Peres Projects presented Free Verse Spirit, Nicholas Grafia’s first solo exhibition at the gallery. In this exhibition, which we documented as a walk-through video, Grafia invokes the free verse poetic tradition – a genre known for breaking down the structures and rules of poetry, moving the medium closer to vernacular speech.

Video created by MONA productions for Peres Projects. Produced by Monica Salazar, filmed and edited by Peter Cairns.

Hella Jongerius takes us on a tour of her solo exhibition ‘Woven Cosmos’ at Gropius Bau, on display from April 29–August 15, 2021. At the heart of Hella Jongerius’s artistic practice is the connection between industry and craft as well as traditional knowledge and technology.

Video courtesy of Gropius Bau

We visited Roey Victoria Heifetz in her studio, where we discussed her artistic process and the work she produced for the exhibition ‘Figuratively Speaking’ at Am Tacheles. The exhibition is part of the series 054 hosted by Tapemodern and Am Tacheles and is curated by Amir Fattal.

Video by MONA, Produced by Monica Salazar, Filmed and Edited by Peter Cairns

The video walkthrough of Shota Nakamura’s first solo exhibition at Peres Projects, ‘Dear Moon,’ showcases the artist’s bright and textured dreamscape paintings, delicately described by a disembodied voice. The exhibition is on view at Peres Projects, Berlin from March 12–April 16, 2021.

For a period of three months, Galerie Rolando Anselmi was the site of a residency for artist Vincenzo Schillaci—the first in a series initiated by the gallery. Culminating in an exhibition titled ‘Rising of the Moon,’ Schillaci's experience focused on his new artistic project, Romanticism is not Romantico. Cropped details of skies, extracted from German Romanticism paintings, remodeled and scaled up, are the subjects of the artist’s series of oil paintings.

Video by MONA, Produced by Monica Salazar, Filmed and Edited by Peter Cairns

Visiting the artist in her Corpus Christi, Texas studio, we spoke to Katarina Janeckova Walshe about the process behind her paintings, how motherhood has altered her practice, and how she transforms her own personal issues and doubts into the work. From January 15th to February 27th, Dittrich & Schlechtriem in Berlin presents ‘Secrets of a Happy Household’, the first solo show with the gallery by Janeckova Walshe (b. 1988 in Bratislava, Slovakia, lives and works in Corpus Christi, Texas, USA).

Video by MONA, Produced by Monica Salazar, Filmed and Edited by Peter Cairns

Opened on December 6th, 2020, Esther Schipper presents Isa Melsheimer’s third solo exhibition with the gallery. Entitled ‘false ruins and lost innocence,’ the exhibition includes three large-scale ceramics, textile works, and a suite of gouaches. The three large-scale ceramics draw on existing buildings: the artist gives these landmarks an “interior” life that evokes theoretical debates in architectural discourse. One work, for example, juxtaposes Le Corbusier’s Villa Shodhan (Ahmedabad, 1951–56) with a horse’s head from the pediment of the Greek Parthenon, circa 438 BC, thus suggesting an organic element in the “machine for living in” as Le Corbusier famously referred to a house. The works in the exhibition play with the tenuous borders between the built environment and nature. In this video, Isa Melsheimer speaks about her inspiration for the works in ‘false ruins and lost innocence’ as well as her process and preoccupation with the history of architectural styles, from inside the exhibition room at Esther Schipper gallery.

Video by MONA, Produced by Anna Russ, Filmed and Edited by Robin Thomson

This year, Durjoy Bangladesh Foundation (DBF) hosted the second edition of the Majhi International Art Residency Program in Berlin, from August 24th to September 12th. The Berlin edition of the Majhi residency was the second in a series of brief artistic residencies, which DBF plans to initiate annually over a ten year period. Conceived by curator Zippora Elders, this year’s iteration of the program asked seven international artists to reflect on the question: “How to shape a society of care? On kinship and multiple homes.” This year's participants—Orawan Arunrak (Thailand/Germany), Johannes Büttner (Germany/Netherlands), Omar Chowdhury (Bangladesh/Australia), Rajkamal Kahlon (USA), Belle Phromchanya (Thailand/Netherlands), Bussaraporn Thongchai (Thailand/Germany) and Umut Yasat (Germany/Turkey)—offered a public presentation and closing exhibition during Gallery Weekend and Berlin Art Week at Der Bogen. The public program also included performances and artists talks by three of the discussion-round guests, Nguyễn + Transitory, Tonny Nowshin and Soy Division.

Video by MONA, Produced by Monica Salazar, Filmed and Edited by Peter Cairns

The exhibition 'urbainable – stadthaltig. Positions on the European City for the 21st Century', presented at Akademie der Künste from September 5th to November 22, 2020, looks at overarching themes in our conceptions of the "social city", including issues relating to climate change, digitalization and wealth disparities. The title of the exhibition 'urbainable – stadthaltig' follows the hypothesis that sustainability and the city cannot be seen in isolation from one other. It addresses the role of the European city in the age of global warming, demographic change and the breakdown of traditional social networks. We spoke to the curators Tim Rieniets, Matthias Sauerbruch and Jörn Walter about the concept behind the exhibition, the contributions and the surrounding program.

Stones have been a presence and recurring material and symbol in Ugo Rondinone's practice for several years. In 'nuns + monks', Rondinone continues to address the dual reflection between the inner self and the natural world through this material exploration, while presenting a pure sensory experience of color, form, and mass that aims to offer a contemporary experience of the sublime. 'nuns + monks' is on view at Esther Schipper, Berlin from September 11th to October 17th, 2020.

Video by MONA, Produced by Anna Russ, Filmed and Edited by Robin Thomson