Dmitri Prigov's Newspaper Drawing 'The Bridge' Exhibited at Berlin's Kollwitz Memorial Gallery

Dmitri Prigov's drawing 'The Bridge' is on view at Gallery Foto/Graphik Kaethe Kollwitz in Berlin until 8 June 1999. The Moscow conceptual artist created the work on the front page of the newspaper Moskovskii Komsomolets, drawing a large black blot in ballpen while leaving the letters BRDG blank and inserting the vowels i and e in red paint. The installation site was conceived by artist Pat Binder as a public display case commemorating the former home of German expressionist Kaethe Kollwitz at Kollwitzstrasse 58. Located in Berlin's Prenzlauer Berg district, the area has transformed from East Germany's center of unofficial culture to a touristy neighborhood with turn-of-the-century buildings. The drawing belongs to Prigov's 'newspaper drawings' genre and invites multiple interpretations. In the accompanying catalogue 'Pulsating Black,' Binder suggests the letters could be read as BRD (Federal Republic of Germany) or GDR (German Democratic Republic), referencing Berlin's geopolitical position between East and West. The work may also connect to Kollwitzplatz's function as a bridge for Western tourists to East Berlin. During the exhibition opening, Prigov performed by chanting the opening stanza of Alexander Pushkin's 'Evgenii Onegin.' The review questions whether the Kollwitzplatz location is appropriate for work that aims to lead viewers toward 'complete mindlessness' through meditation on possible meanings.