English
Deutsch
until 11.04. | #4962ARTatBerlin | janinebeangallery shows from Thursday, 12. March 2026 The exhibition Crowds by the artist Nick Zinner.
With “Crowds,” the janinebeangallery Berlin presents a focused selection of photographic works by Nick Zinner. The exhibition shows exclusively photographs from 2003 and 2004, a formative phase both in Zinner’s artistic development and in the context of international music and club culture of the early 2000s. Nick Zinner is internationally known as the guitarist and songwriter of the New York band Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Since the band’s founding in 2000, he has significantly shaped its characteristic sound – with precise, often edgy guitar work that oscillates between post‑punk energy, noise elements, and melodic restraint. Together with singer Karen O and drummer Brian Chase, Zinner developed a musical language that played a decisive role in the band’s international breakthrough in the early 2000s. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs are among the central protagonists of New York’s indie‑rock scene of that era. With their debut album Fever to Tell (2003) and songs like Maps, the band became known worldwide. Their concerts were marked by intense physical presence, direct proximity to the audience, and an emotional immediacy that reflected the spirit of a generation. The photographs in the series Crowds were taken during the tours with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Zinner consistently photographed from the stage, always during the performance of the song Maps. The song functioned as a recurring temporal and emotional reference point within the concerts. In its reduced, melancholic structure, Maps addresses closeness, connection, and vulnerability, creating a thematic resonance for the audience reactions captured in the images.
Concert as a social situation
The early 2000s—particularly for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs—can be described as a period of strong physical and social presence in the concert context. Concerts functioned as places of immediate encounter, shaped by closeness between stage and audience and by a shared, collective focus. The faces, gazes, and gestures in Nick Zinner’s photos formed central elements of the experience and structured a situation defined largely by the shared moment. For viewers, a unique perspective opens up. Through the vantage point onstage, they effectively take the musician’s position. The gaze is directed straight at the audience—at reactions and individual presence. This shift in perspective enables direct engagement with intimacy and collective perception in the live context. At the same time, a temporal shift occurs. The photographs offer direct access to the years 2003 and 2004, making a concrete historical moment perceptible.
Nick Zinner / Courtesy janinebeangallery, Berlin, Foto: Lauren Krohn
The works thus also function as visual historical documents, making the specific cultural and social environment of those years tangible. All photographs in the series were shot analog. Zinner worked with film and analog cameras, which is evident in the image structure, the lighting, and the material presence of the pieces. For this exhibition, the photographs are presented as large-format prints (100 × 150 cm), further enhancing the physical impact of the images. Nick Zinner studied photography at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, and subsequently continued his studies in France. Bard College’s interdisciplinary focus and its proximity to contemporary art, music, and theory have had a lasting influence on Zinner’s artistic perspective. Even today, Nick Zinner remains active as a musician. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs celebrated an anniversary in 2025, which was marked by a dedicated tour. Furthermore, Zinner has been a permanent guitarist in Iggy Pop’s live band for several years. In both contexts, he continues to move between the stage, musical practice, and visual observation.
Opening: Thursday, 12. March, 6-8 pm
Exhibition dates: Friday, 12. March until Saturday, 11. April 2026
Titel image caption: Nick Zinner / Courtesy janinebeangallery, Berlin
Exhibition Nick Zinner – janinebeangallery | Zeitgenössische Kunst in Berlin | Contemporary Art | Exhibitions Berlin Galleries | ART at Berlin
