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until 19.10. | #4430ARTatBerlin | Capitain Petzel shows from Wednesday, 11. September 2024 the exhibition Le Boudoir de l’Amour by the artist Mikołaj Sobczak.
The exhibition is inspired by the café and bookshop in the Montmartre district of Paris that Eva Kotchever, a Polish-Jewish writer, activist and queer icon, is said to have run after her deportation from the USA to Europe in the early 20th century. She was deported from the USA to Europe in the 20th century. The exhibition is dedicated to such legendary places – cabarets, bookshops, cafés and hotels – where queer people were able to live out their identity authentically and safely, emphasising the revolutionary character of these places and creating a sense of community.
The gallery will be transformed into a theatrical setting, utilising its windows and multiple levels to show three scenographic rooms with puppets and furniture, seven wood carvings and a selection of paintings. At the centre of the exhibition are Kotchever and Sylvin Rubinstein, a Polish-Jewish dancer, performer and resistance fighter. Both historical figures are closely linked to theatre and the organisation of spaces for revolutionaries, resistance movements and queer communities. To explore these themes in greater depth, the exhibition offers a pu-blic programme of talks with historians Joanna Ostrowska and Suzette Robichon, who are actively involved in reconstructing these biographies.
About Mikołaj Sobczak
Courtesy of Galerie Capitain Petzel, portrait of Mikołaj Sobczak
Mikołaj Sobczak’s work focuses on creating alternative images of history, combining video and painting with performance, often in collaboration with the German artist Nicholas Grafia. Sobczak’s surreal, collaged narratives feature protagonists from queer and transgender activism and countercultural emancipation movements who challenge conventional and canonical perspectives on history through marginalised voices.
About Eva Kotchever
Eva Kotchever, also known as Eve Adams, was a prominent figure in the early 20th century queer community in New York City, where she ran Eve’s Hangout, an underground tea room and lesbian club in Greenwich Village. In 1925, she was deported back to Europe from the United States because of her radical activities and writings. Her life in Poland is largely undocumented, but she later moved to Paris where, according to tradition, she organised a lesbian cabaret
About Sylvin Rubinstein
Sylvin Rubinstein was known for his cross-dressing performances, in which he appeared under the stage name “Dolores”. Rubinstein used his theatrical skills as a means of survival and resistance during the Nazi occupation, often disguising himself to avoid arrest. In Sobczak’s dense and highly stylised compositions, Rubinstein’s likeness can be seen at various stages of his life – from his time performing alongside his sister Maria in the two-person flamenco number Imperio and Dolores to his later years as an ageing recluse, recounting curious and tragic memories of his youth to some interested historians. Rubinstein’s involvement in the resistance movements and his ability to create safe spaces for queer individuals and revolutionaries are central to understanding the intersection of art and activism.
Opening: Wednesday, 11. September 2024, 2:30-10 pm.
Exhibition dates: Wednesday, 11. September until Saturday, 19. October 2024
To the gallery
Title image caption: Mikołaj Sobczak, Dolores and Imperio, 2023
Exhibition Mikołaj Sobczak – Capitain Petzel | Zeitgenössische Kunst in Berlin | Contemporary Art | Ausstellungen Berlin Galerien | ART at Berlin
