Dispair
Dispair, 2026
Carbonised wood
An old man kneels before a throne on which a young man sits, watching pornography on his phone during oral sex.
Jungs, 2026
Wall relief
REST, 2026
Carbonised wood
A giant, almost starved ape lies on the floor, breathing its last.
Totentanz, 2026
Sound installation, silicone, approx. 10 min
A ten-minute sound installation developed for a human ear made of silicone. Sound design: Beni Brachtel. Voice: Kate Strong.
Körper I, 2026
Carbonised wood, silicone, 61.1 x 31.7 x 10 cm, unique
Körper II, 2026
Carbonised wood, silicone, 64.7 x 35.4 x 10 cm, unique
Körper III, 2026
Carbonised wood, silicone, 70.9 x 45.8 x 10 cm, unique
Körper IV, 2026
Carbonised wood, silicone, 70.7 x 40 x 10 cm, unique
Körper V, 2026
Carbonised wood, silicone, 60.9 x 38.4 x 10 cm, unique
Kunstforum International, Bd. 313
10/2026
Dispair (Ingo Arend)
radio3 (rbb)
10/2026
Galleries and the question of location: Silke Hennig in conversation
Queer.de
10/2026
Between chill and collapse: chemsex processed artistically
Keyi Magazine
09/2026
Ersan Mondtag Brings Alternde Meister and Dispair to Berlin Art Week
DITTRICH & SCHLECHTRIEM
09/2026
But they no longer love you. Notes on Ersan Mondtag’s exhibition Dispair (Oliver Koerner von Gustorf)
Artsy
09/2026
8 Must-See Shows at Berlin Art Week 2026 (Nadia Egan)
Berlin Art Week
09/2026
Beyond the Stage (Claas Oberstadt)
Tagesspiegel
09/2026
Berlin Art Week highlights: 12 exhibitions and events with art stars to note
der Freitag
09/2026
Paintings at the Berliner Ensemble, art at the Gorki: beyond the edge of the stage
Exhibition
Artist
Ersan Mondtag
Gallery
DITTRICH & SCHLECHTRIEM, Berlin
Text
Oliver Koerner von Gustorf
Photography
CHOREO, Roman März
Totentanz
Sound design
Beni Brachtel
Voice
Kate Strong
Ersan Mondtag's first solo exhibition at DITTRICH & SCHLECHTRIEM, Berlin.
Dispair is a new body of work conceived specifically for DITTRICH & SCHLECHTRIEM. Large-scale sculptures in carbonized wood, some of them life-size, stand alongside a series of reliefs in wood and silicone. The exhibition opened during Berlin Art Week 2026, at the same time as the performance Alternde Meister at the Gemäldegalerie.
The title is a coinage: a pair that has come apart. Dispair speaks of separation and isolation, of two bodies where there was once a couple. The works trace how communities hold together and how they break, how solidarity forms and how exclusion is produced, and how power and hierarchy continue into private life.
Material carries time in these works. Charred wood holds the trace of fire, of loss and transformation; silicone reproduces the softness and vulnerability of skin. The figures appear both as monuments and as remains. Personal experience and collective memory become inseparable, and past, present and future are folded into one another.
Against the background of eroding democratic and civic structures, the exhibition asks what holds people together, and which mechanisms keep fear, exclusion and violence in place.
Time
10. September 2026 – 31. October 2026
DITTRICH & SCHLECHTRIEM, Berlin
Opening
10 September 2026, 6–10 pm
Opening hours
Tue–Sat, 11 am – 6 pm · Linienstraße 40, 10119 Berlin
Venue ->