"PISSING IN A RIVER. AGAIN!"
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Kunstraum Kreuzberg Bethanien

Mariannenplatz 2
10997 Berlin
17.11.2018 – 13.11.2019
curated by Andrea Pichl and Stephanie Kloss

Caroline Achaintre Yael Bartana
Caro Bittermann Susanne Bürner
Natalie Czech Tatjana Doll
Valerie Favre Berta Fischer
Laura Horelli. Nadira Husain
Anne-Mie van Kerkhoven. Stephanie Kloss
Folke Köbberling Julia Lazarus
Hanne Lippard Sarah Lüttchen
Inge Mahn Andrea Pichl
Laure Prouvost Sabine Reinfeld
Farzaneh Rosta Céline Struger
Barbara Trautmann. Raphaela Vogel
Ina Weber Ruth Wolf-Rehfeldt u.a.

”Patti Smith‘s Pissing in a River— Watching it Rise (1976) stands metaphorically for resistance and rebellion. To begin with, the lyrics refer directly to intensive feelings of inevitability, uncertainty and vulnerability, which the musician transforms through a provocative and self-determined act of strength and courage. In this way, making a break with societal conventions leads to the self-empowerment of the lyrical protagonist.

In the framework of the exhibition project Pissing in a River. Again!, 31 contemporary female artists from various generations show works from a range of diverse media, including videos, sculptures, paintings, photographs, and performances. The works grapple with social questions in diverse ways. Attributes such as strength, independence and decisiveness—ostensibly associated with masculinity—are thematically appropriated by the exhibition‘s female artists to take on other characteristics.

This approach is also taken up in the spatial concept of the exhibition, which was likewise concep- tualised by the artists Stephanie Kloss and Andrea Pichl: fragments of a roof structure made of black sailing rope connect all exhibition spaces and artistic positions. In between, the proposed colour Cool Down Pink is applied as a critical commentary: the rose tint has a calming effect and de-escalates the potential for aggression according to psychological studies. Meanwhile, it also refers to traditionally feminine gender roles and norms in which resistant behaviour is not allowed any space—and has instead long been associated with hysteria.

Andrea Pichl and Stephanie Kloss