What's the best thing about an art show? The artists of course! Going to an opening gives you the chance to mingle with the artists, ask them about their creations, let them tell you interesting side info you would probably never gather just from looking at their pieces. Even better is, if you know the artist already, and they receive you as a friend (who may hopefully even bring some other people to their show). This is precisely what I had the pleasure to be part of last Thursday, when my friend Stefan Ruthenfranz presented his paintings, together with two other artists, at their opening in Pandora Art Gallery - no, that gallery moved locations. This one is a separate project called Ugly Paintings Art Gallery, both in Berlin Kreuzberg.
Harnessing Your Imagination
First and foremost, I wanted to see my friend's exposition. I had been familiar with his art from images posted online, but seeing the paintings in real was a whole new experience. Though mostly abstract, looking at them felt a bit like watching clouds, or taking a close look at the bark of a tree: you will inadvertently see things in it, that clearly come from your own imagination. Well, in Stefan's paintings this pareidolic creativity is combined with actual forms that were intentionally included. Mostly they resemble organic shapes, such as eyes, noses, nipples, or testicles. Some of them could be a number of things, while others blend into completely abstract imagery. In short, they are the kind of art you can look at for hours and days, and always discover something new.
Please forgive my lack of photos here, because they wouldn't do justice to the actual pieces, particularly with the changing illumination. So instead, I included the artist himself, between two of my favorite paintings.
Guinchi, the Guy Behind the Art Show
Being at the opening, I also had the chance to talk to other artists, most interestingly Guinchi, at whose gallery the opening was organized. Guinchi is a sculptor himself, whose work includes welded pieces, rubber masks, and pretty much anything you can put together to create incredible looking objects. Here he is standing next to a self-portrait. The beak form harkens back to his pre-colombian origins.
Other Impressive Attendees
But it was not just the exhibiting artists that were interesting folks to meet. For example, one guy I ended up chatting with way more than I expected is also a dedicated photographer, Alexander Zelasny. Two of the pics in this post are by him. Another interesting guest who came to see the opening was Brigitta Friedrich, whose art uses pieces of plastic straws pieced together in a way so that they create interesting visual images. Some of them are purely abstract - but offer a huge array of spectacular visuals, depending on your point of view and its illumination. Others are actual portraits of faces, which are even more impressive, given the time, work, and skills that went into them. To raise things to an even higher level, it's good to keep in mind that straws have become a rarity these days, so scoring the material makes Brigitta's art even more challenging.
Photo by Alexander Zelasny
Missed Chances to Come Back to Next Time
As these things tend to go, I did not come away without regrets. For example, I did not have a chance to talk to Laura Schürmann, the third artist who exhibited some of her creations at this opening. Also, the DJ Feel.MA in charge of the music at the show should be mentioned, as one of his tracks remained playing in my head for the rest of the evening. It was an electronic interpretation of an amazing Bob Dylan song, Blind Willie McTell, as I recognized much later. Fortunately, this won't have been the last time for such an opening, since the artists are determined to have several other ones in the near future. So if you're interested, please follow them through the links provided, and I hope to see you at their next show!
Photo by Alexander Zelasny
