The worlds of fashion and art grow ever-more intertwined with the arrival of Berlin’s newest gallery: 032c. It is launched by the Berlin-based media and fashion brand of the name, which was founded in 2001 by Joerg Koch as a contemporary culture magazine with a punk sensibility, and has since evolved into a ready-to-wear label.
While fashion brands like Prada and Louis Vuitton have long-engaged with contemporary art via exhibitions, institution building and collecting, few have made such explicit moves into the world of art dealing. “The crossover between fashion and art is inevitable,” says Claire Koron Elat, who is the co-artistic director of the gallery with Shelly Reich. “This gallery is part of the larger conversation on how art, fashion and commerce intersect today. We’re focused on presenting these collaborations in a thoughtful, organic way,” Reich says. The new space is a natural extension of 032c’s established legacy of organising exhibitions, Koron Elat adds.
032c Gallery aims to maintain close ties with the magazine’s wider activities. “The magazine is the original output of 032c, and from there it branches into ready-to-wear, and now the gallery,” Reich adds. “We’re not just replicating what we’ve done with the magazine, we’re evolving.”
The gallery is located on Kantstrasse in Charlottenburg, west Berlin, where 032c runs an exhibition space. It will operate within the traditional art market model, staging exhibitions throughout the year and offering works for sale. While it will adhere to the standard 50/50 artist-dealer split of the proceeds, the “financial model is shaped by being part of both a magazine and fashion brand”, Koron Elat says, and will remain flexible based on an artist’s circumstances and existing gallery representation. 032c won’t represent artists “immediately”, as “for the first half of the year, we’re still building the gallery, and we want to see how things evolve in relation to the magazine”, Reich says.
The gallery’s inaugural show, Productive Narcissism (13 September-8 October), features the artists Jon Rafman, Hugo Comte, Ser Serpas, Sissel Tolaas, Amalia Ulman, Lukas Heerich, Ana Viktoria Dzinic, Jordan Derrien, and Cezary Poniatowski. The exhibition will touch upon some of the “darker psychological aspects of fashion and its influence on self-perception”, according to a release.
“We’re building long-term relationships with the artists,” says Reich. “Hugo Comte shot one of our covers and is now debuting his sculptures.” Known for fashion photography, Comte embodies the gallery’s curatorial vision of blending art and fashion. “The gallery lets us deepen these connections and showcase artists in a more immersive way,” she adds.
For its launch, 032c has partnered with the London’s commercial gallery Gathering, but this won’t necessarily be the norm for future shows. “Collaborations will happen organically, based on curatorial alignment and shared artistic interests,” Reich says. Koron Elat emphasises that any future partnerships will be grounded in shared values rather than market-driven decisions.
