 2020 Courtesy: Sprüth Magers
Ambera Wellmann, Landscape with a Figure of a Woman, 2020, Courtesy: the artist and Kraupa-Tuskany Zeidler, Photo: Ramiro Chaves
Ambera Wellmann, Landscape with a Figure of a Woman, 2020, Courtesy: the artist and Kraupa-Tuskany Zeidler, Photo: Ramiro Chaves

What do the artworks being presented at the 16th Gallery Weekend reveal about the current trends and market?

I do not believe in trends in contemporary art, as this is more something that can be depicted in fashion. Gallery Weekend shows a mix of very different perspectives on the world from very different artists. We are happy to say that we have 50 % female artists this year, after a few years of having a slightly male dominated artist list.

What advice do you have for the collectors that will be attending GWB this year? What are you expecting in terms of an international attendance?

Gallery Weekend is usually visited by collectors and art lovers from all over the world. This year due to the Coronavirus and travel restrictions we expect a much more German and European audience. I would advise collectors who cannot travel to Berlin this year to check out our website and the galleries and shows beforehand. I am taking a tour through all the participating galleries every year which can totally be done if you plan your visit well.

How do you react to current happenings of Berlin collections, as two, potentially three exit the city, as well as the beginning of Studio Berlin - Boros Foundation’s new and anticipated initiation at the legendary Berghain techno club?

I am very much looking forward to seeing Studio Berlin, a fantastic initiative to see many of the great artists currently living and working in Berlin. It shows the power of Berlin as the city of artists and the city of production.

Furthermore, I am optimistic and hopeful about the great Julia Stoschek Collection staying in Berlin and giving us the opportunity to see fantastic shows in media art. The Jeremy Shaw exhibition is a must see of this week.

Catherine Biocca, Milky Seas, 2020. Courtesy: Catherine Biocca and PSM, Copyright: Catherine Biocca
Catherine Biocca, Milky Seas, 2020. Courtesy: Catherine Biocca and PSM, Copyright: Catherine Biocca
Anna K.E., Studio Landscape I, 2020, Courtesy: the artist and Galerie Barbara Thumm
Anna K.E., Studio Landscape I, 2020, Courtesy: the artist and Galerie Barbara Thumm

As former director of the now ceased Art Berlin Fair, as part of Berlin Art Week, can you offer any further comments on the situation of the new replacement event to launch in September 2021?

We are working on various ideas and are looking forward to speaking with Berlin Art Week and the Berlin institutions about creating a meaningful collective event in the fall, to develop a similar international radiance as Gallery Weekend in spring.

For this weekend, what exhibition or event external to your program is on your “must-see” list, given the amount of action happening together with the Berlin Art Week program and the Berlin Biennale, newly opened on September 5?

During Gallery Weekend I will concentrate on visiting our 48 galleries.

Before the weekend I am looking forward to seeing the shows at Julia Stoschek Collection, Studio Berlin at Berghain, Christian Jankowskis Show at the private collection Fluentum and the Berlin Biennale.

More Information on Gallery Weekend Berlin

Insiders (67)

Wilhelmina Jewell Strong - Sparks

Founder of BiTHOUSE Projects - BAAR Art Journey

MATTHIAS ARNDT

Collector behind the ARNDT Collection

Sandra Guimarães

Director of Museum of Contemporary Art Helga de Alvear

Grazyna Kulczyk

Founder of Muzeum Susch

THE FAIREST

Interview with Georgie Pope and Eleonora Sutter, Co-founders

Kamiar Maleki

Director at VOLTA

Gallery Weekend Berlin 2022

Tokini Peterside

Founder and Director, ART X Lagos

Poka-Yio

Founding Director of the Athens Biennale

Boris Ondreička

Artistic Director of viennacontemporary

Maribel Lopez

Director of ARCO

David Gryn

Founder and Director of Daata

Fondation Beyeler Audiovisual Broadcast

Fondation Beyeler and Nordstern Basel present Dixon x Transmoderna

Gary Yeh

Founder of ArtDrunk and Young Collector

WATCH: The Best of the BMW Art Guide

Where will you travel next to explore art?

Touria El Glaoui

Founding Director of 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair

Johann König

Messe in St. Agnes

PArt - Producers Art Platform

A crisis initiative to help artists directly affected by the pandemic

Barbara Moore

CEO of Biennale of Sydney

Unique Collector’s Item

by Independent Collectors

Alix Dana

Fair Director at Independent

When Collectors are Able to Commission

by Nicole Büsing and Heiko Klaas

Juliet Kothe and Julia Rust

Initiators of Collection Night, Berlin

Marie-Anne McQuay

Curator of Wales in Venice, 58th Venice Biennale 2019

Dorothy and Herb Vogel

Two extraordinary art collectors

Heather Hubbs

Director at NADA

Every Art Collection Needs Space

by Nicole Büsing and Heiko Klaas

Collecting Art with François Pinault

Rudolf Stingel at Palazzo Grassi

A Common Ground

by Silvia Anna Barrilà

Caroline Vos

Director at Amsterdam Art Weekend

Hidden Collections

by Nicole Büsing and Heiko Klaas

Nicole Berry

Executive Director of The Armory Show

Daniel Hug

Fair Director at Art Cologne

The Role of the Art Fair

by Silvia Anna Barrilà

Peter Bläuer

Director at LISTE

A Brush Against Nature

by Nicole Büsing and Heiko Klaas

Ilaria Bonacossa

Director of Artissima

Excessiveness, the Latent Danger of Collecting Art

by Independent Collectors

Jo Stella-Sawicka

Artistic Director at Frieze

Florence Bourgeois

Director at Paris Photo

Where Artists Can Work More Playfully

by Christiane Meixner

Specifically Commissioned

by Silvia Anna Barrilà

Manuela Mozo

Executive Director of UNTITLED, ART Miami and San Francisco

Important Museums and Private Collections

by Christiane Meixner

Susanna Corchia

Director of the Barcelona Gallery Weekend

Emilia van Lynden

Artistic Director at Unseen, Amsterdam

Carlos Urroz

Director at ARCOmadrid

Shoe Smudges Streaked Across the White Walls

by Christiane Meixner

Amanda Coulson

Director at VOLTA Basel

Douwe Cramer

Director at Singapore Contemporary

Art and Architecture – Attractive Allies

by Nicole Büsing and Heiko Klaas

Jo Baring

Curator of Sculpture Series, Masterpiece London

Bidders and Buyers

by Christiane Meixner

Anne Vierstraete

Managing Director at Art Brussels

Nanna Hjortenberg

Director at CHART

The Crucial Role of the New

by Independent Collectors

Makers and Believers

On Art History’s Most Famous Patrons

The Past is Back

And collectors are buying it up

Are Artists the Better Curators?

On the diminishing boundary between professions in the art world

The Digital Museum

On the importance of the museum’s web presence

The Man in the Middle

On the curator’s private and public engagements

A Private Matter?

On the importance of physical space for the value of art

Off the Wall

How museums contribute to the worth of artworks

Where to Go Next?

The fragmentation of Manhattan’s gallery scene

To Buy or Not to Buy

Collectors on their experiences of letting an artwork slip away

How to Pass On a Passion

On long-term challenges for new private museums