John Cage sits between cacti in front of two chess boards. Paul Auster is lying on a bed, smoking and lost in thought. Author Joan Didion dreamily shows wrinkles in front of a blurry bookshelf. These are pictures from a new exhibition that particularly touched gallery owner Daniel McLaughlin. [Linienstr. 32, Mitte, bis zum 21. November, Di-Sa jeweils 11-18 Uhr.]
He himself lived in New York for twelve years, working in a gallery there. Now he is showing 40 of over 200 portraits by the photographer Ashkan Sahihi: Insights into a familiar and yet distant world. Because the longing may be so great. The city on the Hudson River is currently further away from Berlin than most have ever experienced.
The exhibition offers an insight into the faces that have shaped the art and culture of the metropolis on the other side of the Atlantic over the past 30 years, magical moments. The interest at the opening was accordingly. The corona-compliant concept of the vernissage allowed discussions outside in the fresh air: the music played in front of the high windows of the gallery and drinks were served. Inside, the guests looked correctly at the pictures wearing masks.
Kimberly Marteau Emerson, human rights activist and wife of the former US ambassador, hosted and spoke. A portrait of her is among the 375 pictures of women that Ashkan Sahihi published in 2015 in a book entitled “Die Berlinerin”. It showed women who live in Berlin or who keep the city moving.
Back then, too, it was his goal to “draw an honest portrait of the city”. Kimberly Emerson describes her relationship with the artist, whom she calls “a world-class listener,” as friendship at first sight. Together they explored Berlin’s nightlife when it was still possible. He immediately saw in her “an interesting and interested woman” with whom one could talk openly.
Yoko Ono squints over the edge of her sunglasses
Working with those portrayed in New York, where Sahihi lived from 1987 to 2014, was also characterized by great openness. He wanted to show new facets, up to the point at which actors, writers and painters seem like family members: the actor Willem Dafoe takes off his undershirt. He recorded the artist Cindy Sherman with an infrared camera, once in the light in front of a barbed wire fence, then in the dark with his eyes closed.
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The writer Irvine Welsh crouches on a bed with a headguard for dogs that resembles an inverted lampshade. Opera singer Renée Fleming is also sitting on a bed in an evening jacket. Yoko Ono squints under the slanted straw hat with one eye over the edge of her sunglasses.
Portraits of drug users
McLaughlin’s attention was drawn to the New York photos through a book published by Fern-Verlag. The Iran-born artist Ashkan Sahihi used the lockdown time in spring to clean up his archive. Together with Daniel McLaughlin, he set out to select the photos for the exhibition. The gallery owner was familiar with previous projects, including the series with portraits of drug users, which also ended up in the Museum of Modern Arts.
McLaughlin and his wife Catrioma, who is also involved in the Atlantikbrücke, miss New York in the corona crisis – especially the incredibly positive energy. “New York is encouraging: we will get through there”, that is the gallery owner’s memory of the spirit during various disasters he experienced there. In this respect, this third exhibition in the gallery, which he opened in March, two days before the start of the ban on contacts, is a project close to his heart.
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