Podcast

Episode 6 - Simon Denny

In this episode, journalist Silke Hohmann sits down with Simon Denny, born in New Zealand in 1982. The internationally acclaimed artist explores complex contemporary issues, transforming them into multi-layered installations. His work spans sculpture, photography, painting, and NFTs. In 2015, he represented New Zealand at the 56th Venice Biennale.

Simon's deep connection to Berlin dates back further than his nomination for the Preis der Nationalgalerie in 2013. He has lived in the city since graduating from the Städelschule.

Long before tech billionaires reached for political power, Simon was already interested in the people behind the technologies that shape our world. In 2017, he dedicated an exhibition in New Zealand to right-wing libertarian Peter Thiel — one of the most influential figures in U.S. politics — who even came to visit.

Simon's upcoming exhibition in Berlin — on view from June 14 to 16, 2025 — will be his first with gallery Kraupa-Tuskany Zeidler. Installed in the charged context of the JW Marriott Hotel, directly across from the Bendlerblock-home to Germany's Ministry of Defense-the show presents machine-generated paintings exploring the connections between technology, business, and military systems in the U.S. and Germany.

In this episode, Simon Denny talks about his encounters with tech entrepreneurs, how making art helps him understand complex issues, and what distinguishes art from journalism.

Episode 5 - Nadya Tolokonnikova

In this episode, art critic Silke Hohmann talks to artist and activist Nadya Tolokonnikova, whose art is inseparable from her political activism. She shares how her critique has shaped her artistic practice, and why it is a great feeling to reproduce her former prison cell as an art installation. 

The co-founder of Pussy Riot performed a punk concert in a Moscow church in 2012 and was subsequently sent to prison for two years. In this podcast episode, she reflects on the consequences this had for her personally and for her art. The replica of her cell in the Siberian penal colony is on display until June 6 at Galerie Nagel Draxler, where it made a lasting impression during Gallery Weekend 2025.

We also learn about her artistic upbringing and the role Russian icons play in her visual language. One of her paintings in her show in Berlin reads: ‘Yes, sex is great, but have you ever fucked the system?’  Nadya Tolokonnikova has.

Episode 4 - Melissa Joseph

In this episode, Enuma Okoro sits down with artist Melissa Joseph to dive into her upcoming exhibition No Words at Soy Capitan. The exhibition opening during Gallery Weekend Berlin is the first solo presentation in Europe by the New York-based artist. They explore the artist’s journey as a wanderer, her reflections on global unrest, and how Dante’s Inferno and her time spent in Berlin shaped her latest work.
Melissa shares how felting — her favorite medium — allows her to translate thought into texture, offering a quiet, tactile form of visual poetry. Together, they reflect on the importance of staying present, and the resilience it takes to keep creating through dark times. 
Tune in to hear Melissa’s thoughts on belonging, curiosity, and why even a pocket can become a political space.

Episode 3 - Zuzanna Czebatul

Bildhauerin und scharfsinnige Beobachterin von Macht, Ideologie und kultureller Mythenbildung – Zuzanna Czebatul spricht mit uns über ihre künstlerische Praxis.

In ihrer ersten Einzelausstellung bei DITTRICH & SCHLECHTRIEM mit dem Titel „All the Charm of a Rotting Gum“, die zum Gallery Weekend Berlin eröffnet, denkt sie den Pergamonaltar als konzeptuellen Raum neu. Ihre Arbeiten fordern dazu auf, kulturelle Mythen, staatliche Macht und die Fragilität vermeintlich dauerhafter Strukturen zu hinterfragen.

Im Gespräch mit der Kunstkritikerin Silke Hohmann spricht sie über Berlin als widersprüchliche Bühne, über das Verblassen von Monumenten und die Poesie im Bröckeln. Über Uniformen als Auslöschung des Subjekts, das Verhältnis von Körper und Staat, über Pillen als utopische Objekte und die Frage, wie viel von den Versprechen der 90er eigentlich noch übrig ist.

Ein Gespräch über Maßstab, Macht, Mythos – und darüber, warum der einzige Weg manchmal mitten hindurchführt.

Episode 2 - Monica Bonvicini

In the second episode, writer and curator Enuma Okoro speaks with the renowned artist Monica Bonvicini, who has been living and working in Berlin since the mid-1980s —a city she deeply loves. A bold and uncompromising voice in contemporary art, Bonvicini’s work challenges the boundaries of power, gender, sexuality, and the politics of space.

For Gallery Weekend Berlin 2025, she presents her exhibition “It is Night Outside” at Capitain Petzel, spanning three floors with new metal and leather sculptures, glass works, paper collages, and a striking video installation addressing themes of space, identity, and resistance. Mirror works and chain reliefs further enrich the show, continuing Bonvicini’s exploration of language, material, and the body.

This episode offers a dive into her creative process—where architecture is a space that is ever truly empty or neutral.

Tune in for a powerful conversation on measurement tapes, hammers, and the forces that shape our world.

Episode 1 - Marianna Simnett

The very first episode of Gallery Weekend Berlin – The Art Podcast is out now! We’re kicking off the series with British-Croatian artist Marianna Simnett, known for her bold, unsettling, and deeply imaginative works. Hosted by renowned art critics Enuma Okoro (FT Weekend) and Silke Hohmann (Monopol Magazin), the podcast offers weekly conversations with artists featured in this year’s Gallery Weekend Berlin, allowing for a deeper dive into their artistic practices.

New episodes will be released weekly until Gallery Weekend, featuring artists Monica Bonvicini, Zuzanna Czebatul, and Melissa Joseph. From May onward, tune in for monthly deep-dive conversations with key voices from Berlin’s vibrant art scene.

In the opening episode, Marianna Simnett (born 1986) talks about her unique upbringing on a boat, her lifelong connection to animals, and how she radically reimagines Greek mythology through a feminist lens in her latest video work, Leda Was a Swan. Here, Leda is no longer a passive victim, but a complex, self-empowered protagonist.

The work will premiere in her upcoming solo show “Charades”, opening May 2 at SOCIÉTÉ as part of Gallery Weekend Berlin. In her new video, paintings, and sculptures, Simnett explores the porous boundaries between individual and collective behavior, drawing on mythology, social rituals, and rites of passage.

In this episode, journalist Silke Hohmann sits down with Simon Denny, born in New Zealand in

1982. The internationally acclaimed artist explores complex contemporary issues, transforming them into multi-layered installations. His work spans sculpture, photography, painting, and NFTs. In 2015, he represented New Zealand at the 56th Venice Biennale.

Simon’s deep connection to Berlin dates back further than his nomination for the Preis der Nationalgalerie in 2013. He has lived in the city since graduating from the Städelschule.

Long before tech billionaires reached for political power, Simon was already interested in the people behind the technologies that shape our world. In 2017, he dedicated an exhibition in New Zealand to right-wing libertarian Peter Thiel — one of the most influential figures in U.S. politics — who even came to visit.

Simon’s upcoming exhibition in Berlin — on view from June 14 to 16, 2025 — will be his first with gallery Kraupa-Tuskany Zeidler. Installed in the charged context of the JW Marriott Hotel, directly across from the Bendlerblock-home to Germany’s Ministry of Defense-the show presents machine-generated paintings exploring the connections between technology, business, and military systems in the U.S. and Germany.

In this episode, Simon Denny talks about his encounters with tech entrepreneurs, how making art helps him understand complex issues, and what distinguishes art from journalism.

Produced by: art/beats