So many thanks to Shoutout DFW for this generous interview about my inspiration, work and practice.
I’m very touched and grateful to have these words on my work from a native Texas publication.
Read the whole article here.
residency 108 | clermont, new york
as part of residency 108’s artist in residence program, this month i will be realizing an original series of works incorporating the 108 acres as both a starting point and installation site.
while researching and interacting with the landscape and wildlife of the property, i will be documenting my process and work online here.
this project is ongoing from 30 april – 28 may.
new studio | neukölln
grateful and very excited to officially be located now in a new stellar workspace.
thanks to enklave berlin for allowing me to join their creative community housed inside this lovely brick building deep in the heart of neukölln.
email for studio visits, directions.
"trace" 2 | SAPH SHANGHA
thank you Swatch Art Peace Hotel for this image.
an illustration from my pen and ink series completed during my residency at the swatch art peace hotel, mars (2015), is now included in the faces and traces exhibition in addition to the earlier mixed media work from my brain series. See both works here.
the closing date of the show has also now been extended to 1 march, for anyone wanting to visit the exhibition at the hotel’s bund location.
more about the faces and traces show here.
group open studio | SAPH SHANGHAI
thank you to everyone that came to the group open studio at the swatch art peace hotel last week and made the entire evening so visually charged, unforgettable, and such a perfect way to wrap up the last few days of my time in shanghai.
i am proud to have worked alongside such an amazing group of artists, who fulfilled their separate artist residencies and realized their own work during the same time i realized mine. it has been a pleasure be able to show the results of my research and and energy during these last few winter months as part of this saph event with the work of the following talented people: alexandre and john gailla, elena monzo, dominique othenin-girard, yuan jinhua, chiara luzzana, sofia ortiz, zhu ye, sandro del pistoia, juliana ong, george van wetering, mujin, jovanna tosello, kwang-ju son, maria paz, phillip reed, linda spaman, and michael maurissens.
four of my selected drawings made during my stay.
sandro del pistoia
george van wetering aka Monokino
elena monzo
open studio | saph shanghai
dear friends,
hopefully your 2015 is off to a great start so far!
my studio will be relocating back to berlin after a wonderful and productive time spent in shanghai as an artist-in-residence at the swatch art peace hotel.
as part of saying goodbye to shanghai, a private open studio evening is going to be hosted in my workspace this wednesday, 21 january, from 6 – 8 pm.
you are warmly invited to join. please rsvp for yourself and guests by email. it would be a pleasure to greet you in person at my studio.
[date + time: ]
wednesday, 21 january, 18:00 – 20:00
atelier 36, swatch art peace hotel, 23 east nanjing road near waitan
3楼 36号, 南京东路23号, 近中山东一路
*rsvp to kathryn.gohmert@gmail.com
share this event using the qr code below:
artist residency | swatch art peace hotel
work by alec von bargen
taking a short break from the berlin winter and dropping back into shanghai briefly: i will be participating as one of the artists in residence at the swatch art peace hotel until 22 january, 2015.
although the time will go by too quickly, it is wonderful to be back in the mainland working alongside the other 17 artists here on the bund again after my initial residency here in 2011.
the other current fellow artists in residence include alexandre and john gailla, elena monzo, dominique othenin-girard, yuan jinhua, chiara luzzana, sofia ortiz, zhu ye, sandro del pistoia, juliana ong, george van wetering, bao lixin, jovanna tosello, son kwang-ju, maria pazcontreras buzeta, phillip reed, and heidi bryce.
it’s so refreshing to see how many positive changes have happened since i was last working in this building three years ago. looking very forward to this time of heavy creative focus while working in an old and much-loved home.
open studio | BLO Atelier images
thank you to everyone that came to blo atelier’s open studio event as part of lange nacht de bilder last thursday and friday: it was a lot of fun.
rumors have surfaced of another open studio event to happen here soon… more details on this and more upcoming blo events can be found on their website here.
open studio | Blo Atelier, 6 – 7 nov
as part of lange nacht derbilder 2014 – hosting various project spaces, galleries and artist studios based in the lichtenberg district – blo atelier presents performances, workshops and audio + visual work by its artists.
claudia clemens | jorge lequite | johannes bucholtz | almut muller | kathryn gohmert | feryel atek | nancy gorlach | thomas knoof | till gruhl | claudia hirschberger | daniel rabe | luz schewinski | maria fernandez verdeja | sabine alex | conni saaid rabe | constance schrall | nils bornemann | michi sheffler | hana el degham | johnny kortlever | irina novarese
for more information about lange nacht de bilder 2014, blo atelier and its artists, please visit the blo atelier website or the facebook page.
it would be great to see you there.
thurs – fri, 6 – 7 nov | 18:00 – 24:00
kaskelstraße 55, 10317, berlin – lichtenberg
s7/s5 nöldnerplatz
new studio | blo ateliers, berlin
images below from the new studio space at BLO ateliers, berlin! see the BLO website for more info on the facilities and other artists based in this post-industrial wonderland. more details coming soon about our upcoming open studio event on 7 november. stay tuned to this blog for more information or subscribe to my newsletter here for updates closer to the date.
696 weihai lu | in remembrance
fellow artists and old friends, susanne junker (founder of stageBACK project space), barbara anna hussar and zwolf schnifis are giving a talk at the bavarian rivieratonight – doing their part to keep 696 immortal by focusing their discussion on this special community, formerly located in an abandoned gun factory in shanghai’s busy city center.
to touch on the good memories that still abound for so many people, i’m including below a few images and highlights from an article “shape of the city,” [originally published in 2011] which i discovered today while perusing the talk’s itinerary [thanks to barbara anna husar].
“initially, one may mistake the weihai lu 696 artists community for a government-sanctioned ‘creative cluster,’ like m50, red town [shanghai sculpture space], tianzifang, or beijing’s 798 arts district… what these creative clusters lack, however, is the real sense of danger, experimentation, and freedom that is still present at artist communities such as weihai lu, not to mention the lower rents that allow working artists to afford studio space in the center of the city.”
well put.
artists were evacuated from the area by, ahem, the you-know-what around 3 years ago … about the time this article was written. it is still touching though to see this place referenced fondly by people that used to work in its much-loved walls, as in the case of the former 696 artists speaking in bavaria this evening.
this space, now vacated for some time, still remains an iconic testament for me to both the transformative power of creativity and its ability to unite and inspire communities that choose to work together. the 80 something foreign and local artists that used to make up this community are now scattered all over the city/country/world, each making their work somewhere else now. it was special, but too good to last it seems.
missed but not forgotten: RIP, 696.
studio days | shanghai
so the year of the snake is, by far, the most productive year so far ever. with paint literally everywhere.
most of this sewn text compilations are from a secondhand book of collected chinese jokes I found in a bookshop here. they are assembled in such a way that the jokes are still readable …
moving studios | 111 liyang lu
all good things must come to an end … the studio on the 2nd floor of the creative community of 111 liyang lu is being passed on to good friend – and fellow painter chick – wang yuhang, as we relocate my studio to the former french concession area in an old lane house building.
in the meantime, please enjoy this photo documentation on my blurry camera of all the paintings, musical instruments, books, brushes and miscellaneous collected odds and ends that are part of my life as a creative in this city.
I love this chair so much.
above image lothar spree documenting the move for a short film of his. also special thanks to good friend and fellow artist, konstantin bayer, for his help with the move.
somehow it all fit into two dazhong taxi trucks.
goodbye 111, you will be missed.
excited to share images of the new studio on south shaanxi lu soon.
111 LIYANG LU | creative hunt
we’ve been spotted! 111 liyang lu has been the focus of this online article featured on creative hunt’s website this month.
some great photos of this new creative area and its artists – along with their work and studio spaces – are included. well done to the team at creative hunt [cheers to the talented francis arnold].
see the full article on the creative hunt website here.
open studio | 111 liyang lu, april 7
what a spectacular beginning to shanghai’s newest creative community – thanks for everyone that came out to the joint open studio last saturday, 7 april. images from the day are here below.
see you next time.
open studio | 111 liyang lu
the creative community at 111 liyang lu is having its first joint open studio this coming saturday, 7 april, to celebrate its new home. hope to see you there [more info coming soon].
THE END | 696 Weihai Lu
and to top the list [or close to the top] of reasons why we may actually be living in the end times – 696 weihai lu’s artists are officially farewell-ing off into the sunset with a last group exhibition/party/blowout-celebration this saturday, 30 april, 2011.
the flyer, as it was sent to me, is just below but will be posting more details as they arrive.
Weihai Lu: Another Threat of Extinction
maybe the publicity will get its demolition avoided compeletely by the ones behind the decision.
[from cnngo.com:]
“with their leases expiring at the end of march, this could be the beginning of the end for weihai 696’s artistic identity… 696 weihai lu [known by its residents as weihai 696] is a shallow nongtang that’s home to dozens of artist studios, small galleries and creative enterprises. with news that the buildings are being sold, artists and art fans are bracing for the possibility that the area will be cleared out, perhaps as soon as march … while many suspect that they will have to leave when their leases expire they don’t know that for sure. the jing’an district government hasn’t divulged any information about what it intends to do with weihai 696… if that happens, it’s unclear what new chapter will be added to the history of an address that has purportedly been an opium and fabric trader’s residence, a factory for radio parts, a cluster of car parts dealerships and, most recently, a wonderful artists’ enclave…”
read more on cnn’s website here.
Open Studio
thanks to all that came to the open studio tuesday night! it was lovely seeing so many faces there, especially since so many were some of my favorite faces. when people come together over caiprinhas to check out brains and talk shop it makes for good times – as well as good photos.
above are some photos taken by talented friend, xepo w.s. – fellow shanghai-based artist who has been working together with me recently on a video project, URBANVIDEOSCAPESHANGHAI. more to come on this project soon.