Get to Know AD2022’s 19 Berlin-Based Galleries
Words: Chris Erik Thomas.
Even before the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the city had always been intricately connected to the young, contemporary art scene. That symbiosis has only grown stronger in the decades since reunification. With more than 5,000 artists estimated to live and work in the German capital, plus hundreds of galleries dotting its many neighborhoods, there is no doubt that Berlin remains an essential hotspot for both emerging and established talent.
For years, Berlin’s galleries have been a welcome addition to Art Düsseldorf and, this year, we are excited to welcome 18 galleries to the fair – including the addition of 11 galleries that will make their debut at Areal Böhler from April 8-10.
As we put the finishing touches on the fair and prepare to open our doors, we invite you to get acquainted with all of the Berlin-based galleries that will occupy booths at this year’s fair.
Please note the booth numbers for each gallery are presented in brackets.
Alice Neel: Cyrus the Gentle Iranian, 1979. Courtesy: Aurel Scheibler.
Since opening its doors in 2012, the contemporary art gallery has curated a tight group of young national and international artists. Focusing on works that interrogate social and political themes, the gallery represents artists from Germany, Spain, Israel, and Russia. The gallery is currently showing a solo exhibition from Berlin-based artist Julius von Bismarck until 16 April, 2022.
For this edition of the fair, their booth will be occupied by works from Julius von Bismarck, Felix Kiessling, and Sinta Werner.
For 15 years, this contemporary art gallery called Cologne its home before relocating to Berlin in 2006. Since re-establishing itself in the German capital, Aurel Scheibler has jumped from Charlottenburg to Kreuzberg and, finally, to a historic building at Schöneberger Ufer in Tiergarten that was built in 1911 for the Berlin Association of Female Artists.
Across their more than 30 year history, the gallery has shown a mix of local and international artists and for Art Düsseldorf, they’ll be presenting work by Alice Neel, Carolin Eidner, Tamara K.E., and Tom Chamberlain, as well as two pieces by the late sculpturist Norbert Kricke.
Bettina Pousttchi. Vertical Highways A19, 2021. Leitplanken, Stahl, beschichtet. Unikat. 227 (h) x 147 x 125 cm. Foto: Jens Ziehe. Courtesy: Bettina Pousttchi und Buchmann Galerie Berlin.
Originally founded in 1979 in Copenhagen as a printmaking studio, the gallery has developed an international reputation for both its printmaking prowess – led by founder Niels Borch Jensen – and its art collections. In 1999, BORCH Editions launched BORCH Gallery in Berlin, creating a space for artists to showcase their latest work while also making use of their print room. Print projects from BORCH Editions have made their way to a number of private and public collections, including the MoMA, The British Museum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, and more.
Their booth at this year’s fair will showcase an exciting mix of works by the artists Tal R, Regnar Kjartansson, Thomas Scheibitz, and Trine Søndergaard.
Currently splitting its time between Berlin and Lugano, Switzerland, the gallery has been showcasing contemporary artists since it was founded by Elena and Felix Buchmann in 1975. What began in St. Gallen, Switzerland eventually found a new home from 1983 to 1998 in Basel next to the city’s Museum of Contemporary Art. Meanwhile, their German outpost began in Cologne in 1995 before relocating to Berlin in 2005. Across their roster of artists – including Wolfgang Laib, Tatsuo Miyajima, Wilhelm Mundt, and Fiona Rae — the gallery presents works of sculpture, painting, video, and photography.
From April 8-10, the gallery will present a mix of sculptural works by Bettina Pousttchi.
The gallery was founded in September 2014 by the son of famed gallery owner and publisher Egidio Marzona, a legendary collector of 20th-century avant-garde art. Since Daniel opened the doors less than eight years ago with a solo exhibition of the late artist Bernd Lohaus, he has built up a reputation for showing a sprawling collection of works by young contemporary artists from Georgia, Bosnia, Austria, France, Romania, Germany, and more.
The gallery will make its debut at Art Dusseldorf this year in a special shared booth with the famed Galerie Thomas Fischer, a fixture in the Berlin art scene, and feature works by Aron Mehzion, Axel Hütte, John Beech, Olaf Holzapfel, and Sofia Hultén.
Olaf Holzapfel. "Chaguarbild 29 (Paths of Buenos Aires)", 2022. Chaguar, natural colors, cotton. 175 x 170 cm.
For over a decade, Lars Dittrich and André Schlechtriem have been showcasing a range of conceptual art from young artists that include Soufiane Ababri, Klaus Jörres, Robert Lazzarini, Bernhard Martin, Simon Mullan, Fatma Shanan, and Jonas Wendelin.
Since moving into a larger space in 2017, the gallery has pushed to highlight more ambitious projects, as well as monographs from their artists and commissioned essays.
After starting life as a project space in a former knitting factory under the name Maschenmode, the contemporary art gallery has now spent two decades establishing itself as a fixture of Berlin’s art scene. With a roster of talent that includes Thilo Heinzmann, Tamina Amadyar, Rashid Johnson, Andy Hope, and more, the gallery is an essential space for new and established artists to show their works.
For their debut at Art Düsseldorf, the gallery will dedicate its entire booth to a solo exhibition of the German artist Thomas Zipp.
For 14 years, the gallery in the city’s Charlottenburg/Wilmersdorf neighborhood has shown a mix of contemporary art, focusing especially on paintings and drawings. They have built a reputation for showing a broad range of works by over two dozen artists. Among their collection, they have displayed works by post-war, contemporary, and international artists. For six years, from 2008 to 2014, they also hosted a series of events on the importance of art in society called About Art.
A group exhibition of works by Ambra Durante, Franziska Holstein, Karin Kneffel, Dieter Krieg, Thomas Müller, Claire de Santa Coloma, Robert Schad, and Cornelius Völker.
Founded in 1976, the renowned gallery has spent decades cultivating a collection of art that spans the classical, post-war, and contemporary eras of art history. In the four decades since opening its doors, the gallery has shown works by legends that include Jean-Michel Basquiat, Otto Dix, Andy Warhol, Georg Baselitz, and many more. While established artists are a key part of their roster, the gallery has also built a reputation for its support of young artists.
For this year’s edition of the fair, the gallery will be showcasing a range of works by Peter Brüning, Kerstin Grimm, Markus Lüpertz, Reinhard Pods, and Arnulf Rainer.
Peter Brüning. Nr. 30/66 II (Nordseeküste), 1966. Öl auf Leinwand, Spanplattenmontage. 118,5 x 165 cm. Fotografin: Lea Gryze. Courtesy: Galerie Michael Haas.
Since 2011, the famed contemporary art gallery has brought together both young and established artists. After initially opening its doors in the former site of the Tagesspiegel, the gallery moved into its current space in Mitte. In a little over a decade, the gallery has established itself in the city’s art scene thanks to its dedicated support for German and international artists.
The gallery will make its debut at Art Dusseldorf this year in a special shared booth with the Daniel Merzona gallery, featuring pieces by Dirk Braeckman, Irmel Kamp, Joachim Bandau, Marcel Frey, and Margrét H. Blöndal.
Established in 1991 as Galerie Franck + Schulte (before changing its name in 2000), the gallery was one of the first to open in the city after Germany’s reunification. They have spent over three decades cultivating established artists and nurturing a fresh wave of contemporary talent. Now situated in a landmark nineteenth-century Tuteur House in Mitte since 2006, the contemporary art gallery has become a fixture in the city’s art community.
In its debut showing at Art Düsseldorf, the gallery will present works by Michael Müller, Alfredo Jaar, Leunora Salihu, Rebecca Horn, Franka Hörnschemeyer, Iris Schomaker, Paco Knöller, Jonas Weischsel, Hamish Fulton, Julian Irlinger, and Angela de la Cruz.
For two decades, the gallery co-managed by Johann and Lena König has become a favorite amongst Berlin’s contemporary art crowd because of their dedication to young artists. Beyond their embrace of a variety of media that includes sculpture, video, sound, painting, and more, the gallery has also become known for its occupation of St. Agnes, a Brutalist church built in the 1960s that now often hosts large scale installations. Beyond Berlin, the gallery has also opened satellite spaces in both London and Seoul.
At Areal Böhler, the acclaimed gallery will present a group showing of pieces by Refik Anadol, Mona Ardeleanu, Nobert Bisky, Monica Bonvicini, Claudia Comte, Jose Dávila, Tue Greenfort, Katharina Grosse, Jeppe Hein, Karl Horst Hödicke, Robert Janitz, Annette Kelm, Friedrich Kunath, Alicja Kwade, Kris Martin, Anselm Reyle, Andreas Schmitten, Jeremy Shaw, Chiharu Shiota, Bosco Sodi, Matthias Weischer, and Johannes Wohnseifer.
Officially opening its doors in September 2009 within an Arno Brandlhuber-designed building in Mitte, the gallery has worked for over a decade to showcase socially-oriented artworks. Their carefully curated roster of artists creates works that engage directly with the sociopolitical systems of the world, and includes many artists whose debut European shows were held at the gallery.
The gallery will fill its booth with works from such artists as Anna Boghiguian, Candice Breitz, Marco A. Castillo, CATPC, Clegg & Guttmann, Anna Ehrenstein, Sophie Gogl, Renzo Martens, Oswald Oberhuber, Michael E. Smith, Franz Erhard Walther, and Tobias Zielony.
Milja Laurila, Untitled Woman III-V, 2021 at New Perspectives Through Photography – 25 years of the Helsinki School, Helsinki 2021. From the series Untitled Women, installation view. © the artist, courtesy: Persons Projects.
Joining us this year is Persons Projects, a gallery that began in 1995 in Helsinki, Finland as part of the Helsinki School under the name Taik Persons. Since moving to Berlin in 2005 and sprawling across two exhibition spaces, the gallery has divided its focus between artists associated with the Helsinki School and interns at Aalto University who work on research and digitalization efforts for the Helsinki School. The gallery has also dedicated its resources toward independent publishing, using collaborations with Hatje Cantz, Steidel, and Kerber to develop and release multiple books each year.
As they make their debut at Art Dusseldorf, the gallery will play host to works by Eeva Karhu, Grey Crawford, Milja Laurila, Ragna Róbertsdóttir, and Zofia Kulik.
For nearly 14 years, the gallery founded by Sabine Schmidt has worked to highlight contemporary art from around the world, with special regard for large installation pieces and performance art that brings audiences into the work. Taking its name from Schmidt’s grandfather, Paul Schmidt, and his machine production factory, Paul Schmidt Maschinenfabrik, the exhibition space has occupied space across from the Neue Nationalgalerie since 2017.
As a return guest to the art fair, the gallery will present visually arresting works by Nadira Husain, Emma Jääskeläinen, and Catherine Biocca.
In 2013, Jan-Philipp Sexauer opened the doors to his gallery in a former industrial building in Weißensee. Four years later, his focus on emerging and established artists in the contemporary art scene was recognized as he won the Berlin Gallery Prize 2017. With nearly a decade of experience, the gallery’s embrace of works across a range of mediums has cemented its reputation as one of the most exciting contemporary art galleries in the city.
For this edition of Art Düsseldorf, their booth will feature the artists Ornella Fieres, Isabelle Graeff, Verena Issel, and Jeewi Lee.
The gallery established by Heike Tosun in 2011 began in Neukolln before moving into its permanent space in Kreuzberg in 2013. For over a decade, the contemporary art gallery has given space to international artists practicing art in a wide range of media, including painting, video, sound, sculpture, and photography.
The gallery will make its Art Düsseldorf debut with a range of works by Matthias Dornfeld, Eli Cortiñas, Grace Weaver, and Rachel Youn.
This small gallery has developed an outsize reputation thanks to its international focus. Operating from Europe, the United States, and Asia, it has cultivated long-term relationships with young artists – with many doing their first solo exhibitions with the gallery. Alongside their exhibition, the gallery also maintains a publishing division, Edition Société, that has produced award-winning art books and vinyl records.
Chris Erik Thomas is the Digital Editor of Art Düsseldorf. They work as a freelance writer and editor in Berlin and focus primarily on culture, art, and media. Their work can also be seen in Highsnobiety, The Face Magazine, and other publications.
