December 6th, 2016
On the ground floor of a corner building, in the bohemian Prenzlauer Berg you will find a bright south west facing space currently home to Next Estate, a Berlin based real estate agency.
An art gallery formerly occupied this commercial space, it was overseen by Isabel Bilbao but after she returned to Spain in 2011 she continued the tradition of sending cargos of paintings to grace the walls of this wonderful space and new exhibitions were held on a regular basis, unfortunately this cooperation came to an end in September this year as she concentrated more on the Spanish art market.
Next-Estate Berlin Prenzlauer Berg office as Gallery
The CEO of Next Estate, Billy Telford, quickly realised that over the years his office had become known and people accustomed to excellent art in all forms, in many cases people visited not just to buy Berlin property but to view the exhibitions. An unanimous decision by his staff was made to leave the walls empty unless something exceptional could be sourced to uphold the tradition.
On a cold and wet November evening the office was closing up for the day, when a figure passed by on the street, quickly realising that this stranger had more than enough imagination and experience to solve their art issue, Telford approached him and asked politely for his opinion.
Ai Weiwei & E.G. Powell
The stranger was Ai Weiwei and without hesitation he inspected the space and said he needed some time to think about what might be possible. Some days later E. G. Powell bounced through the door with a plan to build a unique exhibition and continue the tradition of exceptional art on this street corner.
Eric Gregory Powell was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and studied at Corcoran College of Art Washington D.C. he has known Ai Weiwei for sometime and has travelled extensively and worked in China.
39 Signs is an exploration of visual communication and systems of logic. The artist has used the existing infrastructure of the Next Estate window listing display system to create an art installation that is hiding in plain sight. With a clear list of information provided from the real estate office listing neighbourhood, apartment area in square meters and unit price he then set out to paint by hand each of the thirty-nine signs in one go.
39 signs of featured Berlin properties
Careful attention was made not to adjust or distort any of the information of the home listings. Even in cases where a home price was over the one-million Euro mark, the vernacular term “Preis auf Anfrage” is used. All of the signs are painted on A3 sized translucent vellum sheets to take full advantage of the LED illumination of the existing display system.
The signs are produced with the artist signature Carmine red pigment. The mundane is elevated to the status of sacred and connected to the earliest traditions of Western art-making. Entering the space the visitor is greeted by the large wall painting, Carmine Target, 2016.
For this site specific work the artist employs one of the most traditional methods of technical drawing. With a string compass he traces concentric circles radiating from a single point. The anchor he has chosen is none other than the surveillance camera which looks precariously over the windows. The use of the carmine pigment in a warm radiating gradation is an attempt to readjust discrepancies of conflicting social ideologies that are enduringly present in modern Berlin.
Additional works include Self Portrait (Pink Panther), 2016. Here the artist explores an avatar alterego and attempts to understand his own fascination with the carmine pigment. The canvas used was actually his own studio drop cloth for several months. After working exclusively with a single pigment for a period of time the drop cloth became an artifact of introspection on his rigorously methodical creative process. The Pink Panther figure gazes out of the picture plane with a smirk of casual suspicion, confronting the viewer with a mirror to their own aesthetic apprehension toward abstraction and kitsch imagery.
Untitled (Campari 001), 2016 and Untitled (Campari 004), 2016 are placed in the last room. These two works are from the artist’s ongoing Campari series. Here E.G. Powell attempts to declare his affinity for his favourite modern art movement, Futurism. Campari was the beverage of choice for turn of the century Italian Futurists and remains steadfast item on the diet of global art world insiders. The red syrupy liquid is mixed with Prosecco and soda water and served in the spritz every afternoon to the masses in attendance of the Venice Biennial.
Campari Group International stopped using the traditional Carmine pigment derived from cochineal bugs in 2006 in favour for a synthetic dye. Taking the Futurist approach and affinity for progress at all cost, the artist does not lament this change in a fit of nostalgia but embraces it as an opportunity to engage with a larger audience, (vegetarians and vegans who previously could not drink Campari).
The exhibition opens on Friday 9th of December at 18.30 and viewers are invited to drink a glass of the Campari themselves and engage in a communion with paintings and the artist’s practice. Next-Estate office is at Kollwitzstr. 38, 10405 Berlin.
Telford says “without Ai Weiwei this would never have been possible, he could have kept on walking but he seems to have sensed that while we work in a commercial field, our space, our environment, can be used to display art which is a win-win for the artist, art lovers, clients, staff and our neighbours, he helped to bind our community together and we are very proud to have E.G. Powell´s display.”