
PRIOR
PRIOR
EXHIBITION OF NEW WORKS BY ARTISTS PART OF COLLECTION, IN RESIDENCY AND IN THE RADAR
Because we would like to take our support further we decided to, besides the permanent exhibition of our collections and to inspire other collectors to discover new artists, to dedicate a room of our space for international collaborations.
In collaboration with galleries and curators we want to show new pieces by artists already part of the Collections or in our radar, artists that represent the values and purpose of our collection’s focus, giving them a space in Berlin where to exhibit their latest body of work.
PRIOR CURATED
EXHIBITIONS
9th April - 12th June
PRIOR ART SPACE Presents ‘That Wilderness Within’, a group exhibition featuring twenty artists from a variety of aesthetic cultures and artistic disciplines. The exhibition will explore the wildest, purest self that is best exposed when drawn to make the impulsive decisions that allow for growth. The exhibition forms the inaugural presentation of our new Barcelona space, and will showcase works from exhibiting artists alongside works from the Cuperior and Del Arco Collections.
That Wilderness Within - the one that drives our purest and most essential human instincts. Our rebel, our wild self, the essence that pushes us to cross boundaries and commit mistakes or experience growth. A side we all possess, but rarely embrace. The artists in this exhibition seek to harness the powerful force of our inner wildness, from the untamed emotion of Ziad Kaki’s iridescent brushstrokes through to the uncharted waters and tangle of figures displayed in the work of Amelie Peace.
Jeanine Brito takes a feminist approach to the concept: the ultra-feminine protagonist dons a bright pink sweatshirt as she shaves her body hair - the flower stem in her hand alluding to the act of taming nature. Both Johnson Ocheja and Tang Shuo depict figures that appear completely free. In Ocheja’s ‘The Red Jacket’, despite the initial apparent stillness of the flat landscape, the sea froths at the edges and the wind appears strong enough to knock the female figure off her feet, but instead she stands strong and unmoving amidst the wildness around her. The deep indigo of her skin, a colour historically reserved for high status individuals, rebels against the traditional marginalisation of the Black body. Here, she is elevated to a position akin to royalty, therefore claiming ownership of her space and power. Tang Shuo’s portrait similarly explores the notion of the self via the delicate balance of human versus nature. Surrounded by bristling trees, he grasps onto a trail of rope which leads to an unknown place. The title ‘A Long Journey’ indicates an unending journey of self-discovery and inward reflection.
The term ‘wilderness’ can be taken at face value of being ‘wild’, as much as it applies to the explorative approach of an artist’s practice and materiality. The beauty of the unsystematic, uncontrollable and unconfined is what is hidden in the uncertainties of the journey, and such notions can be explored and coexist within the complexities of the unknown. It can also speak to the state of contemporary art through the art historical lens, with visual language being the primary medium for communicating political debate, lived experience and extended ideologies. Ultimately, it holds within it a possibility for change. The articulation of the creative spirit can be felt throughout the works included - the intensity of colour, or the potential of a single line, allows the viewer to physiologically experience what it means to embrace their own ‘wild side’.
Artists showing from 9th. April to the 12th. June 2022.
Joseph Adibleku, Amber Ahmad, AdrianArmstrong, Amy Bravo, Jeanine Brito, Josias Figueirido, Jared Freschman, Judith Grassl,Sunyoung Hwang, Ziad Kaki, Alessandro Keegan, Ametefe Kukubor, Gaston Lisak,
Qhamanande Maswana, Johnson Ocheja, Amelie Peace, Abdur Rahman, Kristen Reichert, Tang Shuo, Sonoiki Victor.
2nd April - 27nd April
Katja Farin Solo Show
PRIOR Art Space Berlin are delighted to present ‘Mistakes for Small Talk’ - a solo presentation of Katja Farin.
𝘔𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯, 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘣𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭, 𝘴𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮. 𝘞𝘦 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦, 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘪𝘨 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘢 𝘣𝘪𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘶𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘴 𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘳𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘺, 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘣𝘪𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘢𝘴𝘩. 𝘓𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘦𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦. 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘹 𝘪𝘵𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧. 𝘈 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘭𝘢𝘷𝘢 𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘱, 𝘱𝘦𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧, 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘵, 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘤𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴.
Katja Farin (b. 1996) lives and works in Los Angeles. They received a BA in Fine Art from the University of California, Los Angeles in 2018. They have had solo presentations at Era Gallery (Milan), Lubov (New York) and in lieu (Los Angeles) and have been included in group exhibitions at Beers (London), Wilding Cran (Los Angeles) and Nicodim (Los Angeles).
Exhibition from the 2nd. April to the 27th. April 2022.
Solo Show Katja Farin
22nd March - 1st April
The residency work is strongly inspired on the texts by Michel de Certeau – General introduction to the practice of everyday life and on the book “Handbook of Tirany”, by Theo Deutinger.
Michel de Certeau in his essay talks about the idea of strategies vs tactics (society and institutions vs users) as a vehicle for “freedom”. For this show I focus on objects such as a police barrier (given to me by the Berlin Police department) used to control crowds during demonstrations, which are stored in some public visible spaces of the city; pipes from buildings water drainage systems; barbed wire; emergency golden blankets that I collected in Lesbos in 2016, during my volunteer period in that Greek Island (these blankets were all used by refugees/migrants upon their arrival to Lesbos (Europe).
My actions with these important context objects are framed with the idea of ‘tactics’ as de Certeau conceptualizes in his writings. I have dismantled the police barrier and repurposed it, as well with the pipes used for drainage; painted a wall fence that exists between the border of Ceuta/Melilla (which is the closest border fence to Lisbon, the city where I am based), inspired by the book by Theo Deutinger, where he compiles most of the border fences that exist around the world and also mechanisms to control the population, from police tactics to plants or drones; used a full emergency golden blanket from Lesbos, to paint two views of skulls, transformed on photoshop with the style of the Obama poster of 2008, “Hope”, by Shepard Fairey; and others.
I play with the meaning of all these objects and propose new approaches for the future.
Pedro Pires, Berlin, March 2022, Cuperior Collection residency program.
Exhibition from the 22st. March to 1st April 2022.
Solo Show Pedro Pires Artist in Residency, Cuperior Residency
18th February - 21nd March
PRIOR Art Space Berlin presents “ZOOM IN”, a group exhibition featuring new and recent work by six contemporary artists exploring themes of digital identities through the mediums of painting and NFT technology.
‘Zoom In’ takes its concept from the digital act of concentrating or focusing on a small detail of a larger image, making it appear closer. The finger gesticulation used to ‘zoom in’ with our smartphones or tablets, forms part of a range of gestures that have come to define our generation. With the ability to zoom in, extract, and repost comes the power of re-contextualisation: the ability to change the original intended meaning completely. Digital devices have enabled a generation to examine images from multiple viewpoints, or to get a closer look at select details in an attempt to make sense of the image, with the threat of losing sight of the bigger picture. This singular act of ‘zooming in’ can alter our perception of the world, providing us with a flat reality within our control.
The artists in this exhibition ultimately seek to re-claim the affective power of images. and to bring to the conversation the co-existence of two worlds: the depth of our experiences and self-identification within them.
Artists in exhibition from the 18th of February th. to the 21st. March 2022.
Emanuel de Carvalho, Moritz Moll, Katja Farin, Adrian Armstrong, Lanisse Howard
and Max Michel Thillaye.
28th January - 18th February
MAMA
Definition of mama
Mama : Mother
mama : nounma· ma | \ ˈmä-mə, chiefly British mə-ˈmä \ variants: or mamma or momma
PRIOR Art Space Berlin presents “MAMA”, a group exhibition featuring new and recent work by seven contemporary artists exploring themes of motherhood: Johnson Ocheja, Isaac Mann, Sikelela Owens, Grace Mattingly, Turiya Magadlela, Elsa Sahal and Deniz Pasha. This exhibition forms the second instalment of the PRIOR ‘Next Generation’ series, opening 28th January.The title of the current exhibition ‘Mama’ takes as its starting point the universal word for ‘Mother’ as it seeks to explore the depth and diversity of the motherhood experience. This exhibition brings together a diverse range of contemporary artists who re-interpret the many possibilities and meanings of motherhood, which changes according to the conditions and ideologies which have shaped the parenting culture we belong to. Love and fear, choice and circumstance, expectation and reality all influence our experience and come to re-define motherhood, and the cultural norms and expectations associated with it. Motherhood comes to encompass origin, femininity, life, and ultimately, death. By exploring a theme that has simultaneously infiltrated much of art history, but also been traditionally overlooked, ‘Mama’ seeks to capture the inherent instinct of the Mother to love unconditionally and the different possibilities of representing the maternal experience.
Artists in exhibition from the 28th. January 2021 to the 18th of February 2022.
Jonson Ocheja, Sikelela Owen, Grace Mattingly, Turiya Magadlela,
Isaac Mann, Elsa Sahal, Deniz Pasha
3rd December - 28th January
PRIOR next generation is pleased to present the exhibition “ Coming in Coming out ”
The exhibition presents works by Giorgio Cellin, Carlo d' Anselmi, Alannah Farrell, Jeanine Brito , Quamamande Masswana.
The exhibition intends to bring to the conversation the metaphorical meaning of coming in and out as applied to identity, gender, life matters and belonging.
Concepts and experiences of introspection before a personal epiphany, before a journey of self-proclamation
and healing.
The stigmatized dualism of this process, what we see more as a subsequent and gradational development of the self into a new stage.
The space in between, exploring the nuances of questioning our truth, that binarised by political and cultural imperatives distances us from the natural progression of an instinctive self-identification outspeak.
Dispelling stigmas and normative establishment to embrace diversity and self-acceptance in every social scenario.
A journey of different paths with the every and only aim to find the freedom to Be.
Artists on display from the 3rd. December 2021 to the 28th of January 2022.
Giorgio Celin, Carlo d'Anselmi, Alannah Farrell, Qhuamanande Maswana,
Jeanine Brito, Lucy Teasdale