Sven Marquardt's Epic Return to NYC

October 2, 2021
  • Sven Marquardt, Photo by Regina Urazaeva
    Sven Marquardt, Photo by Regina Urazaeva
    As part of C24 Gallery’s developing cultural program, we recently hosted a series of events in partnership with Goethe-Institut and Galerie Deschler at NYC’s Soho House, where we have been enjoying a curatorial residency since 2020. Selections from Berlin-based photographer Sven Marquardt’s Rudel series, photographs of nightclub bouncers from Berlin, are currently on view at Soho House. Marquardt, known as much for his images of German counter-culture as he is for being the long-time bouncer at the world famous club, Berghain, came to NYC for two special events celebrating his work during the week of September 13th. 
     
    On separate nights at Soho House and Ludlow House, we hosted screenings of two different documentary films featuring Marquardt, followed by Q&A’s with the artist, moderated by C24 Gallery Director and Curator, David C. Terry. Guests included Soho House and Ludlow House members, along with representatives from Goethe-Institut New York and the German Embassy. 

  • Schönheit und Vergänglichkeit (Beauty & Decay, 2019) is Annekatrin Hendel’s very personal film about Marquardt and two friends from his East Berlin punk days—Robert Paris and Dominique “Dome” Hollenstein. It tells the story of how their shared youth, marked by an artistic, radical and open view of the world, impacted their lives and careers, contrasting the colorful East Berlin punk scene with the one-dimensional aesthetic of its western counterpart.

     

    Berlin Bouncer, director David Dietl’s 2019 documentary, profiles three of Berlin’s most famous bouncers, Frank Künster, Smiley Baldwin and Sven Marquardt. Baldwin, a former American GI assigned to guarding the Wall, and Künster, who had come to Berlin to study in the 1980s, share the nightlife scene with Marquardt, a young punk and photographer who had lived behind the Wall before it came down. For decades the three have played a decisive role in the reunited city’s never-ending nights as the most famous guardians of Berlin’s popular clubs.

  • Clockwise from top left: Jörg Schumacher (Executive Director, Goethe-Institut New York), Sven Marquardt, Anton Klix (Head of Political Department, Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany)
    Clockwise from top left: Jörg Schumacher (Executive Director, Goethe-Institut New York), Sven Marquardt, Anton Klix (Head of Political Department, Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany)
    Although Marquardt is an accomplished and sought after photographer, the most popular questions by attendees during the Q&A centered around how to get into Berghain, the nightclub whose crowd he curates. Unfortunately, we learned that there is no secret formula. Marquardt’s process is entirely organic and intuitive, based on the goal of bringing together a wide variety of energies to create a peak experience for all attendees, not the type of thing one could hope to replicate or explain… the good news is, now that the Berlin clubs are opening again, there is always hope.
     
    We look forward to more opportunities to collaborate with our cultural partners...
  • image from event (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    image from event (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    image from event (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
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    image from event (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    L to R: David C. Terry (Director and Curator, C24 Gallery), Alison Wade (Cultural Program Coordinator + Communication Officer, Goethe-Institut New York), Sven Marquardt