Landsberger Allee which was once called Lenin Allee seems like a never ending street, it runs from the Platz der Vereinten Nationen onward and east-wards. This seemingly non-descript street, which is filled with traffic and tram lines running at a constant rate, has actually a couple of quite illustrious historic locations dotted along its length. One such location is the former Patzenhofer Brewery which apparently was once Europe's largest brewery. The building dates back to 1877, closed as a brewery in 1990 and since then has fallen into disrepair to put it mildly, in fact it is a steps or two above being a just derelict shell of a building and just lake many empty derelict shells in Berlin the artists have moved in and taken over.
Located at Landsberger Allee 54 at the corner of Richard Sorge Strasse, the graffitied hallways are now filled up with artists studio spaces and most interestingly a selection of gallery and project spaces. It seems that the names and setups of each of these spaces is in constant flux or evolution but currently you can find Project Space 91mq, the galleries Styx and Kunstraum Richard Sorge, Gallery G11 and Marzia Frozen Contemporary Art. Each one with a very different flavour and style and approach but all with something interesting to offer. If you are every wondering why Berlin has gained such an international reputation for its unique art scene and art spaces then this is one place that offers a very current answer to that question. http://www.landsberger54.org
The G11 Gallery on the third floor is the newest addition to the building. It is being run by a small collective of artists based in Leipzig and stands in quite contrast to the building it inhabits. It is a clean white professional looking space in a decaying, wild, almost dangerous looking building. Their first exhibition in this space presents work from the artists who have setup and are running the space. Three artists, John Power from Ireland, Lexander Prokogh from Russia and Hendrik Voerkel from Germany present a collection of painting and object/installation which is of all of a strikingly high quality. It will be very interesting to see how the exhibitions in this space evolve over time. http://www.gruppe11.net
The Project Space 91mq on the first floor was founded in 2008 by Elena Bellantoni and Marco Giani, two berlin based Italian artists and has since expanded and begun working with new curators and artist. They present a mix of work, experimental and playful in a variety of mediums which seems to lead towards the tighter conceptual side of the game. http://www.91mq.org
The current exhibition at Marzia Frozen Contemporary Art on the third floor is called Fucking Kunst and is based on the theme of censorship. The walls present a salon style hanging of painting and photography while the centre of the space presents a number of installation or object based pieces. This is the gallery space which fits into its into its surroundings the easiest, at first glance it is as wild, dangerous and chaotic in here as it is throughout the building. But here the aim it obviously orchestrated to shock and while the individual pieces on show vary in quality and style quite dramatically, collectively it works as a tightly curated showing. http://marziafrozen.webs.com/
The STYX Project Space on the second floor has been presenting the first Berlin exhibition of New York based artist Daniel Turner. This space presents a very mixed programme not only by showing visual art but also live music, performances, and readings. http://www.styx-berlin.de
The Kunstraum Richard Sorge has a separate ground floor entrance is named after the neighbouring street and the communist spy that apparently was Ian Fleming's model for James Bond and reputedly saved the Western world from Nazism. The work they present follows this semi political and historical strand. “Like its namesake, the initiative independently works from a marginal, yet cosmopolitan position to ultimately save the world.” http://www.kunstraumrichardsorge.org/
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