Birthmark
Part of B-LA-M Festival 2024.
Book Release
Jana Müller. Falscher Hase / Mock Rabbit
29 Jun 2024, 4 pm
Conversation between artist Jana Müller and writer Mira Anneli Naß with artist/publisher Susanne Bürner (in German).
Vernissage
29 Jun 2024, 5 – 9 pm
Carlos Álvarez-Montero (MX), Carsten Becker (DE), Alfredo Esparza Cárdenas (MX), Mara García (MX), Sean Noyce (US), Sandra Ratkovic (DE), Alberto Rodríguez (MX), Aline Schwörer (DE), Beatriz Sokol (MX), Katya Usvitsky (US)
Opening hours
3 – 6 July 2024
Wed – Sat 2 – 6 pm
and by personal appointment
Finissage
Friday, 5 July, 6 – 9 pm
We will stream the quarterfinal live in our yard.
Location
frontviews at HAUNT
Kluckstraße 23 A Yard
frontviews at HAUNT
Kluckstraße 23 A Yard
D – 10785 Berlin
Birthmark
Frontviews, in collaboration with OJO MX ARTE (Mexico City) and Noysky Projects (Los Angeles), presents Birthmark, a multidisciplinary exhibition exploring identity through the lenses of family, society, and culture. The exhibition is part of B-LA-M, a three-year global art exchange involving 54 artist-run spaces spanning multiple continents.
Birthmark showcases works by artists from Mexico, Germany, United States, and Belarus, whose personal narratives are as diverse as their work. Their projects delve into familial histories and societal struggles, offering insights unique to each individual yet resonating within larger cultural contexts.
Several of the works in Birthmark are worn like badges of honor, symbolizing inherited legacies or birthrights that are a source of power. Others present identities more soberly — neither good nor bad but undeniably significant. Moreover, individual works reveal identities through poignant narratives and internal conflicts, uncovering complex stories.
Examples of the exhibited works include: a photographic triptych by Beatriz Sokol, which delves into her Jewish ancestry; a dyed canvas banner by Sean Noyce, exploring familial folk magic in the American Old West; a mixed-media painting by Carsten Becker, addressing transgenerational traumas; a „tourist” zine by Alberto Rodríguez, drawing parallels between gentrification in Berlin and Mexico City; suspended soft sculptures by Katya Usvitsky, fostering a dialogue between bodily replication and regeneration; a photograph by Sandra Ratovic, exploring the metamorphosis of brutalist architecture in Eastern Europe through people and nature; and a sculpture by Aline Schwörer, addressing the effects of human intervention on the environment.
As we peel away the identifying features in Birthmark, commonalities emerge within these works, pointing to a shared human experience transcending geographical and temporal boundaries. Their narratives reflect an ongoing evolution in communication between the individual and the community.
Book Release
Jana Müller. Falscher Hase / Mock Rabbit
Jana Müller’s new artist book, Falscher Hase / Mock Rabbit opens by shedding light on criminal investigations in the former German Democratic Republic (GDR), offering an artistic exploration of historical narratives and personal reflections and a contemporary journey to crime scenes on both sides of the world. Making use of her extensive online archive at falscherhase.jana-mueller.de, Müller delves into artistic discussions surrounding crime. At the core of the research is Müller’s 86-year-old father, a former police detective with first-hand experience in murder cases and espionage within socialist Germany. Despite the official denial of crime in the GDR, Müller’s father shares insights from his past. Falscher Hase / Mock Rabbit places conversations between the artist and her father - accompanied by photographic documentation and textual fragments from Müller’s childhood memories - alongside historical documents sourced from various archives. A detailed glossary elucidates key terms and provides historical context on the administration of crime in the GDR.
Jana Müller is a Berlin-based artist, researcher, curator and professor at the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen.
Jana Müller. Falscher Hase / Mock Rabbit
Monroe Books, 2024, 978-3-946950-16-5, 28,00 €
