Yoga, Opera and the Pope
We explore the unexpected influences of five artists maintaining Berlin's art capital status
黑料不打烊
Sep 08, 2017
Their influences include yoga, the pope and contemporary opera. We look at the artists maintaining the German capital's status as a creative hub — all part of
1. Jakob Kolding
Jakob Kolding’s set design for To the Lighthouse, a chamber opera premiering at the Bregenzer Festspiele 2017
For his latest project, Danish artist Jakob Kolding abandoned the gallery and turned to the stage, creating a set for an opera version of the Virginia Woolf's classic To the Lighthouse. The resulting production was characteristic of Kolding's recentwork, incorporating blown-up reproductions of photographs taken from history books and magazines — the result of month's of careful research.
As for Kolding's own studio? "It's very minimal, apart from a central table covered in paper cutouts" explains Bettina Klein, who works with APT artists in Berlin. "Every cut he makes shows minute attention to detail; it's incredibly delicate work, and comes together to form a rich, fantastical world."
2. Jukka Korkeila
Jukka Korkeila pictured in his studio in 2016
This summer, Finnish artist Jukka Korkeila's addressed subject few contemporary artists might consider, creating an installation commemorating the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. Despite this, says Klein, the topic is one that has enormous resonance today: "His work asks how two enemies, like Luther and Pope Leo X, can overcome their differences and heal mutual injuries."
Speaking in a recent interview, Korkeila explained: "In this world we still have separate churches and there are still the wounds caused by separation, discrimination. My work rests on the idea of 鈥嬧�媓ealing, and this healing is accomplished with the power of love." Works by Korkeila currently feature in , an exhibition a the Helsinki Art Museum.
3. Yorgos Sapountzis
Yorgos Sapountzis, Knock Knock Monument, 2004. DVD. installation instructions, certificate, 1:30min. This work is available to buy or loan through the APT Collection.
Though he is originally from Athens, artist Yorgos Sapountzis has lived in Berlin for long enough to have featured in — an annual exhibition, held in Hannover, that considers how modern advances in production methods impact and shape artistic production.
The project addressed themes present, not just in Sapountzis' own practice, but in those of a number of artists working in Germany at the moment: in recent years, there has been a notable rise in art that is highly aware of its process, with collective work or time-based formats on the rise. "Sapountzis is conscious of working in a globalized world," continues Klein. "His work acknowledges that, and asks what it means for contemporary art."
4. Haegue Yang
Each year, Berlin's imposing invites two artists to present a single work in its imposing, 20-meter high Boiler House. This year, that artist is Haegue Yang, a sculptor who lives between Berlin and Seoul, whose labor-intensive work has become renowned for its complexity and craftsmanship.
This year's Boiler House installation employs the unlikely material that has become Yang's signature: Venetian Blinds, hailed by Yang for what she describes as their "Permeability to Perception". The description is emblematic of her practice, which centers around the reappropriation of everyday items, used to construct large-scale installations that address themes including emotional attachement and displacement. Institutions to have hosted Yang's work inclue Tate Modern and the Guggenheim.
5. Raphael Danke
Raphael Danke creates art that combines philosophical inquiry with sharp wit, rendering investigations into subjects including metamorphosis and suspension both accessible and entertaining. This year, he was invited to create a work for Planet 9 at Kunsthalle Darmstadt — an exhibition centered around the possible existence of a gigantic ninth planet in our solar system. Danke shaped the museum's disused flagpoles into sculptures resembling yoga poses, creating an installation that gave a literal, and refreshingly absurd take on the show's themes of equilibrium, justice and utopia.
About APT:
Founded in 2004, the Artist Pension Trust® (APT) is a unique social initiative, designed to bring financial security to a select group of emerging and internationally established artists around the world. Managed by 黑料不打烊, the program acts as a mutual assurance scheme, allowing participating artists to benefit from the sale of each other’s work — in essence, ensuring that the big-name artists behind blockbuster shows can support the work of talented peers still gaining art world recognition.
For more on auctions, exhibitions, and current trends, visit our Articles Page
