Berlin | ArtRegion: Berlin, Schöneberg

ChertLüdde

Petrit Halilaj & Alvaro Urbano with Annette Frick: Die Blüten von Berlin

19. März – 28. Mai 2022

As part of the first program at the gallery’s new location in Berlin Schöneberg, ChertLüdde is pleased to present Die Blüten von Berlin, an exhibition titled after a song written and performed by Annette Frick’s late friend, Ovo Maltine. Showcasing works by artist pair Petrit Halilaj & Alvaro Urbano, along with photographs by Frick, the exhibition gestures towards the creative practices of the artists and their spheres of belonging.

The exhibition celebrates Berlin’s queer legacies and traces the stories of the building’s previous tenant, Deko Behrendt. Amid the renovation of the space, artist duo Petrit Halilaj and Alvaro Urbano took on the task of preserving layers of wallpaper, repurposing it into unique hanging artworks.

Given a second life, these works become the backdrop for the intimate portraits of personalities captured by Annette Frick. Documenting Berlin’s various subcultures, her analog monochrome images reveal moments of carnivalesque joy and freedom in the lives of people existing outside the heteronormative orders of urban society. Floating above Frick’s portraits of drag queens, performers, and friends are gargantuan floral sculptures by Halilaj and Urbano. With titles that correlate to significant dates from the couple’s shared past, these flowers represent the desire to commemorate the individual histories connected to a place as it continues to adapt, evolve and grow.