Off the beaten path
July 27, 2009
Anyone who doesn't know the Berlin art scene well probably imagines it as being centred around small, hidden entrances leading into dilapidated buildings whose exteriors are liberally covered with graffiti. The interior is inevitably in an equally poor condition, with pictures - selected by a young person who looks barely old enough to have completed university - hanging on crumbling walls.
At least in one case, that stereotype described reality to a T - at STYX gallery in Berlin.
Michael Rade is 26 years old and has been managing his own art gallery for a year. Between Prenzlauer Berg and Friedrichshein, Rade's gallery is located at the heart of the district that the Berlin art scene calls home.
An unlikely mixture: beer and art
The STYX gallery is housed in a massive building that used to be a former brewery. Naturally, it's covered in graffiti.
After opening the door with a cardboard sign reading "Artists.com" on it, one is immediately hit by a damp, musty smell, no doubt caused by the small puddle of rainwater collecting near the entrance. The next sense to be attacked is the hearing. From an unknown corner, a radio fills the room with Spanish music while hammering and knocking emanates from another part of the building.
A trail of candles
The words "just keep following the candlelight" echo from the other end of the gloomy corridor, followed by "the electricity is out today." Due to this unexpected development, Rade has arranged a trail of candles leading into his gallery.
There, he sits in one corner of the 120-square-meter (nearly 11-square-foot) whitewashed room he ironically calls the "white cube." Ironically - because the modern, clinically clean atmosphere that a "white cube gallery" conjures up doesn't have anything to do with the poorly plastered walls and small windows in this place.
London was a "tough nut to crack"
A typical 26-year-old, one would think, has just finished his studies, is taking the first tentative steps towards a career, and may occasionally visit the odd art gallery. But Rade already has all of this behind him.
In his quiet voice he tells how, after having completed his graphic design studies in Hamburg, he was pulled towards London, one of the iconic style capitals of the world. There he began to organize art exhibitions for friends until he realized that the London art scene "is a tough nut to crack."
Then he discovered the white cube in Berlin and one thing was clear: This would become his new gallery.
A matter of taste
Currently, STYX is displaying the work of London-based artist EMC Collard, who Rade knows personally from his time there. But this is not normal practice in his gallery. Typically, Rade comes across artists over the Internet and, if he likes their work, arranges a meeting to discuss a possible exhibition.
If a deal is reached, the artist receives 50 percent of any piece sold, while the young curator keeps the other half. All artists whose work he has exhibited are also featured on his Web site.
"That is the least that I can do form them," says Stade. "I can't represent them at art conventions and I don't yet have a portfolio."
Nevertheless, some of the artists have been able to utilize STYX as a springboard to more prestigious endeavors.
Renovation awaits
Though he's just gotten started, Rade has already enjoyed considerable success with his small gallery. Between 50 and 300 visitors attend each exhibition's grand opening and each piece from his current display sells for anywhere between 490 and 3,300 Euros.
But whether STYX can grow and become a major player in the Berlin art scene is doubtful.
The former brewery belongs to an investor who occasionally pops by to see how the young curator is doing. He currently plans to have the white cube renovated, which would mean Rade would have to relocate - a prospect he's not looking forward to.
If the walls are replastered, the holes in the roof plugged, and the graffiti removed, the "great charm" of the building would be lost forever, says Rade.
Authors: Elena Singer / Andrew Shale
Editor: Kate Bowen