The Deutsche Guggenheim Berlin is housed in a significantly less dramatic building than its sister museums in New York or Bilbao, but it still holds a prominent place on the Unter den Linden in Mitte. The museum is a joint venture between the Deutsche Bank and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation. The idea, basically, was for a cultural heavyweight to join forces with business-savvy financial backing, to create a museum that would commission young, internationally renowned artists to create new works for the exhibition space.
It doesn’t have the best reputation amongst its sister museums, but the Guggenheim has managed to appear as a blip on Berlin’s contemporary-art radar screen. In the past, such artists as James Rosenquist, Andreas Slominski, and Bill Viola have exhibited here. There is a focus on young, innovative artists, with major names shown as well (Rothko and Klee, as well as Rubens and Richter, have all been exhibited here).
There are temporary exhibits only at the museum, and Kasimir Malewitsch, the "unconcious harbinger of Suprematism," was showing when I was there. I don’t think Suprematism is a widespread term in the States; it was essentially very abstract (think floating cubes and lines--a cross between Mondrian and a less colorful Kandinsky) and rather cold. Apparently, Malewitsch wanted to "free himself of all objects, images, and ideas of everyday didactic life," which, judging from the level of engagement I had with his work, he succeeded in valiantly. He is revered by many, however, as a the harbinger of an important artistic movement.
There was a rather comical section describing a play he created which I enjoyed--everything was atonal and off, the costumes and sets bizarre and incongruous; it was kind of an existential dilemma (i.e., Waiting for Godot) meets conceptual art meets a bad acid trip. But then again, this is a man who "recreated a world according to his cosmic customs."
The explanatory panels were informative and interesting and, while I could appreciate the works as an inherent component of a certain artistic evolution, it really was hard to engage with it on any personal level. There are two paintings at the very end--the only two in which you can make out a semblance of a recognizable shape (women)--that stood out as very stark and depressing, whereas the rest sort of bled into each other. I actually saw the entire exhibition in a half an hour and, after conferring with the ticket lady, was disappointed to learn there is no permanent collection at all.
Be warned, however, the actual exhibition space is small (almost the same size as their store, actually, if that is an indication of anything). There was a nice courtyard where one could sit and have kaffee in the summer.
Upcoming exhibitions:
Until 4/27/03 -- Kasimir Malewitsch: Suprematism
5/10/03 -- 7/6/03 -- Richard Artschwager -- Sammlung Deutsche Bank
7/19/03 -- 10/5/03 -- Tom Sachs: Nutsy?s World
Check Deutsche Guggenheim for more info.
Tel: 030/202 09314
Email: berlin.guggenheim@db.com