005 - Elitist small talk in turquoise meets Golden Decade
BLAU INTERNATIONAL, NO. 2
Axel Springer
strikes back
Hello Smart Art Lover,
In search of inspiration for my newsletter, I followed the intelligent advice of a smart book: buy a new magazine every month and use the most interesting article. I am lucky enough to live just 5 minutes away from one of the best magazine stores in the world, do you read me?! Last week I visited the shop and asked the very competent saleswoman for an art magazine about Berlin. Short silence. Actually there is no such thing. There are a lot of magazines about art, but nothing with a direct reference to Berlin, except maybe BLAU INTERNATIONAL. Okay, I'll buy it.
BLAU is a coffee table product from Axel Springer. From 2015 to 2019 it was a supplement of the daily newspaper Die Welt. Since fall 2019, the media empire has been delivering a very fat magazine, currently on issue 2. Supposedly the German answer to other top dogs of the art magazine world: Artforum International and Frieze. I flip through it and start reading. The connection between Japanese Butoh Theater and Hans Bellmer. Michelangelo Antonioni's love nest in Sardinia. The Lotus Europa as both sculpture and car nestled. In between advertisements from blue chip galleries and the luxury industry. Its as if the New York Times Magazine and the Saturday supplement Bilder und Zeiten of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung had a child.
This is how I learn that the gallery giant Gagosian invites selected guests to an exclusive dinner at Casa Malaparte on Capri. And to go with it all, a furniture edition is now being presented. Let's go to London. The advantage of this magazine - read on a rainy Sunday afternoon and you'll get the upper hand with any high society small talk. Guaranteed. Besides, you can dream of a jet set life before the alarm clock rings again on Monday.
BLAU INTERNATIONAL
Art Magazine
EUR 15 / CHF 21 / UK£ 14
Available at selected kiosks and bookshops
Hicham Benohoud, La salle de classes (series), 1994 - 2000
Offline Favorite of the week
On Saturday I visited the newly opened showroom Studio 4 Berlin. And discovered a very nice district of Charlottenburg by the way. The four Berlin gallery owners Eva Morawietz, Katharina Maria Raab, Anahita Sadighi and Anne Schwarz have joined forces and rented a small room. The walls remind me of the Charlottenburg project room of my old employer Damian Grieder, so worn down I haven't seen it in 10 years.
Next to the first-class framed photographs by Hicham Benohoud hangs a wall sculpture by the artist Lisa Tiemann. I immediately associate the Moroccan's works with Franz Ehrhardt Walther, the mastermind of the contemporary concept of sculpture. In the middle of the room is a group of 19 amphorae, 17th century Persian ceramics in an enchanting turquoise tone. A sculpture by the sculptor Dieter Detzner shines at me from the edge of the shop window. The concept may not be completely new, but I like it and look forward to further exhibitions in this mix of art, design and antiques.
STUDIO 4 BERLIN
Krumme Straße 35-36
10627 Berlin
info@studio4berlin.com
Wed - Fri 12 to 18
Sat 11.00 to 16 o'clock
and by appointment
Super Art Market, 2009, Official Poster
Online favourite of the week
I want to make a confession: My name is Florian and I'm a serial junkie. I regularly watch the latest productions on Amazon Prime and Co. in one piece. To my great delight I have found out that a European Netflix is now starting. Sooner - Stream Beyond looks like European feuilleton trash at first sight. The platform gathers all the films I miss in Art House Cinema and the documentaries that are shown at obscure festivals. But still much better than time-wasters like Shadowhunters, which make up 90% of Netflix.
At the same time I found a little jewel - Super Art Market. A wonderful documentary about the time before the financial crash of 2008, when the art world was still ok. The former King of New York, Leo König, talks about pricing policy in a taxi. Very interesting!
Super Art Market
2009
Documentary film by Zoran Solomun
1 h 29 min
David Wojnarowicz with Tom Warren, Self-Portrait of David Wojnarowicz, 1983/84
Photo: Huffington Post
Deal of the week
Wolfgang Tillmans and his team from Between Bridges are supporting the Savvy Contemporary project space with a charity sale. They are selling great posters of world-famous artists online until August 10. Rarely 50 EUR are as well invested as here. I myself have my eyes on the work of David Wojnarowicz.
Be brave, gentle and smart.
Yours,
Florian
