Berliner Liste 2011
Berlin’s former power plant hosts the world’s brightest contemporary artists
by Shawn Thomson
Known for its unfiltered take on contemporary art in recent years, Germany’s capital city has increasingly become an international stomping ground for artists, dealers, collectors and enthusiasts alike, all there to relish in an atmosphere without the financial constraints of art hubs like New York and London. One show really capturing Berlin’s artistically autonomous spirit is Berliner Liste, a three-day fair located in a former power plant that showcases over 100 galleries from Germany and beyond.
The broad spectrum of both established and emerging artists sets the stage for an international exchange across disciplines, spanning sculpture, painting, photography and video and performance art. On par with most major art fairs, the impressive display is nearly overwhelming—but a few stand out from the pack.
Vincent Bousserez showed his satirical take on scale with beautiful executions of tilt-shift-style photographs at The Artistery. On view at Artcuraor.ru, Ilya Kukushkin describes his bold paintings as “Neo analytical constructivism.” Controversial contemporary vet Morten Viskum made a statement with the striking new work, “I’m crazy about Liza. We get on the phone and just gossip, gossip, gossip” and the life-sized self-portrait “The Perfect Sculpture,” at Son Espace Gallery. The result of a year spent traveling around the world with an imaginary superhero called SleepingBagMan, Marcus Veith’s documented his fiction with photography .
Berliner Liste closes 11 September 2011, at the extraordinary Trafo building, with the award ceremony for The Peter-Christian-Schluschen Foundation‘s young photography contest on 11 September 2011 at 7pm.
