Curated by Yara Sonseca Mas 
Duration 14.9.25 – 1.2.26

The biographical forms on which Erik Schmidt has been working since the late 1990s unfold in this comprehensive overview, bringing together works from nearly three decades. The self-ironic title, borrowed from David Bowie, points to Schmidt’s playful yet probing approach to the construction of identity and to the tensions between reality and subjectivity, social boundaries and private aspirations, political hierarchies and personal freedom.

Across five porous thematic chapters, drawing, video, performance, photography, collage, and painting are intertwined, presenting Schmidt’s layered aesthetic universe. Entering from the lift, a gallery of portraits introduces the theme of biographical crisis. Schmidt’s fascination with erratic identities – as motifs and dis- torting mirrors of the self – emerges in bodies and faces, banal actions, and pre- cise postures that crowd together in various formats. The confrontation with other- ness and ironic distance towards one’s own self-image, characteristic of Schmidt’s practice, is depicted in the film The Bottom Line (19), projected alongside his portraits.

In the next room, Schmidt appears in the role of an outsider and traveller, attempt- ing to engage with foreign landscapes and alternatives to urban reality. This escapism becomes a pretext for analysing the conflicts – political, sensual, aesthetic, and moral – beneath the surface of stereotyped territories of desire. His series of Palm Bombs (25, 26), Hunting Grounds (27 – 30), the slideshow Autostop (33), and the film Fine (24) are presented here.

The subsequent group of works explores business-related clichés in relation to masculinity within capitalist systems, queerness, and power structures. Sexual imaginaries permeate and overlay these representations, generating an aestheti- cally magnetic and conceptually subversive tension. In his film Suitwatcher’s Anonymous (38) and related works, the artist assumes the role of businessman, both perpetrator and victim of the system. The series of paintings Occupy (40 – 42) and his film Cut/Uncut (34) are also shown in this part of the exhibition.

The fourth chapter brings visitors back to the beginnings of Schmidt’s artistic practice. Having just arrived in Berlin in the late 1990s, the artist staged himself experimenting with friends, observing the city, and testing identities. Early drawings, magazines, photographs, and memorabilia evoke this formative moment and the emergence of his first doppelgangers. Together with archival materials, early videos such as I Love My Hair (67), Parking (73), the nine-part work Chat (78), and Berlin landscapes are presented here.
As a coda or final chapter, Schmidt’s newly produced video Rough Trade (80) revisits motifs and characters from earlier works in present-day Berlin. The restless dynamism of the film recalls social media platforms where visual information streams continuously, mirroring reality while generating a parallel visual world.
As part of Berlin Art Week 2025.

Yara Sonseca Mas

The accompanying exhibition catalogue "The Rise and Fall of Erik Schmidt" is published by DISTANZ Verlag with texts by Kathrin Becker, Louisa Elderton, Krist Gruijthuijsen, and Yara Sonseca Mas, supported by the Leinemann-Stiftung für Bildung und Kunst (Leinemann Foundation for Education and Art).

The exhibition was developed by the KINDL – Centre for Contemporary Art, Berlin, and travelled to EACC Castelló in 2026.
The exhibition was supported by the Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion.
The video work "Rough Trade" was produced by Fluentum and premiered at the exhibition.

Curated by Yara Sonseca Mas 
Duration 27.02.26 – 24.05.26

Berlin-based artist Erik Schmidt presents the Rise and Fall of Erik Schmidt at the EACC, curated by Yara Sonseca, combining different artistic disciplines that the German artist has been working with since the beginning of his career. Alongside his well-known artistic practice as a painter, Schmidt explores drawing, video, performance, photography, and collage to compose his intricate personal universe.

The biographical forms Erik Schmidt has been working on since the late 1990s are on display in this comprehensive retrospective, which brings together works from nearly three decades. The title, taken from David Bowie, points to Schmidt’s playful yet profound approach to the construction of identity and the tensions between reality and subjectivity, social boundaries and private aspirations, political hierarchies and personal freedom. Produced by KINDL, Berlin, in collaboration with EACC, Castellón, the exhibition presents Erik Schmidt’s aesthetic universe in porous thematic groupings that intertwine drawing, video, performance, photography, collage, and painting.

A gallery of portraits introduces the theme of biographical crisis. The author’s fascination with erratic identities, as distorted motifs and mirrors of the self, emerges in bodies and faces, banal actions, and precise postures that crowd together in various formats. The confrontation with otherness and the ironic distance from one’s own image, characteristic of Schmidt’s practice, are also reflected in the film The Bottom Line (2018), screened alongside these portraits.

Another group of works presents the artist in the role of a traveler attempting to connect with foreign landscapes and alternative forms of urban reality. This escapism becomes an excuse to analyze the tension—political, sensual, aesthetic, moral—that lies beneath the surface of the stereotypical territories of desire. Here we see his series Palm Bombs (2022–2023), Hunting Grounds (2005–2008), the slide show Autostop (2009), and the film Fine (2019).

Stereotypical images of the business world and its relationship to masculine clichés within capitalist systems, in the realm of homosexuality and power structures, extend throughout the exhibition, sometimes more explicitly, sometimes subtly hidden. Sexual imaginaries permeate and overlap these representations, generating an aesthetically magnetic and conceptually subversive tension. In his film Suitwatcher’s Anonymous (2003) and other related works, the artist assumes the role of a kind of businessman, perpetrator, and victim of the system. The series of paintings Post Occupy (2013) and his film Cut/Uncut (2016) also relate to these notions.

With the aim of offering an insight into the beginnings of Schmidt’s artistic practice, another group of works focuses on the artist’s arrival in Berlin in the late 1990s: his artistic experiments in groups, his approach to the city, and his play with identity. Early drawings, magazines, photographs, and souvenirs evoke this formative moment and the appearance of his first «doppelgängers». Along with archival materials, videos such as I Love My Hair (1997), Parking (2001), the nine-part work Chat (2000), and pictorial views of Berlin are presented here.

This exhibition marks the first time in Spain that the video Rough Trade (2025), produced specifically for the occasion, is being shown. This audiovisual piece revisits motifs and characters from previous works in present-day Berlin and opens up a new line of aesthetic research in the author’s audiovisual work. The film’s restless dynamism is reminiscent of social media platforms, where visual information flows continuously, reflecting reality while generating a parallel visual world.

Yara Sonseca Mas