Nathalie Djurberg and Hans Berg at Salon Berlin | Museum Frieder Burda

Swedish, Berlin-based artists Nathalie Djurberg and Hans Berg presented sculptures and animated films with hypnotic soundtracks at the Salon Berlin, shown in dialogue with selections of work from the late Abstract Expressionist Willem de Kooning. Employing psychology as a means to understand oneself and one’s surroundings, the artists create fantastical stop-motion and sculpture works that speak to the transformation-deformation impetus of de Kooning’s drawings. Djurberg & Berg’s “dreadful” women – seductresses, demons, witches, and overweening mothers – are reminiscent of de Kooning’s famous “Woman” cycle from the early 1950s. BAL Productions spoke to Djurberg, Berg and curator Patricia Kamp about the intricacies of putting these contemporary works and themes alongside those from an earlier generation.