Sammlung Ivo Wessel: Open House

Following the move in 2022 from the Werkhof on Lehrter Straße to the Taut-Haus at Engelbecken in Mitte/Kreuzberg, the collection was opened to the public for the first time at its new location that same year. The focus of Berlin Art Week 2026 will be on the artists Stih & Schnock, who are known for their multi media museum, public art and memorialization projects, including ›Places of Remembrance‹ in Berlin-Schöneberg (1993) and ›BUS STOP. Berlin-Mitte‹ (1994). Michael Wesely is a photographer, and his extreme long-exposure photographs – including those of Potsdamer Platz (2001—2004) and the renovation of the Neue Nationalgalerie (2016—2020)—capture places and time in a unique way. This time, the collection focuses on conceptual and video works by Stih & Schnock, as well as photographs by Michael Wesely (including those from his current project in Arles), and the smartphone apps created in collaboration with both artists are also on display.

Saturday, 12 SEP 2026, 2—8pm: Collection viewing. Meet the Artist (4—6pm): Michael Wesely

Sunday, 13 SEP2026, 2—8pm: Collection viewing. Meet the Artist (4—6pm): Renata Stih & Frieder Schnock

There is also a truly multi-talented figure to see (or perhaps to discover): Herbert Achternbusch studied art in Munich and Nuremberg in the early 1960s. He painted, directed over 30 films, wrote just as many plays and dozens of books. All his books are on display (including rare early artists’ books featuring etchings and screen prints, which Achternbusch later liked to snatch back from their owners because he no longer identified with the works). Highlights include his 1968 graduation portfolio from the Nuremberg Academy of Fine Arts, featuring five large screen prints (he had already withdrawn the sixth himself at the time), as well as the complete manuscript for the book ›Wellen‹, published by Suhrkamp in 1983, containing countless notes, corrections, photographs, etc.—a particularly rare item, as Achternbusch usually used to destroy his manuscripts (just as he burnt his Petrarca Prize cheque in 1977 on the very day of the ceremony out of anger towards his colleagues).

The Collection Ivo Wessel includes conceptual art, concrete painting, photography, media and video art, including works by !Mediengruppe Bitnik, Ken Adam, Marc Aschenbrenner, Robert Barta, Malte Bartsch, Victor Bonato, Klaus vom Bruch, Marcel Buehler, Carlos Cruz-Diez, Denmark, Jonas Englert, Marianne Fayol, Susanne Fleischhacker, Sylvie Fleury, Thomas Florschuetz, Christian Frosch, Walter Giers, Wilfried Hagebölling, Heijo Hangen, Sebastian Hempel, Frank Hesse, Jenny Holzer, Ottmar Hörl, Sofia Hultén, Sven Johne, Rolf Julius, Anna Kagan, Siegfried Kreitner, Camill Leberer, Julio Le Parc, Via Lewandowsky, Richard Paul Lohse, Adolf Luther, Enzo Maiolino, Paul Mansouroff, Christian Marclay, Bjørn Melhus, Mathieu Mercier, Robert Michel, Peter Miller, Tracey Moffat, Lienhard von Monkiewitsch, Jan van Munster, Maurizio Nannucci, Stefan Panhans, Angelika Platen, Alan Rath, Vandy Rattana, Hans Richter, Julian Rosefeldt, Michael Schoenholtz, Heinrich Siepmann, Anton Stankowski, Sebastian Stumpf, Renata Stih & Frieder Schnock, Sándor Szombati, Luke Willis Thompson, Timm Ulrichs, Peter Vogel, Donata Wenders, Wim Wenders, Michael Wesely.

Ivo Wessel (born in Paderborn in 1965) studied computer science and psychology in Braunschweig and moved to Berlin in 2000 because of the young, vital art community in the city. As a software developer, he programmed apps for Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Vision Pro, especially for artists and art institutions. He has been collecting contemporary art and literature ever since his childhood, and he is always trying to unite his three obsessions: books, art, and computers. In 2008, he began ›Videoart at Midnight‹ together with gallerist Olaf Stüber, a project that shows video art on the main screen of Kino Babylon; once a month on Friday, always at midnight.