Für Barbara (Bis): Curated by Leo Koenig

In and beyond her gallery, Barbara advocated for women of all generations and in all positions in the arts. Her calm resolve and unruffled tenacity never overshadowed the self-determination of her artists, or eclipsed the autonomy of their work. With this exhibition, we celebrate a woman who subtly challenged the status quo by introducing ideas that would have been deemed revolutionary were they presented by any other person. The radical was an everyday occurrence with Barbara, because she presented it as fundamental. 

 

- Leo Koenig

Barbara Weiss was born in the town of Schwandorf, Germany in 1960. After studying philosophy and art history at the Freie Universität Berlin from 1980-84, she co-founded Galerie Wewerka Weiss in Berlin with Michael J. Wewerka in the late 1980s. In 1992, she opened Galerie Barbara Weiss on Berlin's Potsdamer Straße, which moved to Zimmerstraße at Checkpoint Charlie in 2001, and finally to Kohlfurter Str. 41/43 in 2011. Weiss was married to curator and former director of the Museum Ludwig in Cologne, Kasper Koenig. After suffering from a long illness, Weiss died in Berlin on 31 December 2016. Today, Galerie Barbara Weiss continues its ambitious and groundbreaking exhibition program, and to be a vital resource for artists, critics, collectors and curators.