During Gallery Weekend Berlin, art will be presented as a site of longing for an ideal world in the space of KWADRAT Gallery in Berlin-Kreuzberg. Located in a former carriage depot, it inspired the idea of creating a small, gentle idyll in the midst of Kreuzberg’s urban roughness, a pony farm in a building’s backyard.
A group exhibition featuring 40 Berlin-based artists unfolds along the old brick walls. The floor of the former carriage depot is covered with straw, while a sculptural pile of horse manure reinforces the pony-like atmosphere.
We, the artists, all ride the same pony, the pony of art, and together present the vibrant diversity of the Berlin art scene. “Ponyhof” is an exhibition that celebrates the joy of the visual arts and the creative force that shapes our lives, expressed through the untamed, wild energy of the pony despite the pressures of the art market and a world in transition.
The show foregrounds the delight and freedom of art, with each artist presenting a work in response to the theme “Ponyhof,” conceived as a kind of childlike bubble of happiness, echoing the German expression “Das Leben ist kein Ponyhof” (“life is not a pony farm”). We all experience that life is not always easy, idyllic, or filled with pleasure, but instead presents us with many challenges.In this sense, the freedom and lightness of the exhibition’s motto “Ponyhof” resonate
with Pippi Longstocking:“I make the world the way I like it.”.
Text: Olivia Berckemeyer