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until 07.11. | #5129ARTatBerlin | neugerriemschneider (Linienstrasse) shows from Friday 11. September 2026 (Opening: 10.09.) the exhibition “them and us” by the artist Cevdet Erek.
In *Them and Us*, his second solo exhibition at neugerriemschneider, Cevdet Erek continues his ongoing exploration of the sonic potential of architecture and the architectural potential of sound. On display are recent sculptural works which, with their stadium-like constructions, reflect social dynamics. In the wall pieces and the large-scale sound installation made of clay bricks, the visitors’ sections of football stadiums – to which the away team’s supporters are relegated – are marked with gold leaf or natural dyes. Without people and their identity-defining symbols and banners, the works appear, on the one hand, detached from time and, on the other, evoke associations with theatre and the spectacle of combat in antiquity, as well as their parallels with today’s connections, divisions and allegiances. This effect is further enhanced by the driving, archaic-sounding multi-channel soundtrack, whose piercing percussive rhythms are reminiscent of the synergistic or competing drumming of a stadium crowd.
Cevdet Erek, Away Terrace II, 2024, wood, gold leaf, 60 x 80 x 9 cm. Courtesy the artist and neugerriemschneider, Berlin. Photo: Jens Ziehe, Berlin
The centrepiece of the exhibition, *Away Terrace (Us and Them) – Berlin (2026)*, is the Berlin version of an installation first erected in 2025 for the 13th Liverpool Biennial. Its rectangular building blocks, which make up the work’s terraced spectator stands—which slope downwards and enclose a playing field of earth—owe their elemental presence here to the fact that they were manufactured using local excavated material from building sites. The empty architecture inevitably evokes images and projections – a Colosseum, an arena or a hippodrome, an archaeological site whose excavation allows past and present to merge – thereby tying in with Erek’s earlier explorations of history and its architectural relics. A colour-coded section in one corner of the installation represents the away supporters’ section, which in real football stadiums is often more minimalist in design than the home section, and whose restrictions here evoke political and economic connotations that extend beyond the sporting context. This dividing structure finds a parallel in Erek’s overall construction: as the work cannot be entered, it turns the viewers into members of a third team, one that is kept at a distance.
The auditory component of the work reinforces this effect, as the sound emanates from within the stadium. The loudspeakers integrated into the tiers of the stands reproduce distinct rhythmic layers that encourage visitors to move from one loudspeaker to the next, thereby circling the installation – a freedom of movement denied to the fans in the away section. Whilst the sounds are perceived individually at close range, they merge into a coherent arrangement when viewed from a distance: a shared percussive language comprising harmonic and dissonant elements that interconnect beyond the boundaries of the work.
Cevdet Erek, Away Terrace (Anfield), 2025, wood, gold leaf, 80 x 88 x 25 cm. Courtesy the artist and neugerriemschneider, Berlin. Photo: Jens Ziehe, Berlin
Surrounding this installation are further works from Erek’s *Away Terrace* series (2024 and 2025), which, with their structures comprising four wooden profiles arranged at right angles to one another, enter into a dialogue with the neighbouring arena made of clay bricks. The sculptures refer to stadiums in Istanbul and changes in the layout of the spectator stands there, which the artist himself witnessed, as well as to the asymmetrical design of the two central football stadiums in Liverpool, whose teams are rivals. Furthermore, the works are reminiscent of picture frames. Their depth and visual weight allude to the richly decorated frames of past centuries, whilst their geometric rigour questions the function of ornamentation. Similarly, their gold leaf appliqués – which vary in size, change position or disappear entirely – go beyond mere decoration and, like the colour in the sound installation, mark the visitors’ section of a stadium as a sign of exclusion, separation and displacement.
Taken together, the works on display bear witness to Ereks’ enduring interest in the representation of the Other, combining a critical analysis of differences with an exploration of how shared affinities lead to a sense of connectedness. In this sense, the exhibition – whose title, ‘them and us’, emphasises the connecting element through its use of the conjunction ‘and’ – reflects on space as something that can be both shared and constituted by contrasts.
Cevdet Erek, Away Terrace (Anfield), 2025, wood, gold leaf, 80 x 88 x 25 cm. Courtesy the artist and neugerriemschneider, Berlin. Photo: Jens Ziehe, Berlin
This autumn, the SculptureCenter in New York is presenting *Americas*, a solo exhibition featuring new works by Erek (19 September – 28 December). In addition, from September, the Haus der Kulturen der Welt in Berlin will be showing *Not All Travellers Walk Roads—Of Humanity as Practice*, a geographical and spatial interpretation of last year’s 36th São Paulo Biennial, including Erek’s sound installation and graphic intervention *Rampa rítmica (Rhythmic Ramp) (2025), which was originally developed for the Pavilhão Ciccillo Matarazzo (12 September – 6 December).
Cevdet Erek, Away Terrace (Us and Them), 2025, earth blocks, timber, 10-channel audio, size variable, duration variable, commissioned by Liverpool Biennial 2025. Courtesy the artist and neugerriemschneider, Berlin. Photo: Stuart Whipps
Works by Cevdet Erek (b. 1974) have been exhibited in solo exhibitions at international museums and institutions, including the Secession, Vienna (2025); Hamburger Bahnhof – Museum für Gegenwart, Berlin (2019); Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago (2019); Museum van Hedendaagse Kunst, Antwerp (2018); Museo Universitario Arte Contemporáneo, Mexico City (2017); the Turkish Pavilion, 57th Venice Biennale, Venice (2017); Spike Island Artspace, Bristol (2014); and Kunsthalle Basel, Basel (2012). In addition, the artist took part in the 36th São Paulo Biennial, São Paulo (2025); the 13th Liverpool Biennial, Liverpool (2025); Manifesta 14, Pristina (2022); the 7th Singapore Biennale, Singapore (2022); the 7th Ruhrtriennale, Bochum (2019); the 11th Shanghai Biennale, Shanghai (2016); the 20th Biennale of Sydney, Sydney (2016); the 14th Istanbul Biennial, Istanbul (2015); the 5th Marrakech Biennale, Marrakesh (2014); the 11th Sharjah Biennial, Sharjah (2013); the 7th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, Brisbane (2012); and dOCUMENTA (13), Kassel (2012). Erek lives and works in Istanbul.
Opening: Thursday, 10. September 2026, 6 – 10 Uhr
Exhibition dates: Friday, 11. September until Saturday, 7. November 2026
To the gallery
Title image caption: Cevdet Erek, Away Terrace II, 2024, wood, gold leaf, 60 x 80 x 9 cm. Courtesy the artist and neugerriemschneider, Berlin. Photo: Jens Ziehe, Berlin
Exhibition Cevdet Erek – Galerie neugerriemschneider | Zeitgenössische Kunst in Berlin | Contemporary Art | Ausstellungen Berlin Galerien | ART at Berlin
