I am a Berliner

Actually, I am not a Berliner, and my hereditary relation to Germany is painfully slim. However, it didn't hinder me from enjoying an exhibition with that name that is exhibited right now in the HELENA RUBINSTEIN PAVILION FOR CONTEMPORARY ART in Tel Aviv. "The exhibition seeks to counter the international tendency to see contemporary Berlin as clichéd revival of the Weimar-era city, as well as the assumption that the art produced in Berlin is inevitably shaped by an underlying political motivation. At present, the city of Berlin is being shaped by a whole new series of historical and material realities. Like the individual practices examined in the context of this exhibition, it remains a work in progress, while celebrating a plurality of creative voices." [1]

Favorite Color Palette

Michelle Jezierski, set, 2011, oil on canvas
Courtesy of the artist and Contemporary Fine Art, Berlin
Photo source: Tel Aviv Museum of Art
Color chips created at Chip It!

The colors of the painting create a serene atmosphere. The grey and neutral shades create a calm, slightly cool base and the two dominant pigments - which complete each other across the color wheel - contribute to the overall harmony of the palette.
If asked [please, do ask!], I would name this palette "A Snowy Winter Dawn".


Favorite Technique

Gregor Hildebrandt, Hanging Garden (Cure), 2011, Cassette tapes, adhesive tapes and dispersion paint on canvas
Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Wentrup, Berlin
Photo source: Tel Aviv Museum of Art

This piece was created using cassette tapes, adhesive tape and paint. When you take a closer look, you see that the entire composition is constructed of long, painted white strips. 


Favorite Reminder of Another Favorite

Christian Hoischen, Butterfly, 2011, Enamel and fiberglass on plystyrene
Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Barbara Thumm, Berlin
Photo source: Tel Aviv Museum of Art

The Artist, 2011, Michel Hazanavicius

Perhaps this is what "The Artist" would look like after one too many bottles of fine German beer? 

And, last but definitely not least:

Best Picture [Literally]

Clemens Kraus, Untitled, 2007, Chromosomes, oil on canvas
Photo source: Dominik Mersch Gallery

When I first saw this piece, I stopped and said [probably louder than I should have] "Wow!". It was just that - wow : a big white canvas hanging on a wall with nothing on it but a few heads. Who are they? What do they look like? Where are they going and what are they thinking? We, the audience, have no clue - and that's the beauty of the painting. With no faces to reveal emotions, no bodies to define genders and no background to tell a story, this painting is subjected entirely to our personal interpretations. 


What did I see? I saw people who's lives are completely occult from the eye of the beholder. "We're not as plain as we seem", they say, "there's much more to us underneath the surface".


And there sure is something there. For the very least, numerous layers of paint. For the painting was created with crude, thick brush strokes of thick oil paint.


In short, if you are looking for a ridiculously pricey gift for me [how could you not be], this is it, in all it's glory. 

Have you been to the exhibition? Have you seen the pieces in other galleries? I would love to hear your thoughts! 

My Take On: Buildings

An exciting building …

An exciting building would be a structure that has a presence – a building that intrigues the person, invites him to peek in, and that has an immediate influence on the visitor. I think a visit to a successful building should leave a memory. The visitor should be able to recall how he felt when he first entered it, how he wanted to react and to behave. The building should have some effect on the everyday conduct of the visitor.

Do you agree? Disagree? How do you define an exciting building?