We interviewed Valerie von Meiss, head of the Curve gallery, to ask her about her project and upcoming exhibitions.
– Can you tell us a bit about you?
I was born in Zurich Switzerland in 1985. After my studies in International Communication in Paris I worked as creative copywriter in various advertising agencies in Amsterdam, Zurich and Berlin. 2 years ago I started the Curve – an art space solely dedicated to contemporary collage in my apartment in Berlin Mitte.
– How does the Curve started as a gallery project?
In Berlin galleries spring up over night but in the same blink of an eye they disappear again. Hence my initial idea wasn’t to start a conventional gallery but to create an intimate space where people could experience and learn about contemporary collage. When I moved into a quirky apartment with a round shaped corridor, it all fell into place and the Curve was born.
– What led you to focus on collage art?
My mother is a photography collector since 25 years hence I grew up in a house filled with art especially photographs. I guess the origin for my interest in collage art is twofold. One is definitely the world of photography from my mother’s side but I think I was also influenced by the many years working in advertising where collage as a technique plays an important role in graphic- and art design.
– Which is your definition of collage?
Collage for me is bringing two or more elements together to tell a new and untold story and evoke a feeling that the individual parts could not achieve on their own. Collage is also rattling at our understanding of time or more precisely cutting into it – bringing the past into the present. It is an inherently playful medium which I like a lot!
– If it doesn’t make that much sense talking about sculpture-art or painting-art,
why art made through collage needs so much a reference to its technique?
Because collage art needs more than chisel or paint. When George Braque and Pablo Picasso “invented“ the art of collage this third dimension provided great freedom of creativity. „Coller“, french for glueing, was at that time the way of combining and achieving a three-dimensional effect. Today it is much more than „ coller” – it is also about different techniques, like folding, photo-shopping, deleting,… techniques that you don’t see immediately but have to explain.
– Which is the curatorial approach that is shaping the Curve´s identity?
the Curve is very personal and it reflects definitely my taste and interest. I want to present a wide range of collage artists with their individual approaches to this exciting art form. But I also want to show my visitors and guests that there is much more to collage art than a pair of scissors. Paper, glue, canvas, acrylic, digital, analog, found material, produced material, collage/decollage etc. Every day I discover new artists and artworks in books, online, in exhibitions or on instagram, and the more I see the more intrigued I get and the more I feel affirmed about my focus on collage.
– Which is in your opinion the status of collage in contemporary art?
I believe it has been „snoozing” in the last couple of decades, and it is experiencing a kind of revival. I believe this is on one hand due to new technologies, as it is a lot easier nowadays to make a collage using computers, or even mobile phones as well as to share and promote it. On the other hand I believe in a world where the boundary between truth and lies feels increasingly blurred, there’s a clarity in cut and paste. It is a very democratic medium.
– Can you tell us about your upcoming exhibitions and future plans?
After six solo shows in my apartment I am taking the Curve to a bigger temporary gallery space with a group show on Contemporary Collage opening April 19th on Torstrasse in Berlin Mitte. I am very excited as it is my first group-show I am curating with fantastic artworks by Matthieu Bourel, Dennis Busch, Anthony Gerace and Milen Till on display. If you happen to be in Berlin please drop by the Curve on Torstrasse.
Opening: April 19th, 6pm
Exhibition: 20–29 April, 2018
Space: Torstrasse 138, 10119 Berlin
Anthony Gerace, The ruined map
Dennis Busch in the Curve
Dennis Busch, The Art Collector
Enrico Nagel in the Curve
Isabel Reitemeyer, Round
Jannis Paetzold, Beach sculpture 6
Matthieu Bourell, Slackness
Milen Till, Warhol x Kahlo
More info and upcoming exhibitions: the Curve
