Interview with Bermel von Luxburg Gallery

Muse Square: Can you tell us the story of your gallery?

Mario Bermel: My partner Sandra Bermel and I have established the gallery in 2018. Our gallery is strategically located in a historical apartment dating back to 1295, located on the Fasanen street, a renowned street for art, fashion and luxury.

The importance of Berlin galleries is that they are very present on the international market. There is an important choice of artists in this city that aspires to important collectors, and this is the strength of Berlin. We are very happy to be part of Berlin’s international influence.
So, Sandra and I are both gallery owners and contemporary curators. Our international network allows us to attract great artists, to exhibit them both in the museum and in the gallery. We work better together as joint force. My partner works a lot in the Eastern European region. I build a lot of bridges between Paris, London, and Berlin.

I am also lucky to have very good relationships with galleries in Tokyo and Seoul. For example, this year, a very dynamic gallery in South Korea invited us to exhibit in-house. I invited them back for the Berlin art week to exhibit in my gallery. Those exchanges strengthen our relationships as collaboration always open new doors.

Muse Square: Can you tell us more about the artists you exhibit?

Mario Bermel: Berlin is a very creative city that attracts artists from all over the world, which allows us to discover and meet many artists on site. At Bermel gallery, we exhibit emerging and established artists: established artists allow us to survive difficult moments, like the recession that took place because of the Covid19 pandemic.

We exhibit local German artists and many international artists from France, Belgium, America, Japan, and Korea.

For example, I am very lucky to work with an Italian artist: Robert Pan. He is a “star” and appeals to collectors from all around the world. I have been working with him for 10 years now, we have already done several solo shows. I will also exhibit his work during Berlin art week.

We also work with Peter Herrmann, an 85 years old German painter. We helped him boost his presence during the past 3 years, we built hype and now he is so much in demand internationally.

We also exhibit young artists, we help them develop their careers by giving them exposure. Galleries also ask us for collaborations. For example, we work with a Russian artist Nikolai Makarov who will be exhibited at Arborescence, a young Parisian gallery, during the Fiac. The owners of the gallery are young and motivated, they have a very good knowledge of the art market. The collaboration happened through mutual friends. We are always happy to support young galleries, and we are always open to collaborating with Parisian galleries.

I also work with a Belgian artist, Fred Eeredekens, he works in three dimensions with the components of language, material, light, and shadow. The basis for his works is the texts he writes himself.

One of the German artists I worked with, is currently exhibiting at the Lou Carter Gallery in Paris, so I’m quite happy that German artists are being exposed by the Parisian galleries.

Muse Square: What are your priorities in terms of art destinations to develop the reputation of your artists and give them more exposure in new markets?

Mario Bermel: Our priority destinations are indeed Berlin, Paris, and London, I am very open to Barcelona and Madrid as well.

I like to work in Paris and London because I lived between the two cities, so I have a personal attachment to those destinations, but also good territorial knowledge of both. There is also a very international audience in these cities, in addition to key art fairs like Art Basel Paris and Frieze London. I also know a lot of artists and collectors there, it’s always a pleasure to meet them.

For me, bringing a little bit of Paris and London to Berlin is something I thrive to do, to introduce other European art destinations to the Germans, on-site in Germany.