From White to White – Kunstherbst at the Kaufhaus Jandorf
Luciano Castelli – Sven Marquardt
Opening: Saturday, 28 October, 2017, 7:30 p.m.
Talk: Prof. Tim Renner, former State Secretary for CultureIntroduction: Mark Gisbourne, art critic & curator
Duration of the exhibition: 29 October through 5 November, 2017, 11 a.m – 7 p.m.
„From white walls to white walls, that is the meaning of this exhibition. From nothing to something and back again to nothing.“
On 28 October, 2017, the Kaufhaus Jandorf, in co-operation with the Galerie Deschler, will open the art project From White to White at Brunnenstrasse 19-21 in Berlin-Mitte. The centerpiece of the exhibition will be comprised of monumental wall paintings, spanning two floors, by the internationally renowned artist Luciano Castelli. The Ball Room will premier large-format works, measuring 2 x 3 meters, by Berlin photographer Sven Marquardt, featuring portraits of local doormen from his acclaimed series „Rudel“. In the evenings the impressive space of the Jandorf will be venue for live concerts, screenings of films, and other activities.
At the Kaufhaus Jandorf Castelli spontaneously and directly painted the entire interior of the building, thus radically (and literally) breaking out of the conventional frame of painting. The structural elements of the building like walls, columns and staircases are thus merged with his painting into a total work of art. He managed to master the enormous challenge with regard to painting and spatial conception with his typical, very gestural, almost calligraphic brushstroke. The multi-dimensionality of some of the works renders them complete only from specific vantage points, thus actively engaging the viewer in the creation. This process will be completed at the end of the week-long exhibition with the whitewashing of his painting: from white to white. In this manner Castelli not only foregrounds the transience of all creation, but again demonstrates his own flexibility and spontaneity, his particular talent of again and again reacting to specific situations and creating something new, and in the process reinventing himself.
The Swiss artist Luciano Castelli had his artistic break-through early on, being the youngest participant in the 1972 Documenta 5 at Kassel. After relocating to Berlin in 1978, he worked alongside Rainer Fetting and Salomé in the context of the so-called „Neue Wilde.“ He subsequently moved beyond this painting style to develop new artistic approaches. Castelli works in various mutually complementary media: painting, photography, film, music, and sculpture. The focus of his work is on self-dramatization, giving palpable form to characteristics, emotions, and roles: on the stage set by himself he is at the same time both actor and subject-matter.
Sven Marquardt, who had been trained as a fashion photographer, started portraying the East-Berlin art and gay scene in expressive black-and-white photography as early as the 1980s. After a creative break following the German reunification he resumed this work in 2000. Since then he has established international reputation with exhibitions, publications, and collaborations with fashion labels such as Hugo Boss and Levi’s, as well as with the German Goethe Institut. With his distinctive appearance and as a doorman of the famous Berghain club Marquardt has furthermore become widely known beyond Berlin as a symbol of the city.
