Jay Jopling, working through this conun- drum. “How can you own ideas?” she says, looking back. “We felt like we were in a whole new field.” They were. Geopolitics were also changing fast in 1989, in ways that would affect German art production. The Berlin Wall fell, globalisation began, techno- logical changes accelerated – and Berlin beckoned. In 1995, Schipper moved to Auguststrasse – post-Wall Berlin’s origi- nal and, at the time, ultra-bohemian art strip in Mitte – and into a gallery space 3 that star Moma curator Klaus Biesenbach helped her to procure.

Köln’s strict art-world hierarchies didn’t exist in Berlin; the community of artists, gallerists, curators and artsy hangers-on was fluid and free. Schipper opened the 1 gallery without intending to open a gal- lery, as “stupid as that might sound”. art/berlin she says, laughing. “It was more a plat- form than a commercial gallery.” Projects included talks, exhibitions and even Show “happenings”: for one example, visi- tors dressed in Pinocchio costumes for 4 a show with US performance artist Paul Overlooking the courtyard at Potsdamer and tell very first gallery, a one-woman operation (1) High art: part of an McCarthy. But even then, collectors care- Strasse No 77, the hottest spot on Berlin’s in Köln that opened in 1989. installation being manoeuvred into fully watched what the young Schipper art scene, gallerist Esther Schipper’s vast Esther Schipper’s “Back then the separation between the gallery (2) Exhibition plan was doing. In immediate post-Wall Berlin, (3) Esther Schipper (4) Filing fun new location feels like a museum. Yet it career path from Köln commercial and non-commercial art (5) Schipper’s office6 ( ) Scale rents were so low that “we could get by resolutely remains a gallery: a space tran- to Berlin reflects the was much more defined than it is today,” model of the Frieze selling a piece every couple of months”, scending the commercial and allowing for says Schipper, speaking in measured sen- New York booth she says. artistic experimentation. fluidity of Germany’s tences in a spacious office that is dotted 5 Those days are long gone. More than For nearly three decades Galerie art scene. Here’s how with mid-century furnishings. The office, Schipper’s selling points: 20 years later the Auguststrasse era seems Esther Schipper has shaped the careers the gallerist has stayed not connected to the exhibition space almost innocent; Schipper, friendly yet of some of contemporary art’s biggest but accessible through another build- 1. Loyalty: She’s the primary reserved, is now a youthful fifty-some- ahead of the curve. gallerist for many artists names. Not only that but hers is also the ing, is also new and vast. Teams work associated with the relational- thing. Her new gallery’s main area takes story of the rise of Berlin’s famous (and By Kimberly Bradley in hushed tones and artist archives line aesthetics micromovement up 540 sq m, with a separate space for occasionally infamous) art scene. It’s a Photography Felix Brüggemann shelves; a whiteboard on the wall maps (artwork that encourages visitor concurrent exhibitions of about 80 sq m. scene she was integral in transforming out the schedule of art fairs worldwide, as interaction), among them It’s the third Berlin location for Schipper from wild and woolly to one known for well as which artist is showing where and Philippe Parreno, , since that first rogue space and its inte- top-notch artistic production and inter- when. In another room are scale models , and Dominique rior represents how far she and her artists Gonzalez-Foerster. national cachet. On a broader scale she’s of upcoming art-fair booths. 2. Service: Schipper’s gallery have come. also part of a cadre of international gal- In the late 1980s, Köln was Germany’s doesn’t just sell a piece: it also This hall has the capacity for epic lerists who have redefined how art is both premier art city. Schipper arrived “by cir- provides long-term technical installations, heavy sculptures, technical viewed and sold. cumstance” after attending a curatorial support and service. complexities (one look at French artist Schipper now has 35 employees and programme in Grenoble and growing 3. Archiving: “A gallery is a place Philippe Parreno’s shows – lights, videos, of memory,” says Schipper, an artist roster of about 40, including up in . But the idea of how to sell whose staff meticulously sounds seemingly coming from nowhere heavy hitters such as Philippe Parreno, immaterial art had not solidified in Köln document work and create – and the need for the latter becomes Liam Gillick and Dominique Gonzalez- or anywhere else, even if catalogues raisonnés. clear). The inaugural show, which opened Foerster. But her approach has always – art as idea – had been around since the 4. Fortitude: Schipper has forged in April for the 13th edition of Gallery brilliantly combined commercial success 1960s. Schipper was part of the vanguard ahead in a country in which most Weekend Berlin, featured Albanian video blue-chip gallerists are men. with challenging exhibitions – even in her of young dealers, along with White Cube’s artist and a smaller exhibition 2 6 096 — monocle — no104 no104 — monocle — 097 art/ berlin (1) ’s ‘Heavy Metal Body’ (2) Heads down in the office3 ( ) The Esther Schipper Gallery occupies the top floor of this building on Potdsdamer Strasse (4) Florian Wojnar in the model-making-room (5) Anri Sala’s ‘Take Over’ (6) Final adjustments by Angela Bulloch, a young British artist who first hit in early-1990s . Schipper grew up attending exhibi- tions with her art-historian mother but that didn’t mean that professional growth didn’t come automatically. In the early 2000s, once Schipper had five employ- ees and a larger space on Linienstrasse, she hired a business coach. The rest of Berlin’s art scene was also professionalis- ing and it was out of necessity: the ini- tial post-Wall hype had dissipated, the home-grown art fair Art Forum Berlin (now defunct) wasn’t attracting as many 4 exhibitors and it was suddenly no longer the end, no matter how digitalised we’re cool to have gallery assistants showing up getting, the time we spend in one to one at 14.00. conversation is still the core of our busi- The need for a tighter take on sell- ness,” says the gallerist. “Being at an art ing art lead to the beginning of Gallery fair is not the same.” Weekend Berlin, a format that she, and With museums under new pres- a small group of other gallerists in the 5 sures, the gallery might be the one place city, invented in the early 2000s. The left in which established artists can test idea: bring outside collectors to the city new works and continue to develop in for one weekend of A-game exhibitions, dialogue with audiences. Yet many mid- on view not in booths but in the galleries’ size galleries struggle and others are far home spaces – in Berlin, often spectacular too corporate (think of Larry Gagosian’s real estate. Essentially, throw a huge gala empire, for example). “We don’t want to to bring artists, curators and collectors 1 compete with this,” says Florian Wojnar, together in a relaxed non-fair setting. “No matter how Schipper’s partner in life as well as, since The first Gallery Weekend, in 2004, digitalised we’re 2010, business partner. “We want to stay was a smashing success. “People love the getting, one-to-one very special.” format,” says Schipper; so much so that conversations are still Schipper recently took on the roster it’s been widely imitated. But other cities of retiring Berlin dealer Jörg Johnen can’t seem to replicate Berlin’s energy. “In the core of our business” but even with this expanded artist list (including acclaimed “immaterial” artist ) and increased activity in Asia, she’s retained her unique balance geographically, programmatically and commercially. Under current world con- ditions it’s difficult to predict art’s future but Schipper expresses a need to just 2 slow down a bit. “Not everything needs Top exhibitions and events to happen all the time all over the world,” 1. 2013: Tomás Saraceno, Social .. she says. “Maybe we need more time, Quasi Social .. Solitary .. Spiders .. more space, to calm down and concen- on Hybrid Cosmic Webs trate on real things.” 2. 2014-2015: Philippe Parreno, With the new venue Schipper is creat- Quasi-Objects 3. 2016: Dominique Gonzalez- ing this evironment for both herself and Foerster, QM15 (featuring her artists, old and new. There’s an ease holographic films of the artist) that comes after so long in a business and 4. 2017: Liam Gillick and New here it’s palpable. Ease – and a certain Order (in Manchester, late June gratitude. “It’s a huge privilege to do what to early July); meanwhile, Anri I’m doing,” she says. It’s one that artists Sala and Angela Bulloch are inaugurating a new space and her audience don’t take for granted, either. — (m) 3 6 098 — monocle — no104 no104 — monocle — 099