Helmut Newton's Berlin

We were lucky enough to get in free to the Helmut Newton exhibition as they were closing up when we arrived, I would have liked longer to absorb the vast array of images however such as pull between partying and culture, it wasn't possible. Upon entering you are greeted with walls full of iconic images from the permanent display - Private Property. It held my attention for too long as I unfortunately didn't leave the two rooms scanning the familiar images hung on white - large format they jumped out at me. I clocked the celebrities, models and images I had referenced for numerous projects, and relived the energy I felt when I was a Newton virgin. I can't express how much the works ignited my desire for fashion and photography all those moons ago - marrying the two in a celebration of the female form. Erotic, sexy and powerful, his work engages the very essence of what it means to be a woman. Amazonian ladies stand tall and nonchalant gazing down upon you, smoking dandies, female on female, fun and fantasy, this is a world I would love to be part of, sheer glamour...



You can check out his work in a coffee table book which will set you back one hundred smackers, or pop along to his gallery when you're next in Berlin. There is an excellent book shop attached with a vast array of books to pour over and cheeky postcards to purchase. The area the gallery can be found is Zoologischer Garten, which plays home to a healthy array of museums and places of interest, including you guessed it, a zoo.

It's worth noting that on Thursdays the Newton Museum is late night opening 6-10pm which is free to enter.

There is also a Helmut Newton Bar, which will have to wait until next time.

Berlin Artists - Kathe Kollwitz

If you're in Berlin, on not too much of a come down and are serious about art then this might just be the ticket. I took two friends who appreciated yet were slightly bamboozled by the dark sadness of German artist Kathe Kollwitz. Born Käthe Schmidt Kollwitz (July 8, 1867 – April 22, 1945) she studied drawing with the support of her father from a very early age, the death of her siblings, her son and grandson have greatly influenced her work. From the very beginning there was a desire to focus on the more base elements of life and the earthier social economic groups.

Her work entitled The Weavers garnered the attention of the art darlings nominating her for the gold medal of the Große Deutsche Kunstausstellung to which the German Emperor Kaiser Wilhelm refused, which caused great controversy and in turn provided more attention. The Weavers was inspired by an eponymous play by Nobel Prize winner Gerhart Hauptmann, which explores the failed revolt of the Langembielau weavers in 1842. Kollwitz produced six pieces of work for the series entitled Poverty, Death, Conspiracy, March of the Weavers, Riot, and The End they follow the cycle of the play and highlight the macabre plight which ensues.

March of the Weavers.

Throughout her life, Kollwitz remained steadfast in her beliefs, she produced anti-propoganda works which renounced war, a pacifist, socialist (with communist leanings) she eventually succumbed to Nazi power and removed from her position as head of faculty at the Berlin Academy of Arts (Akademie der Künste). After watching her husband die in 1940, her Grandson Peter was killed in action in 1943 and she eventually passed away just before the end of the war.

‘Nie wieder Krieg’ (No More War), lithograph, 1924.

Berlin Awaits

It's the eve of my trip to Berlin via London, I head off first thing and i've spent what little time I had put aside smoking spliffs and playing spotify, itunes, youtube and random google search dj, providing an excellent excuse for the house music producer next door to crank up the tunage. Forcing myself to come down from the music/friends over/smokers high I gathered some slightly damp clothes and thrust them into a probably too big for Ryanair to allow me to take on board suitcase and thought fuck it. I'm now in bed wide awake thinking about all the blog posts i've missed since Friday and how much I have to write down. I have been furnished with a list of new spots to check out and cultural places to visit, i'm almost set. Just time to reminisce over past visits, like the first time I went and found myself having missed the plane stuck in Berlin airport for 12 hours on my own tripping my tits off.