Day 23: Zooropa

Caught a train out the Zoo Station, took in a few of the sights and went to a couple of independant galleries we'd shortlisted for visits. A bittersweet suprise was the first gallery which was meant to have a new exhibition but was still bumping out an exhibition by one of my favourite sound artists, Rolf Julius. Since we couldn't get into the gallery, it was painful to see all of Julius' sound pieces (loudspeakers, bowls, pigments, etc.) cluttered together in he front room with us on the street seperated by a pane of glass. Like having your heart broken, really.

After we'd been offered a lamp and a bicycle by a strange man on the street we were spontaneously invited to an exhibition by a street artist going by the alias of El Bocho. The exhibition that night was very good, three artists taking urban style painting and transposing them to a more fine art context. El Bocho's work was really impressive - large scale canvases of girls faces with strong lines and a few intense colours. This was also a high profile gallery with stiff suits and flashy ponytails...it quite a spectacle to see psuedo-street art sell for upwards of 30K Euros.

Following a couple of wines we headed back into Mitte and found some bars. It's the first time I've had the pleasure of a Red Russian, it may be the last. Later on we observed the phenomena which is legalised prostitution/hustling from the comfort of a boho cocktail bar. Imagine doppelganging Russian Dolls, white leather, peroxide with bumbags and you get to picture.