Berlin

Over the break from university I have been unable to get down to London because I am still waiting for my loan, but I had a trip to Berlin planned so I made sure I got to some of the galleries and museums there. 

I visited the Guggenheim and saw an exhibition by the 'Artist of the Year'. This prize does not include any money but it does give the chosen artist long term notoriety. It is sponsored by the Deutsche Bank which has made art accessible worldwide for the last 30 years.   

Yto Barrada in front of her work 

A selection of work in the Riffs exhibition.

This years artist is Yto Barrada,. her exhibition was called 'Riffs' and was about her home town of Tangier, Morocco. This show featured both old and new works including photographs and three films. She lived in both Tangier and Paris. Barrada studied both history and political science and attended the International Center of Photography in New York. The inspiration for her 'Riffs' show comes from music where the 'riff' stands for a rhythmic figure which is a musical phrase added to a musical score. It is also inspired by the Rif mountains of Morocco where the art deco Rif cinema is also situated. I found her work hard to follow at first but soon found her use of  both trees and her home country self explanatory in the telling of her story. 

Dali- Berlin
Die Ausstellung
AM Potsdamer Platz

Salvador Dali-Apparition de Dulcinee
Don Quichotte de la Mancha- 1956/57

Another exhibition I saw was the Dali exhibition in the actual Dali museum. This was the most interesting and inspirational show I saw in Berlin. It featured hundreds of his illustrations and sculptures which I had never seen before and it made me aware of a whole new side of his work. I could have stayed in there all day looking through his etchings and sketches. From the piano water feature in  the entrance to the simple etchings of his Tristan and Isolde series and his controversial film 'An Andalusian Dog', everything was amazing and a true inspiration.

Salvador Dali- Decline
Les Amours Jaunes- 1974

The sketch on the left is one of my favourites and features 24 carat gold dust.

Other work in the exhibition featured Alice in Wonderland illustrations, 100 xylographs from The Divine Comedy series and  a number of sculptures including 'Lilith', 'The Surrealist Angel' and 'Mannequin Zootropique'. 

Throughout Berlin there is the most amazing architecture which is both traditional and futuristic. Some of the shapes of the buildings and bridges can be incorporated into my silhouette for my trend which despite being away from university I am still thinking about and working towards. 

I did not know what to expect in Berlin but after my trip I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for amazing art, history and inspiration.