Art Forum Berlin the International Fair for Contemporary Art

Written by Theodore Scholz Sunday, 05 February 2012 21:16

Berlin - ART FORUM BERLIN - the international fair for contemporary art presents for the 13th time a magnificent selection of galleries from Berlin, as well as national and international galleries, and opens its doors to collectors and lovers of contemporary art. In recent years, the constant growth of the fair's profile, and the focus on contemporary art, has enabled ART FORUM BERLIN to become Germany's leading art fair. Open from 30 October through 3 November, 2008.

127 galleries from 26 countries, three fine art publishers, 13 institutions and 21 publishing houses from all parts of Europe, Asia, the USA, Central America and, for the first time, South Africa will show the current production of their stars and newcomers. New discoveries, exciting re-encounters with artists, spectacular stand presentations, unusual gallery concepts and - last but not least - the special exhibition accompanying ART FORUM BERLIN as well as the lounges designed by artists demonstrate for another year the exceptional position of the Berlin fair for contemporary art.

As in previous years, more than half of the galleries come from abroad. Berlin - the gallery location in Germany - is represented by 28 galleries. There will also be exciting new encounters with exhibitors from Spain, Austria, Russia, India and, for the first time, South Africa. Strongly represented this year again are exhibitors from the Nordic countries. The growth of galleries particularly from the Benelux states is interesting, while the USA is generally represented by young, up-and-coming positions. At ART FORUM BERLIN, 31 galleries (24 %) are first-time participants. 25 projects with up to three artists were juried as freestyle gallery-stands and will be structured with their own platform in hall 11.2 around a central gastronomy area. This year collective stands are also favored: 26 galleries have joined together to from 12 national and international combinations.

In the city, a number of outstanding exhibitions and a variety of attractive art events will run alongside the 13th ART FORUM BERLIN. Already on October 29, 2008, acquisitions from the first ten years of the German State Collection will be shown in the Martin-Gropius-Bau under the title "Zeitblick". Many of the works, from Olafur Eliasson, Isa Genzken and Thomas Struth to Ulla von Brandenburg, Ceal Floyer, Haegue Yang or Johannes Wohnseifer, were bought by the Federal Acquisitions Committee at fairs in Germany such as ART FORUM BERLIN. During a party the same evening, the 1st Jury of the Nationalgalerie Prize will name the four short-listed artists. Parallel to the opening of ART FORUM BERLIN on October 30, 2008, the universes of Paul Klee and Jeff Koons will be paid homage to as part of the series "Cult of the Artist" in solo exhibitions at the Neue Nationalgalerie.

The series will be continued in the Hamburger Bahnhof - Museum für Gegenwart with Joseph Beuys, Andy Warhol, Ayse Erkmen and an attempt at a deconstruction of the myth of the artist "I can't just slice of an ear every day" including works from the Friedrich Christian Flick Collection. At C/O Berlin International Forum for Visual Dialogues, the intimate in everyday life will be treated in a show of works from the collection of agnès b., Paris, while in the KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Susanne Pfeffer takes a look at "Geschlossene Gesellschaft" ("Imprisoned"). In the Akademie der Künste (Hanseatenweg) the comprehensive group exhibition "Notation" highlights calculation and form in artistic processes. At the beginning of November 2008, the 3rd European Month of Photography will begin in locations spread throughout the city.