Hello Berlin #11 - An Alternative View On Art

The progressive city of Berlin is a well-known place for artists coming from all over the world. Its unique history and colorful presence reflects the dynamism and freedom Berlin is still known for, which allows for its artists an open stage to present new work. Berlin seems especially welcoming for newbies and young artists, perhaps because of rich excitement the city has to offer in its nightlife and alternative circles.  

The gallery scene is big and connects with special events happening from within the smallest venues to the bigger more established centers. The Gallery Weekend, which recently took place in April, and the Berlin Art Week in September (2017) are just a few of the bigger established Berlin-wide art events that are promoted by the city. The underground art scene is also booming and nurtures artists of all kinds, including collectives.

Laetitia Duveau

CURATED BY GIRLS co-founder and CEO

CURATED BY GIRLS, a collective founded last year, has an inclusive platform: they promote visual arts focusing on diversity, quality and freedom and seem to perfectly represent the socio-political issues of the present time. Their aim is to provide space for everybody – no matter their gender, ethnicity or sexuality. They work with issues such as feminism, body positivity and gender identity. The collective had their start online via a website and last year showed three of their exhibitions in physical galleries in Berlin. The shows, titled Freer in Berlin #1 IRL, the Poster Boys exhibition in November, and Digital_Luv in association with Kaltblut Magazine, were a success. 

Now the creative collective is also part of the Berlin’s Blogfabrik community – Germany’s first coworking space where bloggers, Instagrammers, photographers and videographers pay for their workspace with content. But that’s not all the co-founder and curator, Laetitia Duveau, developed in 2017. A few days ago, CURATED BY GIRLS presented their newest show: Non-Binary Portraits featuring the artworks of Laurence Philomène. The exhibition by the Canadian artist shows his photographic portrait series - a diversity of trans & non-binary individuals.

"My aim with this series is to showcase a diversity of trans & non-binary experiences that tend to be under-represented in mainstream media & give non-binary subjects agency regarding how they are represented. It’s also an opportunity for me to document my friends & their unique style & point of view. As someone who identifies as non-binary, it’s obviously a very personal topic for me but I wanted the photos to go beyond my own identity and really be a collaboration between me & the models",

said Philomène.

Non-Binary Portaits

Non-Binary Portaits

Non-Binary Portaits

Non-Binary Portaits

Non-Binary Portaits

Non-Binary Portaits

Non-Binary Portaits

Non-Binary Portaits

Non-Binary Portaits

Non-Binary Portaits

Non-Binary Portaits

Non-Binary Portaits

As this project shows, the website and now collective, CURATED BY GIRLS, was meant to start a point of controversy: the CEO, Laetitia Duveau, wants to challenge mainstream gender stereotypes, beauty standards and the concept of normality, featuring emerging and established talents from all around the globe. Berlin seems to break many mainstream boundaries and this collective enterprise shows that a new femininity, feminism, and girl power can be celebrated, but in the end all that matters is equality in life - from the various ranges in gender identification - and thanks to people like Laetitia the Berlin Art scene gives us the freedom to do so.

The exhibition Laurence Philomène: Non-Binary Portraits by CURATED BY GIRLS takes place at CoGalleries – Torstrasse 170, D-10115 Berlin until the 31st of May, 2017.

Credits

Non-Binary Portraits courtesy of the artist Laurence Philomène

Portraits of CURATED BY GIRLS CEO Laetitia by Philippe Duval

Text by Birds Never Bored