Inaugural annual art fair
@Kühlhaus Berlin, Luckenwalder Str. 3, 10963 Berlin
FAIR: SEP 14 - 18, 12 - 6 pm / OPENING: SEP 13, 5 - 11 pm

Daily performative interventions (timing detailed p.3)

The first edition of TF’s annual main fair, THE FAIREST 01: Open Your Eyes Again, brings together 60+ artists previously exhibited in five smaller scale “teaser” shows: 

• TEASER 01: concept drop (Berlin)
• TEASER 02: care about every body (Berlin)
• TEASER 03: the rite to transform (Berlin)
• TEASER 04: non playable character (Venice)
• TEASER 05: cum as you are (Bad Gastein)

The teasers build up the content and spirit for the main fair, functioning at the core of THE FAIREST. The titles are a call to action and/or claim the value that is communicated and explored as the exhibition discourse. Each teaser is considered to unfold a new chapter of the project, as if a book–THE FAIREST manifesto.

The title of the inaugural main fair, Open Your Eyes Again, appeals to constantly reflect and redefine what contemporary practice is and can be. It is a hint to look, listen, think, touch, smell twice, three times, four times, forever… To be more aware, critical and question the perception of the stereotypical and traditional conversation in art.

WHAT IS ART RIGHT NOW?

THE FAIREST 01: Open Your Eyes Again presents a wide variety of practices, following extensive research, to demonstrate the density of artistic production that is happening in Berlin.

As fairs are typically gallery built, positions presented can be predictable. In order to break with this, THE FAIREST brings back the essence of discovery to the art fair/market setting. Curated group shows cohesively maintain the artists’ works with meaning and dialogues, rather than placing individual objects in booths. Lively, immersive environments are created, with sound, participation, performative interventions and discussion.

ARTISTS: 

Ahmet Öğüt, Alicja Wysocka, Álvaro Guilherme, Anatomie Fleur, Anne de Vries, APPARATUS 22, Bastian Gehbauer, Benjamin Lallier, Billy Bultheel, Caleb Jamel Brown, Christian Thomsen (Fjorsk), Christophe de Rohan Chabot, Cibelle Cavalli Bastos, Coco Magnusson, Collo Awata & Vivien Hoffmann, Constantin Hartenstein, Cosima zu Knyphausen & Craig Stewart, Fashion, Gabriel Possamai, Gabriela Guarnizo, Hannah Hallermann / HAHA, Hannah Rose Stewart, Hannah Sophie Dunkelberg, Irene Ferndández Arcas, Jonas Wendelin, Jordan/Martin Hell, Julian-Jakob Kneer, Julie Monot, Katharina Ruhm, Kianí del Valle, Lauryn Youden, Lito Kattou, Lou de Bètoly, Lukas Städler, Lukas Stöver, Malte Bartsch, Manutcher Milani, Mary-Audrey Ramirez, Mathilde Agius, Mauro Ventura, Mikołaj Sobczak, Miriam Kongstad, Monilola Olayemi Ilupeju, Nahir Francis, Nicholas Grafia, Niclas Riepshoff, Nicolas Maxim Endlicher, Nik Kosmas, OMSK Social Club, Pandora Graessl, Paul Ferens, REIF, Ryo Koike, Sally von Rosen, Sarah Bernauer, Spyros Rennt, Sunny Pfalzer, Thomias Ludovic Radin, Tra My Nguyen, Victor Payares, Yasmin Bassir, Zuzanna Czebatul.

OPENING:

Happening on Tuesday September 13, one day before the official Berlin Art Week opening, THE FAIREST’s event will bend rules and challenge the (vernissage) status quo in both content and format.

Level 4 and 5 of Kühlhaus will reveal the art fair group exhibition with 60+ artists.

The event will include two exclusive shows by EXPAT and JON ARO, staging a hybrid concert-performance in front of the fair venue.

EXPAT are two country boys from the deep fried big city.

EXPAT are masters of the Evangelical mosh pit 

EXPAT is a performance in which a combination of theatrical poetry stemming from the Black Queer diaspora is combined with the goth and heavy metal musical traditions of Latin America. 

Bloodbath of the colonizer, reclaiming the tradition of experimental noise for the Black/Brown wo/man and hardcore queer baptisms as a rite of passage into the void.

EXPAT is punk theatre for the masses.

JON ARO: Although vocally trained in jazz, Jon Aro has evolved to become a multidisciplinary musician and performer intent on redefining the state of contemporary electronic music. Aro regularly contrasts his signature metallic, industrial sounds with warm vocal harmonies to create a sensation of auditory tension, push and pull. The inspiration behind his music derives from various sources and genres including experimental noise, alternative RNB, drum and bass, and deconstructed club music.

Aro was Born in New York, raised in Miami, and transplanted to Berlin in the summer of 2021, where his recently-released single Dive Slow caught the attention and admiration of the underground music and nightlife scenes. Soon thereafter he began touring in major cities and at cultural landmarks like the Palais De Tokyo, Sonar Music Festival, and WHOLE, alongside established musicians such as Richard Kennedy and LSDXOXO. Aro continues to tour as he works towards finishing his first album BLOODCLOT, set to be released early next year.

PRESS PREVIEW: 13 SEP, 2 - 5 pm

OPENING: 13 SEP, 5 - 11 pm with EXPAT & JON ARO

FAIR: 14/15/16/17/18 SEP, 12 - 6 pm

PERFORMATIVE INTERVENTIONS: 14/15/16/17/18 SEP (timing detailed next page)

DAILY PERFORMATIVE INTERVENTIONS: 

→ NOTE different timing between days

Wed, Sep 14, 6 - 11 pm: 

Steev Lemercier | KDV DANCE ENSEMBLE by Kianí del Valle – 2 shows

Thu, Sep 15, 6 - 9 pm: 

Miriam Kongstad and Alexander Holm | Mauro Ventura

Fri, Sep 16, 6 - 9 pm: 

Sunny Pfalzer together with Lau Lukkarila and Slim Soledad | Thomias Ludovic Radin with Stephane Moun and Thomas Horeczko

Sat, Sep 17, 2 - 5 pm: 

Nahir Francis

Sun, Sep 18, 1 - 7 pm: 

Irene Ferndández Arcas | Sunny Pfalzer together with Lau Lukkarila and Slim Soledad | Antonio Onio

GENERAL:

THE FAIREST (TF) is a hybrid curatorial platform and art fair format for young, emerging, or independent artists and creators to have direct visibility in the art market. Launched in 2021, TF actions the abundance of relevant, urgent and experimental practices, under matched by exposure. Artists, regardless of gallery representation or medium, typically without access to art fairs and collectors, are featured in TF.

THE FAIREST challenges heteropatriarchy and homogeneous norms, implementing a sustainable, community driven system as the mission basis.

XOXOXO,
TF

Co-founders: Georgie Pope and Eleonora Sutter
founders@the-fairest.com