Gallery portrait
ChertLüdde

What it means for a gallery to be more than a space for exhibitions becomes immediately apparent when visiting ChertLüdde. A bookshop forms the entrance to the gallery while also serving as a place of exchange, where books, editions, readings, and conversations complement the programme. Beyond it, the gallery spaces unfold, with several exhibitions often taking place simultaneously.

It all started without a clear strategy, almost spontaneously and naively, when Jennifer Chert put together a first group exhibition in a former garage in 2008. She supported and promoted a series of artists, especially Petrit Halilaj, who in turn encouraged her to open her own gallery. Chert, who was born in Italy, started to collect idiosyncratic approaches to art early on, including works by Alejandro Almanza Pereda, Vanessa Safavi, Kasia Fudakowski, David Horvitz, Zora Mann, and Heike Kabisch, who to this day continue to have a strong influence on the gallery’s program. Since these early stages, Florian Lüdde, who still worked at Esther Schipper at the time, has followed Chert’s progress and so, according to him, “it felt very natural” when he became a partner of the gallery in 2016.

Not only did they share a genuine curiosity and enthusiasm for the gallery’s artists, but also the desire to develop their own voice among the choir of this city’s galleries. 2008 ChertLüdde moved into new spaces on Ritterstraße; together, they found a register that is their own, pleasantly relaxed, sincere, and which has grown organically, borne by a mindset of making things possible. “Commercial galleries were born from the intention to support the ideas of artists and to create different ways of sustaining artistic production. They have the potential to be important vehicles for the creation and support of culture.” (Jennifer Chert) Listening, trusting, and asking the right questions are the extraordinary-ordinary principles that establish the feeling of community and family-like proximity at ChertLüdde. It is therefore not surprising that many artists have forged relationships not only in terms of aesthetics but also on a personal level.

After thirteen years in Kreuzberg, ChertLüdde moved to a new space on Hauptstraße in Berlin-Schöneberg in 2022. The new location provided the spatial framework for the gallery’s programme, which had grown steadily over the years, and its diverse formats.

Even though the gallery’s focus lies on supporting and establishing younger artists, ChertLüdde consistently surprises with the presentation of historical, often overlooked artistic positions. Alongside the Mail Art Archive of Ruth Wolf-Rehfeldt and Robert Rehfeldt, Franco Mazzucchelli, the estate of Rosemary Mayer, and Vincent Trasov, a co-founder of Image Bank, are also represented by the gallery. “There are so many artistic positions that interest us,” says Jennifer Chert—an openness that continues to shape the gallery’s programme. Each visit to ChertLüdde is likely to bring new perspectives and unexpected encounters.