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| 11/25/05
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4th
berlin biennial for contemporary art
The 4th berlin biennial for contemporary art
is not only a singular exhibition: It is a series of
events, incursions and gestures.
THE 4TH BERLIN
BIENNIAL: A CONSTELLATION OF EVENTS
The first
incursion, begun in March 2005, takes the form of a
column in the Berlin based magazine Zitty,
in which every two weeks the curators have been
interviewing artists working in Berlin. In September
2005, the 4th berlin biennial opened Gagosian
Gallery, Berlin, a guerrilla franchise that presents
a new exhibition every four weeks. A new show titled
“The Gone Wait” and curated by Berlin artist Tobias
Buche, opens today, November 28, 2006, at 7 pm at
Gagosian Gallery, Berlin, Auguststrasse 50A, D-10117
Berlin; the show continues through December 31,
2005.
The three curators, Maurizio Cattelan,
Massimiliano Gioni, and Ali Subotnick, also
contributed a diary detailing their experiences as
newcomers in Berlin, to the Frankfurter Allgemeine
Sonntagszeitung.
The latest effort of the
4th berlin biennial takes the form of a publication,
Checkpoint Charley, which features images
and materials from over 700 artists encountered by the
curators during their research. Checkpoint Charley
is the memory stick of the 4th berlin biennial: it
is an excessive information tool and an attempt to
capture the ever-expanding output of today’s art
scene.
With Zitty, Gagosian Gallery,
Berlin, and Checkpoint Charley, the 4th berlin
biennial configures itself as an octopus-like creature,
each tentacle reaching out in a different direction. One
exhibition is no longer enough to describe a moment in
time; instead the 4th berlin biennial operates as a
series of satellites, all equally important, independent
and yet complementary.
With this insatiable
attitude, the 4th berlin biennial aims to reflect the
exciting diversity of the art scene in Berlin, while
also trying to grasp the radical variety of contemporary
art on an international scale. Seen in this context, the
exhibition of the 4th berlin biennial – which opens on
March 25, 2006 – follows suit as another endeavor,
complete unto itself, but gathering its energy from all
the preceding events.
THE 4TH BERLIN BIENNIAL: AN
EXHIBITION IN ONE STREET
Titled “Of Mice and
Men”, the exhibition will bring together art works
that deal with a looming sense of loss, a threatening
atmosphere of personal insecurity and collective
anxiety.
In order to reflect these atmospheres,
“Of Mice and Men” will not only take place in museum
settings and white cubes; instead, the exhibition will
unravel along one street, Auguststrasse, in Berlin’s
historic Mitte district, presenting art in
unconventional spaces and charged environments. Besides
the institutional settings of the KW Institute for
Contemporary Art, the venues for the 4th berlin biennial
will vary from private apartments to deserted buildings,
offices, churches and schools, occupying and connecting
sites that symbolically reflect the places where we live
our everyday lives and consume our daily
defeats.
The exhibition, “Of Mice and Men” will
include more than 60 artists spanning four generations
and working in a variety of media and techniques. Unlike
the prevailing biennial tendency to debut the latest
talents and movements, this show draws connections
across time and throughout the past and present.
Participating Artists (Please note: this list
is not final. Current as of November 28,
2005):
Tomma Abts, Pawel Althamer, Kai Althoff
and Lutz Braun, Ulf Aminde, Micol Assaël, Roger Ballen,
Michael Beutler, Michaël Borremans, Tobias Buche,
Anthony Burdin, Mircea Cantor, Bruce Conner, Benjamin
Cottam, Martin Creed, Oliver Croy with Oliver Elser,
Roberto Cuoghi, Tacita Dean, Jeremy Deller, Nathalie
Djurberg, Trisha Donnelly, Saul Fletcher, Roland
Flexner, Felix Gmelin, Aneta Grzeszykowska, Sebastian
Hammwöhner / Dani Jakob / Gabriel Vormstein, Sergej
Jensen, Dorota Jurczak, Ian Kiaer, Christopher Knowles,
Robert KuSmirowski, Mark Leckey, Ján Mancuska, Mike
Mandel & Larry Sultan, Mark Manders, Kris Martin,
Matthew Monahan, Bruce Nauman, Damián Ortega, Diego
Perrone, Jorge Queiroz, Reynold Reynolds with Patrick
Jolley, Ricarda Roggan, Aïda Ruilova, Anri Sala, Michael
Schmidt, Thomas Schütte, Norbert Schwontkowski, Tino
Sehgal, Shirana Shahbazi, Florian Slotawa, Marcel van
Eeden, Erik van Lieshout, Paloma Varga Weisz, Clemens
von Wedemeyer, Andro Wekua, Cathy
Wilkes.
4th berlin biennial for
contemporary art
“Of Mice and
Men”
Dates
03/25 –
05/28/06
Open for the
public
03/25/05
Organizer
KW
Institute for Contemporary Art, Auguststrasse 69,
D-10117 Berlin-Mitte
http://www.kw-berlin.de/
Curators
Maurizio
Cattelan, Massimiliano Gioni, Ali Subotnick
Opening Hours
Tuesday – Sunday 12 – 7
pm
Thursday 12 – 9 pm
Admission
Groups of more than 20 persons should contact us in
advance. Discounts are available to students, pensioners
and military conscripts. Admission is free for children
under six and welfare recipients.
Publications
Checkpoint
Charley, design by Conny Purtill, Purtill Family
Business, Los Angeles.
Guide, design by Riedel &
Arnold, Berlin.
The Book, design by Riedel &
Arnold, Berlin.
Visitor Service
KW
Institute for Contemporary Art in cooperation with
Arthur Berlin
Phone 49. (0)30. 24 34 59 61
Fax
49. (0)30. 24 34 59 99
visit@berlinbiennale.de
http://www.arthur-berlin.de/
Accommodation
http://www.berlinbiennale.de/Information/Accommodation
Funding
The
4th berlin biennial for contemporary art is funded by
the German Federal Cultural Foundation.
The Gagosian
Gallery, Berlin, is realized with the support of the
Culture 2000 programme of the European
Union.
The ifa - Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen,
Stuttgart/Rave-Stiftung supports the
4th berlin
biennial with two Rave-scholarships for foreign
curators.
Contact
4th berlin biennial
for contemporary art
KW Institute for Contemporary
Art
Auguststrasse 69
D-10117 Berlin
Phone 49.
(0) 30. 24 34 59 – 0
Fax 49. (0) 30. 24 34 59 –
99
office@berlinbiennale.de
press@berlinbiennale.de
http://www.kw-berlin.de/
http://www.berlinbiennale.de/
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