The newly founded CCA Berlin Center for Contemporary Arts in Berlin-Tiergarten will open the exhibition “Vierkantrohe Serie D” by artist Charlotte Posenenske on 4 February 2022. The Centre for Contemporary Arts in Kurfürstenstraße is dedicated as of now to the promotion, production, exhibition and discussion of artistic practices.
Image above: Charlotte Posenenske, Vierkantrohre Serie D, 1967, courtesy of CCA Berlin, via mehdi chouakri
The Vierkantrohre (“Square Tubes”) Serie D (1967) by Charlotte Posenenske (1930-1985) consists of six differently geometrical sheet-metal bodies whose appearance is reminiscent of industrial ventilation shafts. Like a construction kit, a work can be assembled in a multitude of combinations. This is only limited by the number of available elements. The work can therefore be continued and changed and thus react to different presentation spaces, whether standing, lying, hanging, indoors or outdoors. The artist has thus left it up to the curators or invited guests to build up the installation according to their own criteria and to change it over time. Traces of use, small scratches or fingerprints become part of the work. From 1967 onwards, the elements were factory-produced as authorised reconstructions until the death of Dr. Burkhard Brunn (the artist’s widower) in April 2021. In this way, the artist attempted to question the artwork’s claim to originality and to undermine the market price it generated.
Charlotte Posenenske is one of the most important German artists of the post-war period, despite the comparatively short creative period of 12 years. Her work is characterised by its radical openness. Her central interest was geometry, repetition and industrial production. With the mass-produced minimalism she created, she challenged both the art market and established formal and cultural hierarchies. In this way, Posenenske confronted the socio-economic problems of the decade in which she was artistically active. After coming to the conclusion that art could not ultimately have a sufficient political impact, Posenenske dared to give up art in 1968. After studying sociology, she worked as a social scientist. Posenenske’s work is still highly relevant today. Although her oeuvre has received more attention in recent years, its radicality and thus its contemporary relevance is nowhere near as present as it should be.
CCA Berlin strives for a lively, transnational dialogue with actors from the cultural, educational and civil society sectors. The stated aim of the new centre is to offer a multifaceted programme that emphasises process, experimentation and collaboration, while involving different social groups.
The CCA Berlin’s programme for 2022, entitled Pilot, is intended as a testing ground for the exhibition work of this new institution. It will unfold over the course of the first 12 months through individual presentations of existing works by artists. Pilot aims to highlight and revisit works that are significant to the development of CCA Berlin. They act as a curatorial blueprint for future collaborations and aesthetic questions.
WHEN?
Opening: Friday, 4th February 2022, 6:00 – 9:00 pm
Exhibition period: Saturday, 5. February to Sunday, 6. March 2022, Thu–Sat 11:00 am –6:00 pm
WHERE?
CCA Berlin – Center for Contemporary Arts
Kurfürstenstraße 145 (Entrance via Frobenstraße)
10785 Berlin-Tiergarten
COSTS?
Admission free, the 2G+ roule applies
