Ich sehe was, was Du nicht siehst

Works from the Bergmeier Collection

Why does a viewer feel more attracted to one work of art than another? Why is an art collector interested in certain works – without sometimes being able to say what exactly it is that fascinates them so much? What attracts collector Geraldine Michalke to works that conceal more than they reveal? Is it a sense of the unknown, a glimpse of the unseen? Curiosity as to what might be hidden in the invisible – ultimately the question: do I want to know it at all, do I want to make it visible? Or isn't it much more intriguing to preserve the mysterious? A work of art draws attention, makes you change your perspective and discover something new.

From April 25 to May 10, KUNSTSÆLE Berlin is presenting I see something that you don‘t see. Works from the Bergmeier Collection, an exhibition of works that art collector and co- founder of KUNSTSÆLE Geraldine Michalke has gathered in the Bergmeier Collection over the past years. All the works have one thing in common: they defy immediate and unambiguous interpretation. There are, for example, blackened and thus silenced text works (Irma Blank), lines drawn in pencil that suggest a text in block capitals, an eraser glued to an etched-out page (Vlado Martek) or underlining and highlighting made by pupils on homework sheets without the words that have been emphasized in this way being visible (Haegue Yang).

But also almost spiritual works, such as canvases thickly painted with layers of oil, from which cables and antennas protrude that seem to be transmitting or receiving something (Gerhard Hoehme), political sculptures, such as lengths of fabric hanging from the ceiling made of recycled materials dyed yellow with turmeric, which lose their color again if they are exposed to the sun for longer (Dan Lie), or a mysterious and well-wrapped cardboard box (Alison Knowles), whose title indicates that an Italian dress is packed inside – or maybe not.

Art can create a space of not (yet) knowing, of uncertainty, surprise and vagueness, which makes it possible to see and discover the new, the completely different, the unknown. Or as Geraldine Michalke says when asked what the unifying element of the works she collects is: "I agree with Hajra Waheed, who is also represented in the exhibition and said in a conversation: 'I am interested in the space of not knowing'. Or with a quote from Richard Tuttle: 'Art creates a space for mystery'." The space of the unknown and the mysterious that art can open up is outlined in I see something that you don’t see.