experimental BERLIN

About

To celebrate the start of the new season in New York, Richard Taittinger Gallery, is thrilled to present an installation of the radiant Berlin art scene. The group exhibition, Experimental Berlin, explores the varying applications of painterly materials and forms, an analysis of industrial techniques and social appropriations by some of the city’s best artists. The exhibition’s participants include Claudia Chaseling, Gregor Hildebrandt, Renaud Regnery, Henning Strassburger, and Nathan Peter.

The expressive and abstract painters in the show are influencing their contemporaries throughout Berlin and the world. As a window into the playfulness of this unique Berlin aesthetic, this exhibition examines the diverse practices of the city’s second generation of artists. The selection of works combine intuitive and reflexive thoughts revealing an international panorama that continues to grow within the city.

There are elements of both intense spontaneity and precision presented in the paintings of this exhibition. The artists are aptly aware of the materiality of the art products they use to construct their works.

Chaseling’s vibrant canvases are pulsating, her near impulsive attempt to liberate paint from its surface. Alternatively, the paint, as well as its woven surface, is Peter’s medium. Rather than pulling the paint from the canvas, the canvas is meant to pull away from itself – instilling a sense of craft and fine art within his work.

The art of Berlin is insidious to varying artistic mediums; the fine arts are inextricably linked to design and music. Strassburger’s work is an example of this effect, wherein he often applies paint to commercial imagery thereby countering contemporary visual culture. Similarly, Regnery uses readymade wallpaper as the backdrop of his works, posing the question: do beautiful objects without function contribute to society? Hilderbrandt incorporates elements of pop culture into his work. His mixed media canvases, which typically involve analog tape motifs, create a barrier between what is seen and heard.

Aspects of what is and isn’t real are perpetual themes throughout the exhibition. The artists are challenging the humane concept of what an object is; manipulating and reimagining materials, presenting them as both meaningless and otherwise. The fabrication of the works are playful, yet echo the industrious and innovative environment of Berlin