Day Four: Goldsmiths’ Party + Scrotum Clamp

Ok so today we saw nineteen shows. Massive effort by our stomping-up-and-down-the-pavement team. My map is in tatters.

Ich bin keine Vase by Jing Yang at Akademie Galerie; Mobius by Akiko Kurihara and Misato Seki at Micheko Galerie; Bowling For Success group show at The Bowling Alley at the Theresa Grill; Terra Mutantica by Attai Chen at Galerie Spektrum; The Solo Show In Honour Of Hermann Junger at Galerie Wittenbrink; This is so contemporary by Joohee Han, Naama Bergman & Shachar Cohen at Francoise Heitsch; QUODLIBET by Christiane Forster & Norman Weber at Maurer Ziliolo Contemporary Arts as a guest at Kunstburo reillplast; Robert Smit at Maurer Zilioli Contemporary Arts Schrittmacher; Bubble Land group show of Taiwanese artists at Gallery Kobeia; What misses names at Munikat Projekte; Salto Mortale at Buro Hermann; Falling into Place at Galerie ARTikel; Yesterday’s Papers by Colker Atrops at Antiquariat Zipprich; km609 at No10; Something new and something old Daniel Kruger Jewellery at Galerie Biro; GBJ Projekt 3 at Galerie Biro Junior as a guest at Galerie Jordanow; Black Box at GalerieGEDOKmuc; Nature Morte at KunstgieBerei Munchen; and Objects, continued (from my microwave with love) at Lot62 with 84GHz.

As you can expect when seeing so many shows there were many stand-outs. I particularly enjoyed three shows. The solo work by Jing Yang at the Academie Galerie titled Ich bin keine Vase was work that held meaning that grew as I thought about it through the day. I instantly appreciated the pieces for their aesthetic poetry – these refined and archetypal vase shapes, which were layered, the many pieces that constructed a single and whole form. As the hours passed and I heard from others, who had also seen the show, discussion of context for Yang’s vase reference, relating it to the female form and a symbol of empty beauty, the works became potent political actions against objectification. Mobius by Akiko Kurihara and Misato Seki at Micheko Galerie was another favourite of the day, particularly Kurihara’s playful and responsive works, her whimsical pieces were emotive and drew me in as a viewer. I very much enjoyed Kurihara’s breadth of work, while pieces shared Akiko’s humour, each form seemed novel aside it’s neighbour; This is so contemporary by Joohee Han, Naama Bergman & Shachar Cohen at Francoise Heitsch was a joy to visit. I felt the curation of the show was perfectly on point. The three artists’ works complemented each other in the best possible way, drawing out relationships, similarities and differences with none over-shadowing. Their use of a controlled palette when painting their props, their placement within the gallery space and their use of furniture from the same period throughout the display did a great job of organizing vignettes for the viewer to contemplate relationships between pieces. I really felt myself taking time to consider each grouping, and in turn each individual piece within them. I think this is a triumph of the curation and having the viewers slow down and take their time to consider the work was an effect I felt many shows were chasing after yet failed to completely produce.

We finished the day with the large dinner at the beer hall, the annual Goldsmiths’ party. It was lots of fun and a real buzz to be in a huge hall filled with contemporary jewellers. After the dinner Jen, Jaz and I scampered out to see ‘Scrotum Clamp’ perform a gig clad in jewellery made by Dialogue Collective. It was a fun way to end a long day.