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until 21.02 | #4910ARTatBerlin | BBA Gallery shows from Thursday, 22. January 2026 the exhibition Pixel Desires by the artist Chris Kondek.
Kondek’s works begin with a simple photograph—an index of reality—which is then transformed by a specially developed algorithm. Over 2,000 iterative steps, each pixel is slowly and systematically shifted. This movement is not random, but follows a simulated logic of flow and turbulence that determines the path of each pixel and creates an invisible choreography in digital space. The resulting images exist in a fascinating liminal space: landscapes that appear both organic and procedural, evoking associations with memory, geological erosion, or the flow of data and code.
At the heart of Pixel Desires is a reflection on control and perception in an algorithmic world. The exhibition shows how what we see is shaped by rules that remain invisible. The algorithm in Kondek’s works thus becomes a powerful metaphor for the invisible forces that determine how information, images, and identities circulate and transform in digital space. Each pixel gains a kind of autonomy, detaching itself from its original position, following its “desire” while remaining strictly bound to the larger, invisible logic of the system.
This principle reflects our contemporary situation: the image, silently shaped by invisible code and flowing along predetermined paths, becomes a metaphor for the subtle mechanisms that shape our perception. The visual effect—which may appear like organic emergence or digital erosion—is the calculated trace of a system that silently exercises control. The works are not only abstract compositions, but pointed reflections on how the invisible hand of computation changes our perception pixel by pixel.
About the artist
Chris Kondek’s artistic practice is deeply rooted in media, performance, and the exploration of digital infrastructures. Born in Boston, he began his career with the pioneering Wooster Group in New York and collaborated with Laurie Anderson before moving to Berlin in 1999. Since then, his distinctive visual language has shaped major theater, dance, and opera productions across Europe, including acclaimed collaborations with Meg Stuart, Pierre Audi, Sebastian Baumgarten, and Lydia Steier—among them the 2016 “Opera of the Year” award for his work on Stockhausen’s Donnerstag aus Licht.
Chris Kondek, courtesy of BBA Gallery
In addition to his work as a designer, Kondek is co-founder and director of doublelucky productions, a media performance group dedicated to exploring the invisible digital architectures that shape modern life. His recent move toward generative, algorithmic imagery is a natural continuation of this longstanding investigation. The same systems, architectures, and patterns that drive his acclaimed stage works now find expression in the quiet, composed drama of individual images. Chris Kondek is currently Professor of Interdisciplinary Artistic Practice and Theory at Berlin University of the Arts.
Opening: Thursday, 22. January 2026, 6 pm
Exhibition dates: Thursday, 22. January – Saturday, 21. February 2026
To the gallery
Titel image: Chris Kondek, courtesy of BBA Gallery
Exhibition Chris Kondek – BBA Gallery | Zeitgenössische Kunst in Berlin | Contemporary Art | Exhibitions Berlin Galleries | ART at Berlin
