A change of city means a change of studio. We painters are rather rooted where we work, having need of a stable space where we can collect our clutter, tools and of course our artwork. There have been times I wish I could pack up my studio as I can with my laptop and work on the move.
Now that I am planning to stay put in Berlin for a while its feasible to set up shop here. The transition was rather smooth actually, one of those blessed syncronicities that the Universe gives you the big thumbs up with. I was still in the process of packing my Pixley St studio in London, when I called my Berlin artist friend Paul Barnett.
I asked him if he could keep his ears open for any studio opportunities. His response was that there was one available immediately in Atelierhaus Mengerzeile where he also has his. Now the thing is I had visited Paul many times in his studio and imagined myself working there. I had come very close to renting a space there years earlier. So all boded well.
The building itself has an interesting history, always being in use for something creative. In the beginning it was a piano factory, and then following the war during the DDR it was used as a vinyl record factory. In front of the building was a stretch of the Berlin wall, placing it behind it in the East. After the fall of the wall it began its present day life as an artist’s studio warehouse.
The complex is often just called M3 in reference to its address, Mengerzeile 3. It also includes a gallery for resident artists to use and club space in the cellar. But most homely of all is the house cat who often waits at the door to be let in or out.
I’m looking forward to producing many paintings here.
[…] photo I’ve included with this post is the Atelierhaus Mengerzeile in the Communist East German times, and is a view from the West to the East across the […]