Annette Kelm, Wolfgang Breuer and Sergej Jensen at KW Berlin

by Art Fag City on May 29, 2009 Events

art fag city, Wolfgang Breuer
Wolfgang Breuer, Organic Food Shop.  KW Berlin.  All photographs by Karen Archey

What appeared to be a  large number of catalogs at the KW Institute for Contemporary Art had MoMA New Media curator Klaus Biesenbach’s name on the cover.  If you could call the superstar curator’s presence a mystery, I solved it today when I read he founded the exhibition space in 1990.

All three exhibitions at The KW Institute are worth seeing, each floor bettering the next.  I won’t be providing full reviews for these shows, but a  few brief thoughts and photo summaries appear after the jump.

art fag city, Wolfgang Breuer
Wolfgang Breuer, Organic Food Shop

In as much as one can abstractly communicate social change through the positioning of public objects, Wolfgang Breuer achieves these ends.  A bus shelter,  four bottle banks, and what appears to be blue painted metal from a large vehicle, all shape the space.  At the far end of the gallery smeared toner from color copy prints beautifully mimic the ongoing change in urban spaces.

art fag city, Wolfgang Breuer
Wolfgang Breuer, Organic Food Shop, detail.


annette Kelm
Annette Kelm

In addition to the image above, imagine  a series of hats, homes, and targets.  Add a horses hoof and a few orange tree branch photographs and you’ve got your exhibition.   The work recalls the serial tradition of photographers Bernd and Hilla Becher, while presenting a greater investigation of architectural and design products.  Permutation within the same seems to be a recurring theme.

art fag city
Sergej Jensen, Untitled, 2009

Sergei Jensen’s painting reflect on the history of painting without being too obnoxious about it.  While he makes direct references to artists such as Asher, Tuttle, and Twombly, the work itself is stunning, and at times beautifully understated.

art fag city, Sergej Jensen
Sergej Jensen, Untitled, (detail) 2009

The above staple evoked the nerdiest art debate we’ve entertained at AFC.   To what extent is the painting self-reflexive we argued?  I’m not sure we came to a conclusion though ultimately we agreed the gesture was subtle and elegant.


Sergej Jensen, Untitled, 2009

art fag city, Sergej Jensen
Sergej Jensen, Untitled, 2009

art fag city, Sergej Jensen
Sergej Jensen, Untitled, 2009

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