‘Baukran aus Geld – The Destruction Cranes of Money’
– Developers use the construction crane of money to destroy our environment.
Dr Lily Furstenow of ARE (Artistic Research Encounters, Berlin) invited me to make a series of 24 A4 sized artworks to be displayed in the windows facing the street of the Volkssolidaritat Community Space, which is situated on the corner of 190 TorstraBe and TucholskystraBe. The Mitte district has been an ‘up and coming area’ of Berlin since the fall of the wall. But what does this process really mean, and what is really going on ?
One theme we discussed was how privately owned property developers were “stealing” publically owned land between building plots, in order to develop further “luxury” residential property and fashionable and expensive shops and restaurants, thus maximising their corporate profits.
In the developing world a parallel strategy to this is called “land grabbing”, often seen as Imperialist, unopposed through political corruption, where unchartered areas of nature are taken over by Global Corporations. For example an environmentally important rain forest is burnt and cleared for cattle meat rearing, then abandoned as barren when used up, thus doubly adding to the irreversible Global Environmental crisis of Climate change through CO2 and methane emission.
Here, in our local urban setting, land that is not registered correctly as in public or local council authority ownership is “stolen”, or purchased at a substantial discount from central government underfunded local authorities, build on, and then taken into private ownership as residential, often comparatively unaffordable housing space.
So, mini parks, public facilities, a place to meet, to sit and socialise for free, a place for children to play and enjoy the outside world, are taken away by stealth – never to be returned – thus adding to an urban social and mental health crisis. The total opposite of a successful social urban space, such as the Heinrich-Lassen Park or Wochenmarkt in Crellestraße in Schöneberg.
I made this work visiting friends during a 10 day Covid quarantine period in December 2021 in MansteinstraBe near Red Island, as a new coalition government was being formed in the shadow of a vaccination information-war induced pandemic healthcare crisis.
Coincidentally at the same time that this was happening my studio workspace in London (in an old industrial building in a factory area in the South of the City) had been sold to property developers, and the artists renting this space as part of a housing association scheme (Acme) were being moved out and the building being gutted under duress of a huge non-compliance legal fine.
Legislation – concerning the change of building use from industrial to residential – is currently being fought out at a local level in a zone that the London council of Lambeth have designated for local employment and working space (KIBA), but is being contested by private property developers.
So, the theme of a development battle goes on in London, Berlin and indeed around the world.
These pictures show a construction crane grabbing land everywhere. The holes in the metal structure of the crane are in the shapes of different signs for different currencies of money used in different countries – Pound Stirling. Euros, Yen, Dollar, Rouble, Rupee etc.
This is because the companies that grab land around the world are funded from international funds in international currencies, buying political influence and legal power. Slowly, slowly, it happens before our eyes. We must organise to stop it. But first, we must become aware that the destruction of all our environments is happening, it is what Kurt Tucholsky might have seen.
– Yair Meshoulam 2021.
Books (Tambar Press) : ‘Texture of Consciousness’ ; ‘Cosmos & Chaos’
Websites: www.textureofconsciousness.com ;
https://www.e-mergingartists.art/artist/yair-meshoulam/
Youtube Videos: ‘Yair, I am a Painter’; ‘Signs in Motion’ ; ‘Surface Explorers’ ;
‘House of Data’ ; ‘Ode to the South Circular’; ‘Algorithm of Signs’
Art Education
1986-88 Royal College of Art, MA (Painting)
1982-85 Oxford University, Scholarship, BFA Ruskin School of Drawing & Fine Art / St Edmund
Hall (Painting/Printmaking).
Exhibitions
2022 Group Show ‘The Art of Vinyl 001’ Artist Showcase East Place Studios ft Dj Silverlingdubs
at Brixton Art Club, Coldharbour Lane, London
2021 Group Show ‘Work Show 1’ ARE Begenungstatte Brunnenstr Berlin-Mitte Berlin Art Week
‘Portico Platform’ Group Show . ‘Signs of our Time’ Large Mobiles in Auditorium of
Portico Gallery/Performance Space, West Norwood London.
Lambeth Open Studios Acme Studios East Place West Norwood, London
2020 ‘Poetry Strands’ Text Street Installation Wonderland Wild West Norwood, Railway Road
West Norwood Station, corner Hannen Road/ A215 London.
‘Algorithm of Signs’ Online Project Berlin ARE Artistic Research Encounters
‘Algorithm of Signs’ Mobiles Solo Show The Book & Record Bar, West Norwood London.
2019 Solo Show & Book Launch ‘Cosmos & Chaos -Textures of Consciousness Volume 2′
Gallery GH36 36 GroBhamburgerStr. Mitte Berlin /Tambar Press.
Co curated by Dr. Lily Furstenow e-merging artists.
Open Studios Acme Studios East Place West Norwood, London
Artists Yard Sale, Roseberrys Auction House, West Norwood, London
‘Protest’ 3 Person Show with Christine Kuhn and Grant Simon Rogers, MansteinStr.
Schoenberg Berlin.
2018 ‘Ink, Paper & Print’ Fair, Winter Gardens, Margate.
Co-Curated Photographic Work Michael Sagel, Cafe Gallery MansteinStr., Berlin
2017 Group Show ‘Curious SE27’ Rosebery’s Auction House West Norwood, London
Two Person Show ‘Signs in Motion’ with Martin Grover The Book & Record Bar, West
Norwood, London.
Group Show ‘Surface Explorers’ at St Luke’s Church, West Norwood, London
all part of ‘Curious SE27’ Art Trail / Feast, West Norwood, London.
Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair, Brocket Gallery Woolwich London.
‘Talking Writing’ The Book & Record Bar, West Norwood, London.
Translation Work Videos LIS e.V. The Association – Help for People with Locked- in-
Syndrome & Documentary about Michael Sagel English Versions Catalina Films Berlin.
2016 ‘Digital Wasteland’ Video of ‘House of Data’ Shown at The Eiger Studios Gallery, Leeds
curated by Sid Jim https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jw97LzwwFxA
Open Studios Acme Studios East Place West Norwood, London
Berlin Group Show ‘Flag/ Flaggen’ Weekend Gallery 35th Anniversary Show in
memory of Jacques Naum, ECC European Creative City Kunsthalle WeiBensee,
curated by Hanna Mauermann.
2015 Co-Curating ‘Hand und Schrift / Hand and Written – Christine Kuhn 1953-2011’ Galerie Luckstrasse, Berlin Group Show ’40 x 40′ GX Gallery Camberwell.
Group Show ‘A Letter in Mind’ Neurology Appeal, Oxo Tower Gallery,
Southbank, London.
Solo Show with Book Launch ‘Textures of Consciousness’ (Tambar Press), The
Record & Book Bar, West Norwood, London.
Two person Show with Martin Grover ‘Vinyl Cities & other stories’, The Record
& Book Bar, West Norwood, London.
Solo Show at The Indigo Tree, Streatham, part of A23 Arts Festival.
Group Show, Gallery 442, Streatham, part of A23 Arts Festival.
2014 Solo Show ‘The Texture of Consciousness’ The Weekend Gallery, Charlottenburg, Berlin.
Open Studios, Acme Studios Carlew House, West Norwood, London.
Co-Curating ‘Installations in Changing Times: Christine Kuhn 1953-2011’ Kessellhaus
Museum Queen Elizabeth Hospital Hertzberge, Lichtenberg, Berlin.
Group Show ‘Curious Exchange’ Dulwich Baths, London.
Co-Curating ‘Photographs of Installations by Christine Kuhn 1953-2011’ The Weekend
Gallery, Charlottenburg, Berlin.
Two person Show with Marin Grover. Xmas Show at The Record & Book Bar,
West Norwood, London.
Group Show, St Edmund Hall, Oxford.
2013 Art Trail Brixton Market ‘Collectables 5th Avenue’
2012 Two Person Show ‘Arab Spring’ with Jad Salman (Paris/Palestine) at The
Weekend Gallery, Charlottenburg, Berlin.
‘Curious’ Art Trail West Norwood Cemetery, London. ‘Spirit Bird Boxes’
‘Curious’ Works on Paper Group Show, portico Gallery, West Norwood, London.
Co-Curating ‘Christine Kuhn 1953-2011 Memorial Show at The Weekend
Gallery, Charlottenburg, Berlin.
Open Studio, Acme Studios, Carlew House, West Norwood, London.
‘Wallpapered Furniture’, West Norwood ‘Feast Festival’, & DoopoDoopo Forest Hill.
Songwriting Workshop ‘Now I gotta reason’ with Pete Astor, Jerwood Space, Union Street, London SE1.
Group Show, Portico Gallery, West Norwood, London
2011 Group Show, St Edmund Hall, Oxford University.
Dulwich Open Studios, Acme Studios, Carlew House, West Norwood, London.
2010 ‘Late at Tate’ Tate Britain ‘Shards of Utopia’ Lecture/Performance/Music with
Steven Levon (Ounanian) Curated Cecelia Wee.
Performance-Music with Steven Levon. Barbican Gallery during Ron Arad Show.
Performance-Music with Steven Levon. Stoke Newington International Airport.
Performance-Music with Steven Levon LondonNewcastle Neville Brody Space
Redchurch Street, London. Curated Cecelia Wee.
Performance-Music ‘The Incredible Trip to the Holy Mountain’ Curated by Arts Admin
Toynbee Hall, Whitechapel, London.
Group Show, Elm Green School, West Norwood, London.
2009 Group Show Lambeth Open
Video Web project ‘Bureau de Change’ Bank of Hope http://www.stevenlevon.com/?cat=16
2008 Two person Show ‘Wall Street’ Installation & Performance, Shunt, London.
Urban Arts, Brixton, London
2007 Open Studio ASC 246 Stockwell Road Brixton London
2006 Group Show ‘Technology of Enchantment’ Gallery CVA @ Menier London
2005 Group Show 198 Gallery Brixton London
Group Show IJAYA Ben Uri Gallery @ Tram Studios Camden Town London
Open Studio ASC 246 Stockwell Road Brixton London
2004 Open Studio ASC 246 Stockwell Road Brixton London
Group Show, 198 Gallery, Brixton, London
2003 Selected Group ‘Director’s Choice’ – Work to be purchased by the Ben Uri Collection, Ben Uri Gallery, London
2003 Selected Group Show, Limmud, Conference, Bromley College, Kent
2002 Selected Group Show, 291 Gallery Hackney, London
Selected Group Show, Ben Uri, Jewish Artist of the Year, Angel, London
2001 Selected Group Show, ‘Secret’, RCA, London Bowieart.com/Time Out
2000 Selected Group Show, ‘Contemporary Ceremonial Art’, Succah, Jewish
Museum, Camden Town, London
1999 Selected Group Show, ‘Jewish Magic and Mysticism’, Jewish Museum,
Camden Town, London
House Show, Brixton, London
1998 Solo Show ‘Androids, Robots and Golems’ Trevelyan College, Durham
University
Solo Show Works on Paper 1988-1998 Ozten Zeki Gallery, Brompton Cross,
London
Group Show Ozten Zeki Gallery, Brompton Cross, London
Open Studio Show, Parade Mews Studios, Tulse Hill, London
1997 Solo Show ‘Robots’, Ozten Zeki Gallery, Brompton Cross, London.
Group Show, Ozten Zeki Gallery, Brompton Cross, London.
Group Show, Connoisseur Gallery, Marylebone, London
1996 Two Person Show, Städtischen Galerie Haus Seel, Public Art Gallery, Siegen,
Germany
Whitechapel Open Studios, Childers Street Open, New Cross, London
Group Show, Fitch’s Ark, Little Venice, London
Group Show, ‘Beyond England’ -Internationally Exhibited Art RCA
Graduates, Hockney Gallery, London.
Group Show, Art Connoisseur Gallery, Marylebone, London.
1995 Two Person Show, Curated by Julia Weiner, Boston Consultancy, Mayfair,
London
Single Stall, Alternative Art Market, Alternative Arts, Spitalfields Market,
London
Ben Uri Open, Ben Uri Gallery, Dean Street, Soho, London
Two Person Show, ‘As Above, So Below ‘, Ben Uri Gallery, Soho, London
Group Show, House of William Blake, South Molton St., London
Group Show, Atrium Gallery, Whiteley’s, Queensway, London
1994 Berlin/London Exchange Group Show, British Council, Bahnhof Westend,
Berlin
Ben Uri Open, Ben Uri Gallery, Dean Street, Soho, London
Group Show, Atrium Gallery, London
1993 Whitechapel Open Studios, ‘Diagrams of Splendour’, Childers Street, London
Ben Uri Open, Ben Uri Gallery, Dean Street, London
Group Show, Slaughterhouse Gallery, Smithfields, London
Group Show, Smith’s Gallery, Covent Garden, London
Group Show, Hyde Park Gallery, London
Group Show, The Gallery, Mayfair, London
1992 Selected for Whitechapel Open, Whitechapel Gallery, London
Group Show, ‘London Connection’, Kassel (during Documenta) Germany
Group Show, ‘Bloom’, European Outposts, Spitalfields, London
Two Person Show, Gallery 47, Bloomsbury, London
Whitechapel Open Studios, Tower Bridge Studios, London
1991 Two Person Show, Ozten Zeki Gallery, Brompton Cross, London
Three Person Show, Gallery Dagmar, Dulwich, London
Group Show, ‘Utopias’, Gallery Dagmar, Dulwich, London Gallery, London
Group Show ‘Pictures on the Railings’, Dagmar/ Dulwich Picture Gallery,
London
Group Show ‘East Meets West’, Smith’s Gallery, Covent Garden, London
1990 Portobello Open, Tabernacle Gallery, Portobello Road
1989 Selected for Whitechapel Open, Whitechapel Gallery, London
Three Person Show, Gallery Dagmar, Dulwich, London
1988 Degree Show, Painting Department, Royal College of Art, London
Awards 1982-1985 Scholarship, St. Edmund Hall/Ruskin School of Drawing & Fine Art,
Oxford University.
Collections Sure Start, Lambeth Education London; Oxfordshire Health Authority, John Radcliffe Hospital; St. Edmund Hall, Oxford University; Simmonds; Whitton;
Workshops Rosendale Primary School, South London. Artweek 2001
Teaching Winchester School of Art, Foundation Course, Visiting Lecturer.
Winchester School of Art, Art History Course, Visiting Lecturer.
Summer School Norwich, Wiltshire, Cambridge.
Day job www.wallpaperhangers.org.uk
Publications/Reviews
2021 Georgia Today Review of ‘Work Show 1 ‘ Berlin Art Week
2019 ‘Cosmos & Chaos – Textures of Consciousness Volume 2 by Yair Meshoulam
and Friends’ Tambar Press ISBN 978-1-910133-17-0
2017 ‘Talking Writing’ Collection Blundell/Seshadri/Potts/McGlasshan/Haney BRB WN
‘Ode to the South Circular’ Dymo intervention.
2015 ‘Textures of Consciousness by Yair Meshoulam & Friends’ Tambar Press
ISBN 978-1-910133-05-7
2000 Succah Panels–Jewish Ceremonial Art, Jewish Museum ISBN 0953312910
1999 Contributor, ‘Fold, Newspaper of the Unconscious ISSN 1466-4089
1998 Catalogue Solo Durham Show, ‘Androids, Robots & Golems’,
Meshoulam/Reid/Weiner, ISBN 0953312909
1997 Jewish Chronicle, ‘Making their mark, up and coming Jewish Artists’, Julia
Weiner
1996 Siegen Zietung Newspaper; Westfalen Rundschau; Westfalen Post; Reviews of
Seigen Show, Germany
1995 Catalogue Ben Uri Gallery ‘As Above, so Below’ – Images inspired by the
Kabbalah
GLR Radio Interview. Jewish London item on Kabbalah, discussion & review of
Ben Uri Show
Ham & High Newspaper Review of Ben Uri Show, ‘Magic and Morality’, Linda
Talbot
1994 Catalogue British Council Show in Berlin, ‘Arrival’.
Der Tagespiegel, Berlin Newspaper Review, Katrin Bettina Muller
1993 Catalogue Childers Street Show, ‘Diagrams of Splendour, Paintings from the
Zohar’.
1992 Guardian Newspaper Whitechapel Open Review, Whitechapel Gallery, ‘Under Eastern
Eyes’ Tim Hilton
New Statesman. Whitechapel Open Studios Review, David Langsam
Catalogue Gallery 47 Show, ‘Little Flowers of St Francis’.
Catalogue Ozten Zeki Gallery, ‘Biblical Paintings’.