Kassel, the city of about 200,000 roughly at the center of Germany that plays host to Documenta every five years, is overrun with art tourists right now. Dealers, artists, critics, and curators (probably the largest contingent) throng the streets and the tram. They seek wifi, schnitzel, beer, and art. They are all looking for the Neue Neue Galerie, which is not to be confused with the Neue Galerie. There is too much to see and too little time. Best to keep moving. Documenta can be done in two days, really requires at least three, and can probably only be seen in full if you live in the area and can spend a few weekends wandering from place to place and savoring its many videos in full. Below, a look around the show.
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Beau Dick at Documenta-Halle.
A very fine suite of Stanley Whitneys in Documenta-Halle.
In Athens, Miriam Cahn showed mostly black-and-white charcoal works. In Kasel, at Documenta-Halle, she presents paintings in blazing color.
An installation view of Documenta-Halle.
Guillermo Galindo's Fluchtzieleuropahavarieschallkörper, 2017, made with "remains of fiberglass and wooden boats, lifebelt and paddle from Lesbos (Greece), goatskin, metal tubes, elastic band, scrap metal, harpsichord strings, piano strings, and metal," at Documenta-Halle.
Yannis Tsarouchis at Museum für Sepulkralkultur.
Olaf Holzapfel, Trassen (in der Kasseler Karlsaue) (Lines [in the Karlsaue in Kassel]), 2017.
Regina José Galindo at the Stadtmuseum. A person stands at the center of the room into which the gun is pointing. More on that work from Sarah Douglas.
Ibrahim Mahama has covered the two buildings of the Torwache in jute sacks.
Vivian Suter at Glass Pavilions on Kurt-Schumacher-Strasse.
Alina Szapocznikow at the Neue Galerie.
One piece from an impressive trove of works by Annie Sprinkle and Beth Stephens, 1973–2017, at the Neue Galerie.
A work that Lorenza Böttner (1959–94) made with her feet, at the Neue Galerie. Böttner is shaping up to be one of the great revelations of Documenta 14.
Costas Varotsos, Untitled, 2017, at the Fridericianum.
At the heart of the Fridericianum is Andreas Angelidakis's Polemos, 2017. The tank is not a tank: it's made of "foam and vinyl seating modules."
A formidable exhibition space: the former underground train station beneath the KulturBahnhof.
The underground train station is insanely excellent, and is entered via a shipping container in front of the former Hauptbahnhof. Here is Zafos Xagoraris's The Welcoming Gate (2017) near the exit, where the former underground tracks emerge out onto the street.
Tofufabrik, which is showing a deeply creepy film installation by Véréna Paravel and Lucien Castaing-Taylor that concerns cannibalism.
Still from Commensal, by Véréna Paravel and Lucien Castaing-Taylor.
Partial view of Máret Ánne Sara, Pile o’ Sápmi, 2017, made with reindeer skulls.
Big Fish Trap, 2013, by Abel Rodríguez.
The courtyard—or at least the parking lot—of the Neue Neue Galerie, at the Neue Hauptpost.
Theo Eshetu's Atlas Fractured (Kassel version) video, 2017, at the Neue Neue Galerie, along with ingots by Dan Peterman.
Antonio Vega Macotela's The Mill of Blood on the lawn in front of the Orangerie.
Lois Weinberger's Ruderal Society: Excavating a Garden, 2017, in Karlsaue Park.
David Harding's Desire Lines, 2017, at the Kunsthochschule Kassel.
Marta Minujín's The Parthenon of Books, 2017, built with banned books, steel, and plastic on the Friedrichsplatz.