Please excuse this shameless example of self-promotion, but I am really happy...
After what feels like forever I've managed to take some decent photos of the artwork in my current solo show at Wilde Gallery in Berlin.

Let me say this: these pieces are a *major* pain in the ass to photograph, thanks to the combination of pitch blackness and low contrast. Everyone who is interested in these is strongly encouraged to have a look at the real thing. If I may quote freely from what I have heard at the opening: it's one of the rare occasions when the pieces look better in nature than in the photos.

The photos at the top are: IMG_5430 - John Wright, IMG_3997

So here's the first batch of new works:



IMG_3761, IMG_3888
IMG_1298 - Kreator 1, IMG_4517 - Irvine Alley
IMG_5118, detail of the cop's face in IMG_3888:

I've posted the APs of these before, this is the new set of the Boxhagener Platz series.

left to right:
IMG_5173, IMG_5076, IMG_5105 and IMG_4963

a detail of IMG_4963:


and finally a few impressions from the interior of the gallery:


"Grains of Wrath"
Sept. 11th - Oct. 10th, 2009
Wilde Gallery, Chausseestr. 7, 10115 Berlin - www.wilde-gallery.com
Opening hours: Wed. - Sat., 12 - 6 p.m.
An online version of the catalog is here.

In case anyone wants to know, most of the original photos were taken at minor clashes between police and protesters in Berlin in 2007 and 2009, the photo of John Wright is from a Nomeansno concert in Berlin in 2007, Kreator played here in 2009 and finally the Irvine shot was taken in the alley behind Irvine Contemporary in Washington D.C. in 2009.

Labels: Berlin, pisa73

Today the gf and I stumbled into Nasan Tur's (cv) exhibition at Tanas by accident: we were asking directions to a Bill Viola exhibition (Bill Viola "Transfiguration", Haunch of Venison, Heidestrasse 46, www.haunchofvenison.com) and decided to have a look around. I remembered seeing reviews in several magazines and at least someone I know personally held Nasan Tur in pretty high regard.
He seems to enjoy taking jabs at society either by supplying willing marchers with subversive backpacks, or by providing those who always wanted to make a point with a speaker system, or simply by continuously summersaulting in crowed spaces. He also appears to be very fond of bad spelling and taking the occasional bath in a puddle.

Taking photos was kindly allowed by the gallery so here are a few examples.

"Time for Revollusion" (2008)

more...

"Komunismus Soziallismus Kapietalismus" (2008)
Oddly enough even though all three words are obviously spelled wrong I found it hard to actually spot the errors once I was facing the rather huge letters.

more...

"Speaker-Backpack, Cooking-Backpack, Demonstration-Backpack, Sabotage-Backpack, Fan-Backpack" (2006)

more...

"Passport" (2000)
I really like this one (quote from the website):
"Applying for a German passport, Nasan Tur let his mustache grow over several months, fitting the cliche of the Turk in Germany. This small alteration in his appearance led to a complete change in perception of and reaction to him from the outside world in his daily life. In the circles in which he normally moved he was suddenly no longer welcome, was seen more an embarassment, and from a female point of view, unsexy, whereas he was greeted with "Salem Aleykum" when walking past Turkish cafes and reaped
enthusiastic compliments from aunts and uncles. Nasan Tur had a photo taken with his Turkish mustache and gave it to the authorities for his German passport. Now Tur is the owner of a German passport with
a photo of a cliche-Turk, which he actually is not. Tur thematizes in this work how far one is pushed into certain socially defined identities which one must then fullfil. The German passport that accompanies him on his travels presents him thus at each passport control."

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"Like New" (2007)
Old shoes colored by street shoeblacks.

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"Somersaulting Man" (2001-2004)
Four digital videos shot in Istanbul, Tokyo, Frankfurt and Paris. These stills seem to be from Tokyo.

more...

Labels: Berlin, nasan tur, tanas

Well, some photos of the artwork and the opening of Geezer Graff Gala at Common Ground Gallery/Hip-Hop Stützpunkt in Berlin. Eliot did tremendous job promoting the show and his efforts were rewarded by a lot of visitors and press.

That's Geezer Graff Gala, Common Ground Gallery, Marienburger Str. 16a (backyard), Berlin.
The show will end next Sunday.

More information on my blog.

Base23:





Eliot:



Evol:



Pisa73:



Opening:

Labels: base23, Berlin, common ground gallery, eliot, evol, geezer, ggg, mzee, pisa73