ABOUT
For the second edition of "Woman Portrait Gallery", the gender of the artists was once again irrelevant. We looked for artists with dedication, skill, talent, and because they inspired us with their artistic practice.
And there was yet another requirement: the artist had created a portrait of a woman and was willing to add it to this series.
As complex as life is, the debate about what makes a woman is often just as complicated. Who is a woman, and who would like to be one...
Isn't it relieving to know that at least art can simply make a decision?
Gregor Hutz / February 2024
The first edition of the Woman Portrait Gallery was shown in 2023 at Kaffeemitte / Berlin. The list of participating artists and the works in the exhibition can be found here:
Altea Federico
“Give me more”
2023 / Polaroid XS-70
Altea Federico: “I took this and my other pictures wearing nothing but a pair of red boots - and of course: Polaroid only.”
The notorious KitKat Club is celebrating its 30th birthday this year. That makes the club five years older than the photographer Altea Federico. Selected guests celebrate sex, their fetish and electronic music in the legendary club and many other venues in Berlin. Guests give up their normal lives for a while and move into the twilight, a jungle. It is a world in which the outer attractions are key. This provokes or inspires - depending on one's standpoint. The kinky community is exciting and Altea Federico tells us about this world with her pictures and texts from an inside perspective.
Her work also raises new questions about feminism and patriarchy. It is the devotion and celebration of sexual fantasies that requires strict rules. Altea does not want to be accused of promoting sexism and sexualizing women. She wants to live out her passion for darkness and borderline territories and works for this with great dedication and ambition.
Altea learned how to take Polaroid photos from her father, the fashion photographer Tony Federico, who gave her a camera at an early age. Altea Federico moved to Berlin when she was 22 and soon started working at KitKat Club. First at the wardrobe, then as a manager. This is how she became part of a community that doesn't like to be photographed. However, Altea's cautious approach and the analogue medium allowed her to build enough trust. The Polaroids are unique, and the protagonists were always offered the picture as a gift. But some of the pictures remained with Altea Federico - with the permission to show them as part of a series. In collaboration with the event series "Raum 4", Altea Federico's second photo project was created - including the picture “Give me more”. According to Altea Federico, it is one of her favourite images.
Since 2024 Altea Federico has been working on new projects outside the Kinky Community. To avoid the puritanical rules and arbitrary moods of the social media algorithm, she has set up her own website:
Tony Federico
“Donatella Versace"
1999 / Polaroid i-Type 600
Portrait of designer Donatella Versace taken at Milano Fashion Week, 1999. Tony Federico took the Polaroid as a backstage photographer two years after the murder of Gianni Versace, Donatella's brother. In these times of grief and tragedy, Donatella Versace has taken responsibility for the company and her brother's legacy. And these years were tough for Tony Federico as well: he was overworked, lonely and had developed a dangerous drug habit. He wanted to take back control and Donatella Versace's courage motivated him. Soon later, Tony Federico moved to Berlin and left the fashion business for good. Donatella Versace has made a comeback despite personal tragedy and the seemingly impossible task of following in the footsteps of a genius. An strength captured as one of the Polaroids in Tony Federico's series.
Casa De Balneario
"Quiero otro"
2021 / Ink on paper
C.D.B.: "This work is about a person who always wants more. I think she wants something that she can only get with money. She lives in a world of material values and is therefore slightly stressed. The fact that there is a woman in this picture is a coincidence. I started the work with the two words "Quiero otro" (I want more) and tried to write them on a black background. The large black area became the hair of a woman. Consumerism, which gives many people a bad mood, affects all genders equally."
Casa De Balneario's works deal with consumerism and materialism. They are ironic comments that he leaves wherever he goes. In his hometown Montevideo, in Buenos Aires or Barcelona. And also in Berlin, one of the capitals of street art. But the police arrested him when he was about to glue a paste-up at Warschauerstrasse. He spent six hours at the police station and his work was closely inspected and confiscated. He was told that his posters were anti-capitalist and posed a problem. Dangerous irony, on.
Paul Rosenbauer
"Simple.Woman"
2024 / Acrylic wall painting
Paul Rosenbauer's letter-art is all about reducing words and symbols to a minimum. Some of his beautiful calligraphy was shown at the exhibition FÄRBER at Kaffeemitte in 2023 - more on www.we-do.de
Paul Rosenbauer came to calligraphy through graffiti and traditionally, the letters go with a character. „Simple.Woman“ was made in 2017, originally painted with pen and ink on a small sheet of paper. It was once made for a woman the artist was in love with: a woman with long hair, either walking forwards with big steps or standing there as if firmly rooted. The mural at Kaffeemitte is a reproduction of this drawing, it is over 1.20 meters high and painted on the wall in acrylic.
Paul Rosenbauer: "I painted a lot of different figures back then. For example, dancing figures, which at some point were just one single line. More and more reduced forms - that was my style then and it still is today".
Lucille Guder
"Steffi"
June 2022 / Dry flowers & felt pen on paper
The soft lines, colours and floral motifs in Lucille Guder's paintings and collages are the result of courage and - female - self empowerment. Lucille Guder's artistic theme is the visibility of women and their body confidence.
This is reflected in her paintings but also in the approach she takes to her work and life in general. Lucille Guder looks for dialogue and organizes various projects in which she communicates about her topic and invites others to participate. Therefore Lucille Guder shows her work at markets, fairs and at numerous exhibitions.
Lucille Guder describes her painting "Steffi":
"This collage is the second artwork in a series titled 'Your Body is Art,' where I invited my Instagram followers to share pictures of their bodies.
When Steffi sent her photo, she shared with me her personal journey of struggling to accept her body's changes over the years, emphasizing the need to make peace with it. In this piece, I chose to highlight certain body lines in gold, symbolizing these lines as precious marks of the life we've experienced together and as beautiful in my eyes."
The creation process is integral part of the finished painting - this is distinctly evident in Lucille Guder's work.
Vassilis Konstantinou
"Persona"
2012 / digital photography
This photograph is part of Vassilis Konstantinou's first image series. It is the portrait of his wife, from the series "Common People" from 2012. As in his later works, Vassilis Konstantinou prepared and staged the motif and the setting. Thematically, Vassilis Konstantinou often refers to the great dramas and myths. In this case, the inspiration is the movie "Persona" by Ingmar Bergman.
The film from 1966 is about two women in a house by the sea and the complex relationship that unfolds between them. One of the two women, Elisabet, does not speak, but the audience understands her feelings and follows the narration through metaphorical scenes and intense close-ups of the actors. Alma, the nurse caring for the mute Elisabet can speak - but Ingmar Bergman makes it feel as if the listener says more than the person speaking.
The reference in Vassilis Konstantinou's photo is aesthetically and formal, with the choice of the lens and the framing, the shadows and a high contrast. It is the enigmatic expression and a somewhat nostalgic look. And like the protagonist in the film, the woman in Vassilis Konstantinou's portrait cannot speak. As with Bergman, the face speaks by showing feelings that words cannot express. Words that are part of a defensive system are removed.
Vassilis Konstantinou: "Ingmar Bergman explores the female psyche and identity. It is not about the differences between men and women and he is not interested in defining any boundaries. His focus is on exploring the female mind and the complexity of female emotions. Men play no role in the masterpiece Persona."
Lou Held
"Carmen"
2024 / Acrylic on paper
Carmen is one of the oldest and best friends of Lou Held - this painting is for her. The two have known each other since their school days and although two very different life plans evolved from there, their friendship has remained.
"Carmen can give me advice in such a way that I can take it well. She is a spiritual and very emphatic person and her courage to rely on her intuition has been an important inspiration. Carmen was always there when I needed her - she is a sister to me."
It was a day in spring 2024 when Lou Held thought of her dear friend and reflected on their memories - a desire that motivated her to paint again after a long time. It is the first artwork Lou Held has painted in the last years and it stands for the importance of this friendship.
A friendship that can endure over the years, even if life takes very different directions. Carmen lives in a monastery in Asia and Lou has hardly painted since her exhibition at Kaffeemitte in 2020 - she is now a full-time paramedic.
Eva Contreras
"A hard night's day"
2020 / Analogue photography
G: When and where did you take this photo?
E: It was a nice summer day in 2020, only weeks before the pandemic and the enigmatic 2-year period that would change everyone’s lives. We didn’t know it then. Ina certainly didn’t know it: she was having fun by the pool in Buenos Aires, a long way from Finland. It was the blue in her eyes matching the blue in the water, and I thought it would end up being a very harmonic tonal range. I had no idea that an aggressive light leak would paint half the picture yellow over my expired Fujicolor 200 film, creating a whole new colour palette that would forever evoke the nuances of summer: the sun, the water, the friendship and the smiles.
G: Why do you like analogue photography?
E: The reason I shoot film instead of digital is not because I like how it looks (which I do, obviously). It is because of the suspense, the surprise, the never-knowing: surrendering myself to chance and chaos.
G: Is there a difference in what femininity means in Argentina and Germany?
E: In Argentina, femininity has become strongly attached to feminism. The feminist movement there is one of the strongest and most organized that I’ve seen in all the places I have visited. Women are not afraid to step up, speak their minds, and go out in the streets to make their voices heard, to make space for them in a system that has been male-focused for way too long. In Argentina, the movement is solid and bold. I am not saying the system is now right, and the problems have been solved. There is a long way to go. But I have to say, even if I dare not speak about this aspect in Berlin, that the time I spend abroad always makes me feel proud of Argentina and how far we’ve come as a community.
Show open every day April & May 2024
Kaffeemitte / Weinmeisterstr. 9a / 10178 Berlin