A provocative new group exhibition titled 'Vernissage (Exhibition on Punk)' has opened at the Nizza cooperative art space in Berlin, challenging the conventional boundaries between anti-establishment culture and commercial gallery spaces. Curated by Kai Erdmann and Jakob Schäfer, the director of EigenArt Lab in Mitte, the show brings together seventeen contemporary artistic positions that explore punk's enduring influence on visual arts. Running through February 7, 2025, the exhibition occupies Schweidnitzer Street in Berlin's vibrant art district, offering a rare examination of how punk's raw energy translates into tangible artworks within the pristine white cube environment. The show includes works by both established and emerging artists, creating a dialogue across generations.
The exhibition's very premise embodies a deliberate contradiction, forcing gritted anti-pomposity into a space designed for contemplation and commerce. The title itself references a song by the Hoyerswerda band Pisse, whose lyrics savagely critique gallery openings: 'How they all sip from their champagne flutes, you stand among them and want to kill them all.' This sentiment materializes immediately upon entry, where a large 'Fuck you' by artist Kerstin Podbiel dominates the stairwell doorway, rendered in such a strongly constructed font that it inevitably evokes Ed Ruscha's text-based works. The opening night featured a performance by Boy Division, a Hamburg punk band whose repertoire consists exclusively of cover songs, described as 'a bit of Nouvelle Vague for canned beer drinkers.' In a moment of perfect punk authenticity, a dog defecated in the gallery during the event, which organizers discovered only after it had been inadvertently spread throughout the space.
The works on display span diverse mediums while maintaining punk's DIY ethos and confrontational attitude. Aleen Solari contributes an impressive lamp constructed from discarded beverage cartons, transforming trash into functional sculpture. Andrew Gilbert offers charmingly copied band posters, while Hannes Berwing, singer of the Berlin band Die Verlierer, presents desirable paintings that quietly nod toward Jean Dubuffet's Art Brut aesthetic. Mascha Naumann, a student at the Berlin University of the Arts, combines brutal steel brackets with stained undershirts from her job at a techno club bar in 'Sunday Monday,' accompanied by a slick social media-format video filled with Jack Halberstam quotes about queer subjects. Jody Korbach contributes a pointed textual work, painting 'At some point you need to grow up and betray your ideals' in white lacquer on beer coasters, directly challenging punk's anti-commercial stance.
Art Brut permeates the exhibition, particularly in pieces by autodidact artists working outside academic structures. Antonius Arzt, a young self-taught creator, vacuum-seals civilization's abject treasures and materialized symbols of the interior into disturbingly intriguing packages. His piece 'Perso' laminates a butt plug with a crumpled Marlboro box, mounted on a file folder cover, triggering countless associations. Remarkably, the work remains available for purchase at a relatively modest price due to the artist's non-academic background, raising questions about whether this accessibility is ultimately punk or its opposite. The vacuum-sealed pieces occupy a fascinating middle ground between fine art and artifact, challenging traditional valuation systems and gallery hierarchies.
The exhibition remains open through early February, with special hours on December 30 and 31. While the contradiction of selling anti-commercial art in a commercial space cannot be resolved, Erdmann and Schäfer seem acutely aware of this paradox, using it as a central theme rather than ignoring it. The presence of a work by the late British legend Genesis P-Orridge, the sole non-contemporary piece, grounds the exhibition in punk's historical roots while the other sixteen positions demonstrate its evolution. Whether visitors encounter vacuum-sealed consumer waste, text-based provocations, or paintings that merge punk with Art Brut sensibilities, 'Vernissage' forces an uncomfortable but necessary conversation about authenticity, commerce, and the gallery system's relationship with subversive culture in contemporary Berlin.
