© dpa
Weekend Tips: What to Do This Weekend in Berlin
May 1 to 3, 2026: Events, festivals, exhibitions and more things to do for your perfect weekend in Berlin. more
The Power of Abstract Figuration
Date details
- Date Sunday, 03/May/2026 11:00 bis 12:00
- Venue Neue Nationalgalerie
- Address Potsdamer Straße 50, 10785 Berlin-Tiergarten
Public transportation
-
Train (S-Bahn)
-
S+U Potsdamer Platz Bhf
- S1
- S2
- S25
- S26
-
S+U Potsdamer Platz Bhf
-
Underground
-
Bus
-
Potsdamer Brücke
- M29
- M48
- M85
- N1
- N2
-
Kulturforum
- M48
- M85
- N2
-
Philharmonie
- 200
-
Philharmonie Süd
- M41
- 300
-
Gedenkstätte Dt. Widerstand
- M29
-
Lützowstr./Potsdamer Str.
- M48
- M85
- N1
- N2
-
Tiergartenstr.
- 200
-
Varian-Fry-Str./Potsdamer Platz
- 200
- M41
- M48
- M85
- N2
- 300
-
U Mendelssohn-Bartholdy-Park
- M29
- N1
-
S+U Potsdamer Platz Bhf
- M41
- 200
- M48
- M85
- N2
- 300
-
S Potsdamer Platz Bhf/Voßstr.
- M41
- M48
- M85
-
Hiroshimasteg
- M29
-
Potsdamer Brücke
-
Train
-
S+U Potsdamer Platz Bhf
- RE3
- RE5
- RE4
- RE85
- FEX
- RB10
- RE8
- RE20
-
S+U Potsdamer Platz Bhf
The Power of Abstract Figuration
An Artist Talk with Katherine Bradford
The Power of Abstract Figuration: An Artist Talk with Katherine Bradford
In conversation with Chloe Stead
11:00 am
In her mysterious figurative compositions and luminous swaths of color, Katherine Bradford skillfully combines the traditions of abstraction and color field painting with contemporary questions of identity and gender. By placing her abstract, often androgynous figures in dreamlike and otherworldly settings, she dives into the depths, as she says, of “who we are, how we fit in, how we look and interact with one another.” Join Bradford and frieze Associate Editor Chloe Stead for a conversation about the artist’s long-standing interest in the tensions between intimacy, isolation, empathy, and dependency and her exhibition “ALLTAG” at Haverkampf Leistenschneider, where a new suite of paintings explores the contrasting states of weightlessness and being bound by gravity.
In bright color-field paintings, Katherine Bradford (b. 1942, New York) often depicts motifs including floating figures, swimmers, flying supermen and -women, couples, and suited men surrounded by planets, houses, and beaches. These figures often seem vulnerable, awkward, and exposed, with Bradford’s paintings drawing their atmospheric, metaphorical power from a playful engagement with emotion and humor. Bradford had solo institutional exhibitions at Kunsthalle Emden, Germany; Halle für Kunst Steiermark, Austria; Frye Art Museum, Seattle; Portland Museum of Art, Portland, OR; and The Modern Museum of Fort Worth, TX, among others. Her work is held in public collections including those of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY; Brooklyn Museum, NY; Hirschhorn Museum, Washington D.C.; Musee D’Art Moderne de Paris; Baltimore Museum, MD; and Kunsthalle Emden, Germany.
Chloe Stead is an art critic, writer and editor based in Berlin. As Associate Editor at frieze, she commissions and oversees digital content. Her freelance writing on art and culture has appeared in publications including The Financial Times, Spike Art Quarterly, Artnet, AnOther Magazine, and Monocle. She is also a regular contributor to artist monographs and has participated in or moderated talks at Damien & the Love Guru, Brussels; Vienna Contemporary; Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin; Kunstverein Harburger Bahnhof; and Migros Museum, Zurich, among others.
In conversation with Chloe Stead
11:00 am
In her mysterious figurative compositions and luminous swaths of color, Katherine Bradford skillfully combines the traditions of abstraction and color field painting with contemporary questions of identity and gender. By placing her abstract, often androgynous figures in dreamlike and otherworldly settings, she dives into the depths, as she says, of “who we are, how we fit in, how we look and interact with one another.” Join Bradford and frieze Associate Editor Chloe Stead for a conversation about the artist’s long-standing interest in the tensions between intimacy, isolation, empathy, and dependency and her exhibition “ALLTAG” at Haverkampf Leistenschneider, where a new suite of paintings explores the contrasting states of weightlessness and being bound by gravity.
In bright color-field paintings, Katherine Bradford (b. 1942, New York) often depicts motifs including floating figures, swimmers, flying supermen and -women, couples, and suited men surrounded by planets, houses, and beaches. These figures often seem vulnerable, awkward, and exposed, with Bradford’s paintings drawing their atmospheric, metaphorical power from a playful engagement with emotion and humor. Bradford had solo institutional exhibitions at Kunsthalle Emden, Germany; Halle für Kunst Steiermark, Austria; Frye Art Museum, Seattle; Portland Museum of Art, Portland, OR; and The Modern Museum of Fort Worth, TX, among others. Her work is held in public collections including those of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY; Brooklyn Museum, NY; Hirschhorn Museum, Washington D.C.; Musee D’Art Moderne de Paris; Baltimore Museum, MD; and Kunsthalle Emden, Germany.
Chloe Stead is an art critic, writer and editor based in Berlin. As Associate Editor at frieze, she commissions and oversees digital content. Her freelance writing on art and culture has appeared in publications including The Financial Times, Spike Art Quarterly, Artnet, AnOther Magazine, and Monocle. She is also a regular contributor to artist monographs and has participated in or moderated talks at Damien & the Love Guru, Brussels; Vienna Contemporary; Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin; Kunstverein Harburger Bahnhof; and Migros Museum, Zurich, among others.
Price info: plus admission
Alternative events
© Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Museum Europäischer Kulturen / Ute Franz-Scarcigalia; CC NC-BY-SA
The Giant Mechanical Nativity Scene from the Ore Mountains
One highlight in the permanent exhibition at the Museum of European Cultures is the mechanical 'Weihnachtsberg', a giant nativity scene set in a hillside town that originates from the Erzgebirge, near the border of Germany and the Czech Republic, in the... moreabout: The Giant Mechanical Nativity Scene from the Ore Mountains
© Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Museumfür Vor- und Frühgeschichte / Juliane Eirich
Back! Stone Age. Bronze Age. Iron Age
On the upper floor, the 'Museum of Prehistory and Early History' takes visitors on a tour through the oldest eras of human history. With its unique collections on the prehistory and ancient history of Europe and near-lying regions of Asia, the museum... moreabout: Back! Stone Age. Bronze Age. Iron Age
© Römisch-Germanisches Museum/Rheinisches Bildarchiv Köln
The Crown of Kerch
Gold jewellery from the migration period found near the Black Sea, silver brooches and magnificent belts from early medieval graves in France, Italy, Spain, and Germany: selections from the collection of Johannes von Diergardt will be on view again in... moreabout: The Crown of Kerch
© Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Kunstgewerbemuseum / Fotostudio Bartsch, Berlin
The Worlds of Rococo
The eighteenth century was the century of porcelain. Princes, aristocrats and the well-to-do bourgeoisie were absolutely addicted to this “white gold”. People would even speak of the maladie de porcelain. Those who couldn’t afford genuine porcelain turned... moreabout: The Worlds of Rococo
© dpa
The Second Glance: All Forms of Love
A cooperation of Berlin's Gay Museum and the Bode Museum, "All Forms of Love" casts a second look on works in the Bode collection that deal with the diversity of sexual identities and LGBTIQ life in art from previous eras. moreabout: The Second Glance: All Forms of Love
The help page for the event calendar answers common questions.. Information about coperations and imprint can be found on our page about partners and terms and conditions.