Difficult to Collect

When Johann Koenig opened his gallery in 2002, he was advised to start slowly with small works and group shows in order to grow his business organically. However, for his second show, he decided to exhibit a wrecking ball by artist Jeppe Hein that moved and destroyed the premises as soon as visitors entered the room. Back then Johann Koenig was 21 years old and hasn’t even graduated from German high school. By now his Berlin gallery successfully has made its mark in art world. “At a certain point, I started to do only things that I was interested in. That includes working with artists that have challenging positions and whose art is difficult to collect because it can’t be preserved or installed,” Johann Koenig told us. One of these avant-garde artists is his friend Tue Greenfort from Denmark, who was one of the reasons why Koenig opened up his gallery in the first place. In his work, Greenfort comments on situations in everyday life through small interventions and therewith questions their existence, often in a very humorous way. Sometimes he doesn’t even shy away from political incorrect measures in order to make his point, garnering criticism by those, who don’t understand the irony. Together with Johann Koenig, we met Tue Greenfort at group exhibition based in Berlin, where – consistent with Koenig’s position as a gallery owner- Greenford’s piece couldn’t be installed.

More about Johann Koenig and Tue Greenfort

Editorial Lead Kitty Bolhoefer / Filming & Photos Fridolin Schoepper / Editing Konterfei  / Music BUNNYSTRIPES