EXHIBITIONS
EXHIBITIONS
CURATED & CO-CURATED
EXHIBTIONS
_generati0n+escape_//_thoughts_and_c0ntradicti0ns_//_seas0n_01:02_BERLIN.
SATELITTE GALLERY
09.2023 - 01.2024 | Berlin, Germany
Artist | Rabi
Series Producer | Dom N
Curated by | Michelle Houston
Leave your ego_at_the_door
_gen+esc (generation+escape) invites you to re-imagine embodiments of humanity and self, depicting a world free of conventional posturing. Silhouettes wax poetic within intimate spaces while we stream dreams onto flesh suits, unearthing identities, personalities and histories that lie beneath our corporeal forms._gen+esc presents our contradictions and vulnerabilities in the hope that you will escape into us.
In this series of short art films, subjects veiled by green suits share details about their lives and practices that fuel the vehicle to escape. The green suit provides a canvas for creator Rabi, whose artistic and editorial vision takes us on a journey through open-sourced footage spliced together to form artworks unto themselves every frame an homage to the individual's narrative. The self-recorded audio extracts each subject’s private thoughts separate from the gaze of an audience. While they discuss themes of belonging, process, identity, and coping with global change, commonalities of escapism and contradiction arise among them all- highlighting our society's obsession with self-image and the ironically ubiquitous bid for individuality.
Each green-clad figure is superposed with a flurry of visual references that echo the onslaught of mass media and commercialization overload. The aesthetic influences of repurposed cult-classic footage, anime, gifs, hi-tech/lo-fi, and future analogue frame our simulated world as a portal into one's id. In a digital age sculpted by super-curated experiences of false reality, Rabi uses these vignettes to pose fertile questions: Are we a generation fated to chase freedom through escape? Can we accept the pervasive and persistent contradictions of the human experience?
_in_this_house_i_am_not_real_and_neither_are_you
Each film, presented on a digital canvas, is accompanied by a ceramic sculpture created to reflect the personality and narrative of the artist featured. The signature pieces were hand-sculpted by Rabi. For _seas0n_01:02_BERLIN, the artist has created a new, dedicated episode in the series, which features social worker Tobias Braun from JOBMOBIL, a cooperation partner of Stiftung Berliner Leben as part of its Stadtraum!Plus program.
As you view the sculptures, we invite you to scan the QR code below to utilize a custom _gen+esc filter created in partnership with Future Arts.
Photographs courtesy of : Nika Kramer
URBAN NATION MUSUEM
06.2023 - 08.2023 | Berlin, Germany
Interior Artists | Jim Avignon, Seth Armstrong, Ben Frost, Molly Kent, Mario Mankey, Miss Glueniverse, Julia Skopnik, Emil Staggemeier.
Exterior Artists | Caro Pepe, Devita, Honey Beebs, Lake And Mate.
Curated by | Michelle Houston
In the URBAN NATION project space, visitors are immersed in the colour blue. Blue represents the feeling of being sad or isolated. Throughout art history, artists have created some of their best works in blue phases. Blue is also the colour of infinite, vast horizons and has a calming effect. The artworks show both the individual connection to the negative effects of loneliness and mental health, but also stand for a collective and universal reading. The exhibition presents paintings, installations and sculptures from across the spectrum of urban and contemporary art.
The exhibition functions as both a response and a call – to feedback from visitors as part of the main URBAN NATION: TALKING… & OTHER BANANA SKINS exhibition. Museum visitors were asked to say what issues they thought needed to be discussed in society. An overwhelming majority mentioned the issue of mental health.
The artworks presented deal with the processing of emotions and the stresses that modern life places on mental health. Loneliness is one of the biggest accelerators of poor mental health. Following isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic, more and more people – especially young people – are displaying mental health problems such as anxiety, depression, and self-harm, often exacerbated by social media.
Photographs courtesy of : berlinARTcore
TALKING… AND OTHER BANANA SKINS
URBAN NATION MUSUEM
06.2023 - 08.2024 | Berlin, Germany
Artists | 1up, Aec Interesni Kazki, Amartey Golding, Ana Barriga, Andreas Englund, Anna Lukashevsy, Bill Posters, Björn Heyn, Broken Fingaz Crew, Dave The Chimp, Denis Cherim, Disnovation, El Mac, Faisal Hussain, Faust, Franco Fasoli Aka Jaz, Hijack, Hin, Hot Tea, Hugo Baudouin, Huh?, Icy And Sot, Ida Lawrence, Isaac Cordal, Jan Van Esch, Jeff Hong, Jimmy Turrell, Joséphine Sagna, Know Hope, Le Fou, Look The Weird, Low Bros, Noemi Conan, Olek, Rich Thorne, Rocco And His Brothers, Sepe, Simon Menner, Splash And Burn, Spy, Tezz Kamoen, The Wa, Various And Gould, Vera Kochubey, Yoann Bourgeois
Curated by | Michelle Houston
We live in a time of polarization, a time in which more than ever the digital space is giving us the opportunity to express ourselves: freedom of speech, voicing opinions, sharing beliefs, and exposing ourselves through social media. Having emerged with the advent of digital technologies, these are platforms in which everybody is a speaker, but few people are listening and receiving. As a society we are fed with the affirmation of our own beliefs, exacerbating otherness, and each side is more focused on being right than listening to the other. We are loud and clear, showing and vocalizing but do we still talk and debate?
Featuring works of over 50 artists working in the fields of graffiti, street art and urban and contemporary art, presenting perspectives from the individual to that of society as a whole. Through the eight chapters of the exhibition: WE NEED TO TALK, FORTY-TWO, SHIFTING PERSPECTIVES, THE FORUM, DEEP FAKE, I AM AN X, BUT...., HYBRID HISTORIES and FAILAGAIN, FAIL BETTER, crucial questions are raised about how we communicate, what blocks our communication, how should we deal with allegedly truthful information, how we deal with the advent of digital technology.
The exhibition sets out to create a framework to provoke dialogue through urban and contemporary art, beyond its borders. Rather than subscribing to one particular stance, it aims to act as a catalyst and serve as a host for discourse about the most pressing issues of our times.
CHAPTER 1 | WE NEED TO TALK
We Need to Talk presents artworks in conversation, coupling topics that deal with the same social issues from different perspectives, highlighting the communication paradox of our time: there is, despite large technical possibilities, a fundamental lack of dialogue.
Drawing upon artists' individual stances, the works are positioned opposite one another - not necessarily contradicting but rather presenting different ways of thinking about a central topic within the zeitgeist. Unless we take into consideration alternative sides, we fail to see. Issues must be considered and looked at in their totality—rather than in isolation. These conversations were intentionally selected around specific topics: gender, racism, globalization, conscientious consumerism, migration and inner conflicts. We also invite you to share your thoughts and opinions around conversation topics that you feel need to be addressed.
CHAPTER 2 | FORTY-TWO
The number forty-two is, taken from the cult-classic “The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy” the "...answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything…” calculated by an enormous supercomputer named ‘Deep Thought’ over a period of seven-and-a-half million years. In our fast-paced society, as we constantly consume information and images, we are in a perpetual state of reaction rather than contemplation. The section looks at cause and effect and examines the agency that we have in our decision-making when confronted with the complexities of life. Asking what our capacity is to acknowledge the decisions we make?
CHAPTER 3 | SHIFTING PERSPECTIVES
CHAPTER 4 | THE FORUM
In ancient Rome, the forum was the central and most important public space in the city. The word forum derives from the Latin meaning “a meeting or medium where ideas and views on a particular issue can be exchanged.” Effectively, it was a civic space for engaging in public dialogue. Today, the globalized city offers entirely new possibilities for communicating and negotiating dialogue in public space. We now use the term “forum” mostly for the digital platform, where the author often remains anonymous and exchange is unsolicited. COVID has propelled our communication and simultaneously our drive for meaningful exchanges. However, within the public sphere, there are few physical places that afford the possibility to promote togetherness, and meaningful exchanges across social-economic, cross-cultural, generational and political ideologies. The presented artworks are brought together through the political that encourage cultural tolerance, addressing the underlining the global community and the pitfalls of modern communication and thus creating isolation in society.
CHAPTER 5 | DEEP FAKE
When should we trust information sources and images and when should we not? In a world which is shrouded in misinformation, fake news and falsification of fact, how do we disseminate the information we are presented with?
Media companies take advantage of our economy of attention. They employ the x-minute read, as time is the ultimate commodity in an increasingly accelerated world, as we are scrolling, liking, clicking and sharing- how aware are we of the manipulation of information that we receive and the tools of deceit that are employed? Especially, in regards to the failure of communication in our collective political, societal and cultural realities—as they give way to power politics and the agendas of global media corporations, do we look without seeing?
It is only by all of us sharing our uncomfortable truths that we can engage in meaningful dialogue. Looking at, revealing and exposing your guilty pleasures and contradictions, through this immersive installation invites you to reflect and be reflected in your own hypocrisies.
Shame is a blocker of communication. Virtue signalling is prolific; topics and themes are propositioned as absolutes. Modern life involves surrounding ourselves publicly and demonstrating the pressures associated to be and present as such. Within the collective social angst and newfound tribalism and the cultural insignia that this prevails. We are all under the impression that everyone else is living more purposefully. We invite you to share your own contradictions on the IPad and within the confession box. Position yourself in front of the hall of mirrors centred in the BUT. Gaze into endless reflections and reproductions, confront your shame and acknowledge that within the collective “we” we all share uncomfortable truths and conflicting ideals. Kindly acknowledge with yourself that this is what makes us human.
CHAPTER 6 | I AM AN X BUT ….
CHAPTER 7 | SHIFTING PERSPECTIVES
History is written by the victors. This means that the histories of people of color, minorities of different religions, sexual orientations and gender are often underrepresented. Some even say, intentionally erased. Art, however, can provide a mechanism for the retelling and reframing of history and propaganda. The importance of learning from history can not be underestimated. Artists, activists and thinkers in every generation are faced with their own challenges.
Hybrid Histories highlights the importance of referring back to and reviewing how historical situations have been dealt with in the creative arena to propose alternative ways of approaching the present. Whether that be through collective memory, lived experience, history books or what is indoctrinated through public art and monuments. There is a need to question the stories that are told and by whom, especially within the public sphere.
Embracing failure and its value for rupture and repair. Fail Again Fail Better, takes inspiration from the infamous quote by the Irish author Samuel Beckett: “Ever Tried. Ever failed. No matter, Fail again. Fail better”
Collectively we are obsessed with putting forward our ideas as absolutes and are more afraid to change our views than to be perceived as being wrong. Centred around our idea of “correctness” and all its facets can impede as well as dismiss the possibilities of others’ positions and the value associated with failure. We have all failed in life at something; relationships, jobs, exams or ideas. It's important to acknowledge and relinquish ourselves from preconceived ideas and rather how this in turn can lead to unexpected opportunities and allow failure to transport us someplace new.
CHAPTER 8 | FAIL AGAIN, FAIL BETTER
Shifting perspectives showcases the potential of art, as a force and protagonist for social change—and societal mobilization. Increasingly artists are turning their attention to the most pressing issues of today, forging perceptual links between local and global, framing environmental and social issues which are prevalent both online and offline. Represented the humanistic dimensions of crisis and, at times, even gestured toward a promising visions of how opposing forces may bring forth new dimensions. Artists through their artworks in the public domain are generating and challenge our ways of receiving the world and asking how may art challenge our societal views?
Photography by Nika Kramer
MUSUEM OF NOW
MON BERLIN EDITION
2019 | Berlin, Germany
Artists | Amoako Boafo, Deus Ex Lumina, Robert Elfgen, Viktor Frešo, Marius Glauer, Denis Haračić, The Krank, Maximiliano León, Valentyn Odnoviun, Olek, O´Mom, Pasha Cas, Susanne Rottenbacher, Nour Shantout, Tpt
Curated by | Michelle Houston, Denis Leo Hegic, Jan Fiedler & Katia Hermann
Presented by | Berlin Art Society, Estrel Berlin
The Museum of Now opened its doors in October 2019 with its Berlin edition by presenting 15 artists from all over the world in a show of approx. 100 works of art - showing a wide collection of installations, site specific artworks, new media, photography, prints and paintings - from spectacular, large-scale light installations to miniature works in oil on canvas, in an impressive 1920s hall in Berlin Neukölln.
ZWITSCHERMASCHINE
07.2018 | Berlin, Germany
Artist | Carolina Amaya
Curated by | Michelle Houston & Denis Leo Hegic
Between 12.07.2018 – 04.08.2018 the enfants terribles of the Berlin art scene Michelle Houston and Denis Leo Hegic transformed the Zwitschermaschine Gallery into Berlin’s craziest hotel room and invited the audience to enjoy the first solo show by the Colombian artist Carolina Amaya. The exhibition called “ZIMMERFREIheit” is an art show by day and a bookable hotel room by night.
Carolina Amaya is a world traveler. Restless artist working in cities all over the world. Streets are her canvases, hotel rooms her places of rest, intimacy, thoughtfulness but also isolation and loneliness. In her solo show ZIMMERFREIheit Amaya will created an ideal space, the perfect hotel room for a nomadic traveler, with all her dreams and desires included.
Galleries and hotels are special places. Volatile hosts for guests, dreams and fantasies. A home for a night or two, places for lovers to escape and business people to venture. Buy and sell. See and be seen. ZIMMERFREIheit exhibition will bring together what belongs together: the dirtiness of a red district hotel and the mercilessness of the art market.
Go art or go home. Amaya is not modest. Her art is nothing for beginners. Hardcore in use of neon colour, softporn with her textures. One way or another it remains artporn.
Photographs courtesy of :Jasa Osa
ZWITSCHERMASCHINE
08.2018 | Berlin, Germany
Artists | Manfred Weber, Parisurteil, Nora Linnemann
Curated by | Michelle Houston & Denis Leo Hegic
The exhibition One Day Forever (Ein Tag für immer) was the first exhibition of its kind at the Zwitschermaschine. For one month, a photographer, a writer and an urban calligrapher created a collaborative work. The artists use their tools to tell specific stories. The exhibition was curated by the Berlin curator duo Michelle Houston and Denis Leo Hegic (Berlin Art Society).
Manfred Weber is a photographer and flâneur who captures the seen but often unnoticed moments of everyday urban life. His photography provided the starting point for the story.
Nora Linnemann is a writer – her rich texts portray comprehensible anxieties and inner-city encounters.
Parisurteil is a left-handed calligraphy writer. With his masterful strokes, words become images and cut through space, on walls, ceiling, the floor and through the canvas.
The result is an immersive exhibition where visitors could walk into the narrative. The boundaries of the different disciplines merged fluidly, creating not a group exhibition but an urban collective story.
Photographs courtesy of :Jasa Osa
GALLERY BAULL
04.2018 | Berlin, Germany
Artist | KITRA
Curated by | Michelle Houston & Denis Leo Hegic
To kick off Gallery Weekend, KITRA shows the systematic chaos in his first solo exhibition in Berlin. Denis Leo Hegic, the guy who named “Wandelism”, a recent exhibition which has moved Berlin, presents together with the British art expert Michelle Houston the next treat for the Berlin art scene: “Bonjour Tristesse” - an exhibition like a candy shop.
Walk-in-Artwork: Wall Hanging was Yesterday!
For the duration of the show at the Gallery Baull, just off Schlesisches Tor, visitors are invited to enter the walk-in-exhibition, where the entire space will be painted and turned into an overall work of art. Kitra’s new series of canvases will be integrated into the space: some of the works loud and visible, others hidden like chameleons.
Disturbing the System: Bonjour Tristesse
The starting point of the exhibition is the iconic “Bonjour Tristesse” Graffiti, crowning the corner building on Schlesische Straße in Berlin Kreuzberg for the past 37 years. This tiny disturbance of the brutalist facade symbolically represents the street culture of Schlesi. The title is contrasting the colourfulness of Kitra´s art and refers to the multi-layered understanding of his work, which goes beyond the mere admiration of strong colours.
Photographs courtesy of : XXXXXX