The Easel

20th October 2020

As immersive art goes, nothing competes with Berghain

Located in a disused Soviet era power station, Berghain is a legendary Berlin techno club and a “temple of hedonism”. With normal operations suspended, it is supporting Berlin artists with a large exhibition of art made during the lockdown. Despite some big-name artists, the art is “swamped by the venue’s charismatic immensity. Inevitably, a tension [emerges] between subcultural vitality and corporate ambition”.

13th October 2020

Nazi art on show: Is Germany ready to look again?

Should we separate art from the deeds/misdeeds of the artist? What about art the Nazi’s commissioned from favoured artists? It’s a dilemma facing German museums, some of whom have extensive holdings of Nazi sponsored art. There is no clear public consensus on the matter, something that might be progressed by exhibiting the works. Procrastination looks tempting: the “younger generation … [has] a more neutral approach to the topic”.