Soy Capitán: The Power of Repetition

Soy Capitán is showcasing in a kindred way a homage to another iconic artist of the past, Francis Bacon, celebrated in this case through repetition. Iranian artist Shahin Afrassiabi, at his seventh exhibition with the gallery, worked on FRANCIS between 2023 and 2025.

The exhibition consists of 70 paintings and three sculptures and all of them are a variation of a single photograph of the artist, taken by Francis Goodman in 1971. The fragmentation and the reiteration of the image becomes a way to reason on possibilities and perspectives. Bacon himself leaves centre stage to become a medium: the conversation shifts from a renowned painter to the topic of painting itself.

“At some point Bacon the artist becomes everyman… a vehicle of infinite permutations of expression”, said Afrassiabi, connecting the artist to the man, and bringing him back to reality. From one intuition to the next, art is always there for us, to question, reason, dissect and re-imagine. It also teaches us that from a single frame, an exhibition can be conceived.

Fotografiska: The Importance of Memory

Fotografiska is currently showcasing three powerful exhibitions, focused on the fundamental role of memory and its impact on creativity. Inspiration comes from memory itself and it even gives the title to the solo show by James Nachtwey, Memoria.

One of the most influential photojournalists of our times, Nachtwey spent his life documenting war zones, injustice and the fragility of being human. The exhibition presents numerous pictures taken by the artist during various conflicts of the recent past, realized with a unique kindness and empathy.

“We should stop calling him a ‘war photographer’. Instead, look upon him as a man of peace, a man whose longing for peace makes him go to war and expose himself,” commented Wim Wenders, highlighting the essential spirit of Nachtwey’s work. Shifting the focus on the human consequences of war and on critical social issues, the artist reminds us of the importance of memory and of our consciousness. His practice inspires us to see our times with attentive eyes, and teaches us how impactful empathy can be.

Inspiration comes from a different memory, in this case from a lost and reconstructed one, in the poignant exhibition Father by Diana Markosian.

The show is an incredibly intimate and touching journey in the life of the artist, in her quest to reconnect with her father. Markosian was born in Russia, and moved to the United States with her mother and her brother a couple of years after her parents’ divorce. The absence of her father becomes definitive with this departure, and continues in his physical removal from family pictures. As a young adult, the artist embarked on a journey to find him, trying to connect the missing pieces of her story, only to discover her father had reported them missing many years before and was looking for them as well.

The exhibition collects this painful journey of a scattered family, trying to recreate a connection. It reasons on family ties, on the complexity of relationships, always showing empathy for all the people involved and leaving space for understanding. By sharing her family history and her personal journey, she inspires us to think about our own fragmented relationships, of our complicated family dynamics, providing us with a newly found tenderness and consciousness.

For their format Emerging Berlin, Fotografiska is presenting another compelling series, Life Sentence by Nikita Teryoshin.

The focus of the exhibition is the cruelty behind the historical foundation and the contemporary conservation of zoos. They are portrayed as the factual prisons for animals that they are, without any filters, showing us how disturbing and painful human behavior can be towards both its own and other species.

Animals have always been a source of inspiration for humanity and powerful metaphors to describe ourselves. Yet, there should be a limit and a deeper consciousness in the way we treat and interact with them, and with the world in general. This apparently simple documentation thus becomes a way to discuss our dark side, and to stimulate us to face our wrongs.

Galerie Molitor: Unexpected Associations

Using as a starting point our connection to the animal world is also the exhibition You can count on me by Anna Jermolaewa at Galerie Molitor. Animals and their infinite possible representations soon become a powerful means to reason on humanity’s absurd behaviors and inconsistencies.

You can count on me takes its title from a video work done by the artist around twenty years ago, featuring her daughter’s stuffed toy repeating that sentence in a hypnotic and perplexing piece. So many associations come with it – to childhood, conformity, violence, gesture – and it certainly paves the way for the exhibition’s complex variety. She discusses our disturbing relationship with the world again with her Smart Gifts series. Here, pandas gifted from China to Germany or a wooden eagle with a spying device in it become a way to talk about politics, and to discuss its past and current state in our society.

With her recent series LAST SEEN SINCE she highlights the amount of species that became extinct in the span of her lifetime. Everything becomes a means for reflection, and everything sums up to our twisted presence in the world. All is a metaphor, all is ambivalent, but she also provides brilliant cues on how to deal with ourselves, while always finding numerous sources of inspiration everywhere she looks.

Sammlung Scharf-Gerstenberg: Connecting to Places

Inspiration can also come from places, in this case from physical spaces like islands. Possibilities of an Island. Thinking in Images from Gerstenberg to Scharf is a stunning presentation of the collection of Dieter, Hilda and their daughter Julietta Scharf, who entrusted the foundation with its display since 2008.

The family focused their collection on Surrealism, analyzed from its beginning to contemporary times. Islands are seen as both a physical and a metaphorical source of inspiration, as an archipelago of inputs and creativity. The collection also spans decades and includes iconic artists of the past, from Goya, Piranesi and Redon to Shiele, Höch and Renoir, up to its more contemporary expressions. The title is in fact lent by a sculpture done by contemporary Swiss artist Kavata Mbiti. They all show us in many different ways how islands can be places of both danger and salvation, a return home and a sweet escape, but most of all a space for fantasy and retreat.

ChertLüdde: Above and Beyond

Space is certainly another source of inspiration, like in the exhibition After Totality by Monia Ben Hamouda. Influenced by astronomy, the Tunisian-Italian artist refers to the "path of totality" phenomenon, which denotes the area of the earth where a total eclipse is fully visible. It becomes a powerful metaphor for the current state of our world, marked by wars, climate crisis and the resurgence of fascist and racist ideologies.

After Totality thus represents a hopeful yet fragile threshold, highlighting the cyclical return of light after darkness. The exhibition presents ruin-like structures, fragrances and paintings, weaving together Islamic and Western cultural lineages, which are also part of the artist’s personal background. It is a chance to reflect on the political situation of our times, on the necessity of confrontation between different perspectives, inspiring us to be united and hopeful once again.

At the same time, ChertLüdde is presenting The Long Pond by Rodrigo Hernández. His latest installation unfolds in an intimate moment of reflection and desire. Drawing from the dream world, where all borders dissolve, Hernández projects us a space in between sleep and alertness, to contemplate our longings.

There, the artist allows us to be a part of his personal life, while making us reflect on our own. Two head sculptures mirror and look at one another, suggesting an affectionate moment between lovers. Other fragments appear around them, telling us about the couple’s times both together and apart. With this minimal yet incredibly intimate installation, the artist stimulates us to reason on our own dreams and relationships, on our need for connection, and inspires us by moving us, and by taking us into a liminal space where everything can be possible.

An incredible Italian artist of the past, Fabio Mauri, once said “The art is the artist. The painter is the narrator of his own self”. Everyone can find their muses in the most unexpected ways and places, and these exhibitions are here to help us out. Whether it be in an artist we look up to, in our daily lives, in our relationship with who and what surrounds us, art is always there to provide us with infinite sources of inspiration. Art and life are so intertwined, it is always so charming to see how they interpret and influence one another, often before we realize it. Don’t miss the chance to see these thought-provoking exhibitions, and see where this journey takes you.