Berlin Art Prize

For the Berlin Art Prize exhibition at SMAC, this body of work brings a long-term engagement with contested public space into the gallery through two large-scale paintings and a billboard installation that fills the room, nearly touching the ceiling and walls. Rooted in the layered histories of Moritzplatz, a site shaped by war, division, community, displacement, and rapid gentrification, the works emerge from sustained walking, archival mapping, and extended observation. Together, they trace urban transformation from pre-war Berlin footprints to the pressures of today’s housing market.

The billboard, originally developed in response to large-scale real estate development at Moritzplatz, introduces the language of the street into the gallery, confronting the viewer with questions of scale, visibility, and responsibility. Across all the works, each line and ghosted layer holds both felt experience and structural insight, making visible the forces that shape how the city is inhabited. The practice functions as a walking meditation on place, approaching the city as lived terrain marked by memory, conflict, and possibility.

Presented as part of the 2019 Berlin Art Prize, this exhibition formed part of the prize’s sixth edition, which expanded into a city-wide format featuring nine nominated artists in parallel solo exhibitions across independent Berlin project spaces from August 30 to September 27, 2019. The Berlin Art Prize is an artist-led, community-focused award that operates through an anonymous jury process, foregrounding artistic practice over market visibility.

Featured artists included Ada Van Hoorebeke, Agnes Scherer, Esteban Rivera Ariza, Joshua Schwebel, Larissa Fassler, Marianna Cristofides, Min-Wei Ting, Musquiqui Chihying, and Wieland Schönfelder.