With 53 galleries opening 68 different exhibitions from April 26-28, Gallery Weekend Berlin puts forth its largest offering to date. Now in its ninth year, the weekend is much more than a collection of openings, however. It is the city’s most important art market event of the year—a fair spread throughout the city, one might say—focused less on champagne carts and the market itself than the artists, art, and artistic production. “We make things here,” is the subtext surrounding the event.
However, selling is far from taboo: This year’s lineup reveals some of the Berlin’s (and perhaps even Europe’s) most exciting works for the taking. Those in the market for Blue Chip works needn’t look further than Sprüth Mager’s trifecta of shows — George Condo, Joseph Kosuth, and Richard Antschwager — or Esther Schipper’s suite of new sculptures by Ugo Rondinone. Neugerriemschneider will show Isa Genzken’s Untitled (2007), a large installation developed for the Sculpture Project Münster 07, for the first time indoors in their main gallery, and new paintings by Billy Childish in an old, aristocratic residence on Berlin’s Münzstrasse.
Klosterfelde opens another must-see with new works by rising international star Jorinde Voigt. Both Johnen Galerie and Mehdi Chouakri have Hans-Peter Feldmann on their docket. Galerie Zak | Branicka adds a more retrospective view on the weekend with Valie Export’s Fragmente der Bilder einer Berührung (Fragments of Images of Contingence) (1994), an installation in which wired light bulbs are rhythmically dipped into milk and used oil, filling nearly the entire gallery.
Johann Koenig’s St Agnes Church will also be in the spotlight once again for Gallery Weekend. Kicking off a day early, Japanese fashion icon Yohji Yamamoto will present a retrospective runway show for invited guests, followed by a public exhibition at MADE on Alexanderstrasse. Following the fashion, Alicja Kwade will install a site-specific pendulum, inspired by that of French physicist Leon Foucault in the church, with Koenig simultaneously premiering his first exhibition with Monica Bonvincini.
Should all that art get you tired, hungry, or in need of a drink, there’s plenty of that kicking around as well.
For one of the city’s most unique views, check in to the brand new five-star property Das Stue. Located directly on the city’s zoo, you might just think you’ve slept your way to safari through the night. For those on a more extended stay in search of the comforts of home, Soho House’s apartments, featuring full kitchens and living rooms in the brand’s signature style of casual British luxury, are hard to beat.
Whether in need of quick replenishment amidst a mid-day walk of Mitte’s gallery offerings or a multi-coursed feast in the evening, the gastronomic offerings at Auguststrasse’s Jewish Girls School satisfy in spades. Grab some house-made pastrami in Berlin’s best Reuben at the cultural scene’s newest canteen, Mogg & Meltzer or hit the building’s other side, Pauly Saal, for farm-to-table haute cuisine.
Less convenient, but well worth the trip to its sleepy stretch of Köpenicker Strasse is Restaurant Richard. Inspired by Paris’s recent wave of avant-garde takes on the bistro, Richard offers three- or five-course menus that change completely every three weeks. Just don’t try to pop in to the art-clad, gallerist favorite unannounced: even in the rare case a table is open, reservations are required.
The latest venture from the team behind Dudu — Mitte’s favorite sushi joint (and another top-pick for lunch) — Bonbon Bar opened up across Torstrasse in late March to considerable buzz. For fans of the juniper berry, Friedrichstrasse’s G&T Bar is a must, decked out like a British colonial officers club, while Pauly Saal’s and Grill Royale’s bars offer a more demure environment and some of the city’s best mixology.
Though Berliners have surely been known to put down their share of a bottle, it’s the city’s third-wave coffee purveyors who have been creating the biggest buzz of late. From The Barn’s two locations on Auguststrasse and Schönhauser Allee and Bonanza Coffee Heroes on Oderbergerstrasse in Mitte, to Schöneberg’s Double Eye and Kreuzberg’s Five Elephant, there’s plenty of the strong stuff to keep your eyes open no matter how late the previous night’s gallery dinner wore on.
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Where to stay, eat, drink — oh, and see some art — during Gallery Weekend Berlin's largest offering to date