Take A Walk On The Wild Side – To Russia with Love. And to Lou Reed

Second extension until 22 February 2014



At the onset of the new year, public interest in our exhibition has increased significantly. The exhibition's subject matter continues to be relevant, not only because of the forthcoming Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, but also due to recent headlines like the coming-out of Thomas Hitzlsperger, former member of Germany's national football (soccer) team, and the interview of Guido Westerwelle, former German foreign minister, in stern magazine. These topics have contributed to a revitalization of a long-overdue public discourse.
Russia's continued attacks on human rights remain alarming. Despite the release of Chodorkowski and Pussy Riot members Maria Alyokhina and Nadeshda Tolokonnikova, President Putin's latest remarks regarding homosexuality leave no room for hope for an improvement of the current situation.
Take A Walk On The Wild Side is intended – with a view to the increase of homophobic and racist attacks unfortunately not just in Russia – to take a stance: against political paternalism, censorship, and the suppression of artistic work, against homophobia and racism. The aim is not, however, to present an exhibition of political art. Rather, the gallerist/curator is interested in existential decisions of people who risk a 'walk on the wild side' and thus risk being socially ostracized, declared outlaws or indeed risk their lives.
We asked the invited artists for works that circle around sex, love, androgyny, around Eros and death, around ecstasy and the Dionysian, the transgression of borders and conventions, around nudity and the human body, and the other in the self.


http://25.media.tumblr.com/da9b1d176c2cece3d480eaf839fc742a/tumblr_mztcyl6Uh21skuz0lo1_1280.jpg
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Take a Walk on the Wild Side. To Russia with Love. And to Lou Reed.

Freitag, 13. Dezember 2013
20.00 Uhr
Egbert Baqué Contemporary Art
Fasanenstraße 37, 10719 Berlin
Eintritt 5,- Euro, inklusive Getränke


Asterix, Indiana Jones, Pippi Langstrumpf, Superman, Winnetou... wer hatte sie nicht, seine Helden der Kindheit? Mit Begeisterung folgte man ihnen durch ihre Abenteuer, ließ die eigene Phantasie mit ihnen durchgehen. 50 Autorinnen und Autoren erzählen von ihrer Kindheit und ihren Helden. Mal mit tränentreibender Komik, mal mit feinsinniger Beobachtung des damaligen Zeitgeistes, doch stets mit echter Begeisterung. Nachwuchsillustratoren haben die Texte bunt und phantasievoll, individuell wie die Erinnerungen der Autoren, gestaltet.


Mit auf ihre Heldenreise in die Kindheit nehmen uns an diesem Abend Egbert Baqué, Annett Gröschner, Stephan Phin Spielhoff und Kai Splittgerber.


Egbert Baqué, geboren 1952 in Saarbrücken, lebt als Galerist, Übersetzer und Autor in Berlin. Seine seit 2005 in der Fasanenstraße ansässige Galerie Egbert Baqué Contemporary Art zeigt vor allem Malerei, Zeichnung und Fotografie. Die aktuelle Ausstellung Take A Walk on the Wild Side mit Werken von 16 Künstlern soll ein Zeichen gegen politische Bevormundung, Zensur und die Unterdrückung von künstlerischer Arbeit, gegen Homophobie und Rassismus setzen.


Annett Gröschner, 1964 in Magdeburg geboren, lebt seit 1983 in Berlin. Sie studierte Germanistik in Berlin und Paris, arbeitet als freiberufliche Schriftstellerin, Journalistin und Dozentin, sowie gemeinsam mit Arwed Messmer an literarisch-fotografischen Projekten. Annett Gröschner schreibt Romane, Essays, Theaterstücke, Radiofeatures und Reportagen. Im Jahr 2000 erschien ihr Roman Moskauer Eis, ein Jahr darauf der Roman Walpurgistag.
￼

Stephan Phin Spielhoff kam 1983 in Bremen auf die Welt. Nach seinem Masterabschluss in Philosophie an der FU Berlin, gründete er gemeinsam mit Laura Klatt die Agentur für literarische Veranstaltungen Spielhoff & Klatt. 2013 veröffentlichte er gemeinsam mit Jule D. Körber den Erzählband Wer zuerst von toten Hasen spricht, verliert.


Kai Splittgerber, 1981 in Köln geboren, studierte Kulturwissenschaften, kreatives Schreiben und Kulturjournalismus. 2004 begründete er den Glück & Schiller Verlag sowie 2008 das Verlagsnetzwerk Fruehwerk. Er arbeitet als Unidozent und Autor in Berlin, Hildesheim und Oldenburg. Zuletzt veröffentlichte er Brehms Tierland – Aus dem Expeditionsbuch des Tierforschers E. Alfred Brehm. Ein Abenteuerroman bei der Büchergilde Gutenberg.


Anlässlich unserer Lesung hat Stefan Große Halbuer auf der Grundlage seiner Illustration zum Winnetou-Text des von Andrea Baron und Kai Splittgerber herausgegeben Buchs einen farbigen Siebdruck geschaffen – ein originelles Sammlerstück für Grafik-Liebhaber, Winnetou-Fans und Che Guevara-Verehrer...


Stefan Große Halbuer, Winnetou, 2013 Siebdruck auf Hahnemühle Grammatur, 35 x 25 cm Auflage 30 Exemplare, signiert und nummeriert
Euro 80,-


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Buchpräsentation und Lesung "Helden der Kindheit - Aus Comic, Film und Fernsehen"

Video of the opening (16 Nov 2013) of our current exhibition - check it out here:
https://vimeo.com/80211317

also have a look at our website:
www.berlin-contemporary-art.com

Video - Take A Walk On The Wild Side. To Russia with Love. And to Lou Reed.



Next Exhibition: 16 Nov 2013  - 22 Feb 2014 // Opening - 16 Nov,  7-9 pm. 

Abetz & Drescher   
Emilie Arfeuil    
Winston Chmielinski
Rainer Fetting    
Giuseppe Gonella    
Bettina van Haaren 
Ivar Kaasik   
Ralf König   
Lena von Lapschina 
Markus Lüpertz   
Wolfgang Neumann    
Tim Plamper 
Joachim Seinfeld    
Snapple    
Franziska Strauss

'Take A Walk On The Wild Side' is intended – with a view to the increase of homophobic and racist attacks unfortunately not just in Russia – to take a stance: against political paternalism, censorship, and the suppression of artistic work, against homophobia and racism. The aim is not, however, to present an exhibition of political art. Rather, the gallerist/curator is interested in existential decisions of people who risk a 'walk on the wild side' and thus risk being socially ostracized, declared outlaws or indeed risk their lives.  We asked the invited artists for works that circle around sex, love, androgyny, around Eros and death, around ecstasy and the Dionysian, the transgression of borders and conventions, around nudity and the human body, and the other in the self.  The sudden death of Lou Reed on October 27th 2013 is yet another – tragic – aspect of our exhibition. We dedicate the group show to this extraordinary artist. 



Visit Egbert Baqué Contemporary Art for further information! 

www.berlin-contemporary-art.com

Join us on our opening! Stay tuned also via Facebook & Pinterest!

Watch the video of our opening here:
http://www.berlinerkunstkontakter.de/flash/2013/kw4613/egbertbaque16112013.htm

Descriptions for the art works below in order of appearance:

-Giuseppe Gonella, Saint Sebastian, 2013 Acrylic on canvas, 170 x 130 cm.

-Slava Mogutin, Jesse a.k.a. Steven at The Cock, 2007 NYC Go-Go series, Digital C-print, 51 x 41 cm, Edition 5/10.

-Rainer Fetting, Russian Poet, 1998, (Slava exposing his ass to the universe) Oil on Jute, 200 x 140 cm.

-Wolfgang Neumann, Loulight, 2013, Acrylic on canvas, 30 x 24 cm.

-Winston Chmielinski, Bodies in Retrograde, 2013, Oil on canvas, 100 x 130 cm.


https://soundcloud.com/fernando-ras-11-1/lou-reed-walk-on-the-wild-side




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http://31.media.tumblr.com/6b71312ce2ba08b8a4234208d2eb2d0c/tumblr_mw7lih4w7m1skuz0lo1_500.jpg

http://31.media.tumblr.com/23b5a4d5343c04436935008127035f2e/tumblr_mw7l8p4lzb1skuz0lo1_500.jpg

13 September – 09 November 2013

Winston Chmielinski’s paintings have been called “ecstatic”, and in the US press, almost without fail critics made reference to Bacon and Matisse, De Kooning and Monet in their effort to classify the remarkable work of this twenty-five-year-old artist. At the same time there is a broad consensus that his work “is defiantly his own.”

In November and December of last year, Winston Chmielinski was presented by his New York gallery in a first solo exhibition, and subsequently, during the week of the Armory Show, he also had a solo presentation at the VOLTA art fair. Immediately the New York Arts Magazine listed him as one of the “5 Artists To See During Armory Art Week,” and he found himself on OUT magazine’s “Hot List 2013”.

Just like the above-mentioned Francis Bacon, Winston Chmielinski, who studied philosophy, literature, and creative writing, is self-taught as an artist. His paintings attest to a remarkable aplomb, especially in view of his young age, but their painterly impact, their sensual aura, and their expressiveness have convinced us that he is one of the most exciting young talents from the US.

We are very pleased to present Winston Chmielinski at the gallery in his first solo show in Europe, which will run parallel to Berlin Art Week, which, very fittingly this year has the programmatic motto “Painting Forever!”

 

"Shakespeare, in his attempt to define love, wrote: 'misshapen chaos of well seeming forms'. Paintings by young American artist Winston Chmielinski resemble that line. They are powerful, condensed yet delicate strokes of pastel colors and evocative forms. Some more abstract than others, shapes vanish and paint breaks out. The human figure viewed as a metamorphosed vision, a brilliant vision." – Berlin Artparasites

"Where little moments constantly begin and nothing seems to end, the paintings of Winston Chmielinski pleasurably weave organic, fleshy figures into a swirling world of color. Chmielinski tames his seemingly chaotic works with a distinct care for detail, ordering the figurative elements in what––upon closer inspection––appears to be a methodically calculated and controlled composition. A Rothko-like sensitivity towards color, combining bright hues in a linear yet bleeding-over quality, provokes tingles of emotion, while cleverly worded titles (…) hint at deeper layers of meaning." – Sarah Gretsch, Berlin Art Link

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Egbert Baqué Contemporary