RASMUS NILAUSEN: PARERGON

all images: Rasmus Nilausen "Parergon" (09-31.05.2014), Fundació Suñol Barcelona, architecture by Martí Anson, © the artists, courtesy the artists & their galleries / photos by Roberto Ruiz and García | Galería, Madrid. 

In the very moment when we enter an exhibition space, we are aware of the institutional framing and thus perceive art, as Winfried Menninghaus calls it, within an "art scheme". From here, we are schooled to consider every encounter with an object or another subject as staged and guided. In the current solo show "Parergon" by Danish artist Rasmus Nilausen, this relation is reversed: In the center of Fundació Suñol's clean white-cube'ish backyard space in Barcelona his paintings are arranged inside a temporary, wooden house by Martí Anson. Initially built for the Parisian Palais de Tokyo, the so called "Catalan Pavillon. Anonymous Architect", remains a work in progress. Neither walls nor windows are fixed. The roof was attached at a later stage. Demonstrating its imperfection, the architecture's unfinished character creates a level of spatial intimacy and withdraws the artificial distance to the paintings, releasing them from their superiority.

ANNA VIRNICH: WHEN YOU DANCE WITH THE DEVIL

all images: Anna Virnich "When You Dance With The Devil" (Apr 4 – May 17, 2014) at DREI, Cologne // courtesy: the artist; DREI, Cologne // © Anna Virnich

The flesh-tinted silk cloth lied in a corner of a small textile shop in Sri-Lanka, when Anna Virnich first discovered it. Stained with grease, perhaps serving as a napkin, the salesman refused Virnich's request to purchase the piece, arguing that it was too dirty and certainly not meant for sale. It took her a while to successfully convince him, but eventually she was able to bring the cloth, along with many other textiles and items from Sri-Lanka back to Germany. Now, sewed together and neatly framed on long wooden stretchers, the unchanged flesh-tinted silk transformed into a work of art (Untitled #15, 2014), hanging on the walls of Galerie DREI in Cologne and still smelling of patchouli. 

INTERVIEW: IGNACIO URIARTE

all images: Ignacio Uriarte "Writing, Drawing" at Figge von Rosen in Cologne, Couertsy Figge von Rosen, © Ignacio Uriarte

The works of Spanish-German artist Ignacio Uriarte are extremely labour-intensive: the process for his drawings and installations follows a precise routine, in which he develops delicate systems for each single piece. This routine of scribbling and drawing becomes a source, a clue for the next project. As most of the drawings are based on patterns that seem to follow a geometric logic, they appear neat on first sight. But Ignacio's art always comprises ambivalence – it reveals humor, curiosity, criticism, beauty. Using mostly tools from the ordinary office world and playing with the banality of production-constraints or of an 8-hour working day, Ignacio found a unique way to interlink his practice with his former career in business administration. In our interview, 1972-born Ignacio talks about how this transition came about, about his current show at Figge von Rosen in Cologne and about his upcoming sound-installation at Berlinische Galerie.

GALLERY WEEKEND BERLIN 2014

Florian Meisenberg "Somewhere sideways, down, at an angle, but very close" at Galerie Wentrup Liam Gillick "Revenons à nos Moutons" at Esther Schipper Liam Gillick / detail "Hamilton: A Film by Liam Gillick" in "Revenons à nos Moutons" at Esther Schipper Liam Gillick "Revenons à nos Moutons" at Esther Schipper 

all images: Courtesy the artists and their galleries / photos by artfridge

Gallery Weekend in Berlin: For the 10th time 50 participating galleries celebrate the opening of their newest exhibition during the weekend. Organised for the first time by ABC-director Maike Cruse and former interim-director Christiane Rhein, the weekends' program includes artist-talks, performances and film screenings. And as usual, its not a bad idea to start the gallery tour with a plan in mind. Where to go? Since Berlin does not only have one center, but many, the main gallery districts, such as Mitte, Potsdamerstrasse and Charlottenburg are far away from each other and it takes a considerable amount of time to come from one place to the other. With this in mind, my tour was based on a only a few picks and highlights, although spread all over the city. Here are my TOP 5: