Hauser & Wirth and Société Unite for States of Being at Berlin Art Week
Hauser & Wirth collaborates with Berlin gallery Société for States of Being, a Berlin Art Week 2025 highlight featuring Louise Bourgeois, Rashid Johnson, and Petra Cortright in a powerful dialogue on identity and agency.
Berlin Art Week heats up this September with a major new collaboration between two powerhouses: Swiss mega-gallery Hauser & Wirth and Berlin-based Société. Their joint exhibition, States of Being, will open on September 10 at Société’s Charlottenburg space, spotlighting over thirty artists spanning emerging talents to established heavyweights.
The roster reads like a who’s who of contemporary and modern art, with names like Louise Bourgeois, Rashid Johnson, Lee Lozano, Phyllida Barlow, and Mika Rottenberg alongside fresh voices such as Lu Yang, Tina Braegger, and Darren Bader. The show’s ambition is clear: to spark a transgenerational dialogue that probes the unstable boundaries of identity, embodiment, and agency through a cross-disciplinary lens.
Curated in collaboration by the two galleries’ founders—Marc Payot (Hauser & Wirth) and Daniel Wichelhaus (Société)—States of Being is more than a typical group show. It’s a statement on how art negotiates vulnerability, role-play, power, and fragility, while navigating shifting meanings over time and context. The emphasis on performative and affective strategies spotlights how identity isn’t fixed but constantly constructed and contested.
For Hauser & Wirth, this Berlin initiative marks a strategic entry into Germany’s vibrant art scene—though without plans to open a permanent outpost. For Société, it’s a natural extension of its growth and reputation for showcasing cutting-edge artists.
“It’s grown from years of shared values and mutual respect,” Payot says. Wichelhaus adds, “Berlin has long championed openness and experimentation. This show reflects that spirit perfectly.”
Amid renewed momentum in Berlin’s art market, helped by a recent sales tax cut and the increasing presence of global collectors during Berlin Art Week, States of Being arrives at a moment when the city is reclaiming its status as a European cultural hub.
The exhibition will also honor the late Phyllida Barlow with a late work, and feature a new digital painting by Petra Cortright, whose recent Art Basel Unlimited piece made waves.
States of Being runs from September 11 to November 1, 2025, at Société, Wielandstraße 26, Berlin.
ART Walkway News
