With their strong, bright colours and grid-like pictorial structure, Torben Giehler’s paintings and drawings automatically remind the viewer of digitally created realms like those familiar to him from computer games, flight simulators or CAD animations. In more recent works, Giehler has rejected his earlier motifs’ orientation on digitally generated models of urban landscapes and turned increasingly to abstraction, experimenting with apparently three-dimensional forms and areas of contrasting colour so that the images tend more and more towards the non-representational. Finally, in his latest works, it is no longer possible to find any association at all with virtual landscapes or urban environments; the pictorial structure appears as a bold interlocking of cubic elements into abstract, usually large-format painting which creates explicit references to prominent representatives of abstraction – mainly to Piet Mondrian, and Blinky Palermo.
Even though Torben Giehler’s paintings look 'artificial', the process of image-creation does not take place at the computer, but always directly on the canvas, and by hand. The artist has also developed a special mixing technique for paint and gel, which makes the colours extremely transparent. The use of fluorescing paints in bright colours still intensifies the aesthetic pull that these audaciously balanced compositions of lines, areas and colours exert on the viewer.
To acknowledge the award of the Falkenrot-Prize 2008 to Torben Giehler, Künstlerhaus Bethanien is showing a representative insight into Giehler’s creative work to date (Catalogue available).

Our thanks are due to the collections Dubrow, Logan, Sonnabend, Vanmoerkerke and Wilks, to those lenders who wish to remain anonymous, and to Leo Koenig Inc., gallery Charlotte Moser, gallery Michael Schultz and gallery Suzanne Tarasiève.

Falkenrot Prize 2008 – Torben Giehler
24th October – 16th November 2008, Studio 1
Opening: Thursday, 23rd October 2008 as from 7 pm

Patrick Tuttofuoco is interested in dialogue between people of widely differing origins and in urban life with its diverse structures and communities. His works, for which he employs a wide range of media, are intended to visualise his personal interpretation of the world as a “social, architectonic, relational, formal and cultural condensate”. As a result, one can find in them ingredients as varied as loud music, bizarre archi-
tectonic forms, dazzling colours, documentary materials or found objects from flea markets.
In Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Patrick Tuttofuoco has created an “artistic landscape” by grouping together several separate works to construct a walk-in installation. Here, the title component is provided by a common and therefore seldom noticed plant: the “Dandelion” is a frugal weed that seems just as much at home on wasteland and in scrap yards as it is in succulent meadows, making it into a perfect symbol of adaptation to urban change, of things that are always in a state of radical development. Tuttofuoco plans to fetch this symbol into the exhibition space from various locations in Berlin; here, he will exhibit and cultivate it, in order to return it to the urban environment later.
In this sense, “Dandelion” is the artist’s homage to the city of Berlin, which Tuttofuoco sees as embodying permanent change in a way that no other city does. This is precisely why he has made Berlin into his home.

Patrick Tuttofuoco holds a fellowship from the Associazione per il Circuito dei Giovani Artisti Italiani – GAI, the Ministero per i beni e le attività culturali – PARC, and the Dipartimento per le politiche giovanili – POGAS in the context of our International Studio Programme.

Patrick Tuttofuoco – Dandelion
24th October – 9th November 2008, Studio 3
Opening Thursday, 23rd October 2008, from 7 pm

Christian Niccoli’s artistic work examines situations and patterns of behaviour within different social groups, focusing on the interaction between indivi-
duals. Niccoli works with photography and video, and he always stages his themes with great precision, employing professional actors. His films do not copy reality, therefore; they represent it in an abstract and metaphorical way.
In Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Christian Niccoli is showing “An steilen Hängen Laufen lernen” (Learning to Walk on Steep Slopes) a multi-channel version of his 16mm film “Planschen” (Splashing Around, 2007/08). Six videos, which are projected onto single wooden cubes distributed around the exhibition space, show six people who – fully dressed – are aimlessly and help-
lessly swimming around, wearing a swim ring. No real interaction occurs over the course of the entire film; the protagonists only look around at the others with apparent mockery or envy. Metaphorically, the film describes the ‘floating state’ experienced by people who live in a city as strangers and simply let themselves ‘drift’.
Often demonstrating an absurd aspect, Niccoli’s films always represent the artist’s way of coming to terms with his autobiographical experiences. As a result, they are both self-analysis and a critical observation of our society.

As a guest at Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Christian Niccoli is currently participating in our International Studio Programme.

Christian Niccoli – An steilen Hängen Laufen lernen
24th October – 9th November 2008, Studio 2
Opening Thursday, 23rd October 2008, from 7 pm

KÜNSTLERHAUS BETHANIEN at ART FORUM BERLIN

As every year, Künstlerhaus Bethanien will participate in the renowned art fair ART FORUM BERLIN.
On the fairgrounds next to the Berlin „Funkturm“, you will find us in the Palais at stand 117 where we will provide you with the most up to date information on the artists of our International Studio Programme, new exhibition projects and the most recent publications.
A drawing by Norwegian artist Martin Skauen will also be on display. Martin Skauen has been participating in this year’s International Studio Programme at Künstlerhaus Bethanien.

30th October (Opening) – 3rd November 2008, 12 – 8 pm
Messe Berlin fairgrounds, Palais am Funkturm / 117