Hamburger Banhoff

Emily and Josh decided to roll over and sleep in so Fred hung back and waited for them to rise.  Jess and I got up and started our day at Hamburger Banhoff.  A cutting edge modern art museum. 

 There were a few exhibits and the permanent installation.  The museum is housed in an old train station.  Architecturally, like everything else in Berlin, very cool.  The center of the museum has a long dome down the middle.  Off to the left, is where the permanent exhibition is installed.  It feels like a garage that goes on forever.  If I hadn't walked the whole thing I would have thought that there were mirrors at the end of the hallway to make the place appear bigger than it was.

The first exhibit we went to see was a special exhibit called Celebrities, Andy Warhol und Die Stars.  Really well curated.  Early drawings Warhol did when he was doing stuff for magazines.  Quotes on his on the wall.  A movie room.  Photos he captured of himself and others.  Original Interview Magazine covers. Life magazine cover of Jacqueline Kennedy with Caroline and John and then Warhol's paintings of her. Then of course some large paintings at the end, Mao being the last room.  Warhol was just a man way before his time.  Sheer genius.  My favorite photo in the exhibit was of Warhol sitting at a table with a bunch of celebrities, black and white, and he is taking a picture at the photographer who is taking a picture of him and the table.  Very Warhol.  He was part of the scene but he was more the curator than he was the star. 

We then went over to the permanent exhibit.  The long hall way is what all the different rooms jut off of.  The hallway had 72 paintings down it done by 43 different artists.  Each basically a painting of one color.  Smart curator. 

Our other favorites was a neon piece by Richard Jackson that connected to a room that was linked to the neon piece.  The neon piece said Beer or Deer depending on when you looked at it.  The B and P kept changing. Then in the next room were deer and beer.  Supposedly the artists favorite things.  The floor had been completely cut up like a puzzle and put back together.  The walls and all the way around had been shot like they had been in a paint-ball game and then packs of beer over deers that had been shot and cut up.  Sounds weird but it was brilliant. 

We also loved the works of Martin Kippenberger.  A play on mixed media.  Obviously influenced from Warhol.  Bruce Nauman was good too.   Particularly liked the drawing of clown taking a shit. 

After we took it all in, we went over to Kafer restaurant to meet the rest of the gang.  The key is making reservations at Kafer so that you get to the top of the Reichstag (Parliament House) without having to wait in line.  The line was long today and can probably get much longer in the summer.  The views are beautiful, it is not about the food, it is about not standing in line.  The top of the Reichstag has great views but the structure that is built on top of the building is modern and exquisite.  A must see.  Here are the kids huddled inside/outside.

After the late lunch, we went over to Helmut Newton Foundation.  Really well done.  Photographs from early on to the final days of his life.  Notes that he wrote, letters he sent, letters sent to his wife (alias Alice Springs) after he died from people all over the world, clothes that he wore, etc.  Glad we saw it.  An interesting man who lead a helluva a life.