PRESS RELEASE
Last winter, Calla Henkel and Max Pitegoff photographed in startup offices around Berlin, forming relationships that held the promise of longevity. Networks, stronger than last names, stronger than addresses, stronger than phone numbers. During their visits, the conversations often turned towards why Henkel and Pitegoff were there, not to photograph, but in Berlin. The defensive language of promise became a backdrop for the images they produced. "Berlin is a green field, when you give creative people green fields they do amazing things.” The artists nodded, listening, complicit, thankful for lax visa policies (for Americans) and online burgeramt appointments. Hanging on the walls of VI, VII are images of consumption and connectivity. The photographs accompany a narrative written by Henkel and Pitegoff.
Calla Henkel (b.1988) and Max Pitegoff (b.1987) live and work in Berlin. Their first collaborations took place while studying in New York at The Cooper Union. Together with Lindsay Lawson, they operated TIMES, a Berlin-based bar from 2011-2012. Solo exhibitions by Henkel and Pitegoff include Nudes in Tanya Leighton's Storage, New Theater Prototypes, Tanya Leighton, Berlin, Lets Make a Magazine, Tomorrow Gallery, Toronto and Notes on American Performance, T293, Naples. The pair have participated in group exhibitions and performances at Team Gallery, New York, Tanya Leighton, Berlin, CEO Gallery, Malmö, the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam and the Kunsthalle Bern.
Calla Henkel, Max Pitegoff, VI VII, Oslo
http://vivii.no/Photography-and-Eating-Calla-Henkel-and-Max-Pitegoff