Pace Gallery and Galerie Judin Announce the Opening of New Berlin Art Space
Former gas station turned arts space housing Pace Gallery and Galerie Judin © Galerie Judin, courtesy Pace Gallery and Galerie Judin
This spring, a converted 1950s gas station in Berlin’s Schöneberg neighborhood will be transformed into a multifaceted new gallery space, with offices and an exhibition space for Pace Gallery and Galerie Judin as well as an adjacent cafe and bookshop headed by the publishing group Die ZEIT. The building will officially open to the public on May 1, 2025, with a group exhibition presented jointly by Pace and Galerie Judin.
Originally built in 1954 during West Berlin’s postwar reconstruction, the gas station that will house this new exhibition space was abandoned in 1986. After two decades of neglect, it underwent a massive renovation—overseen by Thomas Brakel and bfs design under the direction of Juerg Judin—in 2005. The restoration preserved distinctive modernist elements of the structure, including the red canopy, garage door, and former sales space, while adding a library, an additional wing for exhibiting art, and a garden designed by landscape architect Guido Hager. The conversion was completed in 2008, and in 2009 it was awarded the prestigious Architekturpreis Berlin. In the years since its transformative restoration, the converted gas station—which was home to the Das Kleine Grosz Museum, an institution dedicated to the work of German artist George Grosz, from 2022 to 2024—has become a modern landmark in Berlin, blending historic architecture with contemporary design.
“The opening of this new exhibition space in Berlin is so exciting, not only for Pace and Galerie Judin, but, more importantly, for the local arts community. Pace has a deep commitment to Berlin and its thriving creative community, and we feel so honored to bring our artists’ work to this very special building in the city. We look forward to strengthening our connection to Berlin, its people, and its artists with our programming at this historic site.”
The inaugural show at the new exhibition space will be presented jointly by Pace and Galerie Judin—further details will be announced closer to the opening. Following the run of this exhibition, Pace and Galerie Judin will organize their own respective presentations in the space throughout the year. Entry to the new space—which will be open to the public six days a week, Tuesday through Sunday, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.—will be free.
Pace—which maintains eight locations worldwide—established an office in Berlin in 2023, helmed by Senior Director Laura Attanasio, to focus on supporting institutional projects for its artists and deepening connections with collectors and arts communities in German-speaking regions. Since then, Pace has expanded its activities in the city, presenting Maysha Mohamedi’s first exhibition in Germany, showcasing works by Qiu Xiaofei in the inaugural edition of Suite Berlin, and facilitating the gifting of Alicja Kwade’s Goldelse (2021) to the Neue Nationalgalerie Sculpture Garden.
Former gas station turned arts space housing Pace Gallery and Galerie Judin © Galerie Judin, courtesy Pace Gallery and Galerie Judin
With the opening of this new space in Berlin, where Pace will mount two public exhibitions per year, the gallery will reinforce its commitment to the European market. Attanasio and her team will move Pace’s Berlin office to the Schöneberg neighborhood space in April. This announcement also builds on a longstanding relationship between Pace and Galerie Judin, both of which represent Romanian artist Adrian Ghenie.
“The evolution of this once mundane property bears witness to the constant change in this captivating city, and we are delighted to share the Tankstelle’s genius loci with Pace Gallery and ZEIT. In our wish to contribute to the Berlin art scene while expanding the gallery’s program and international outreach, we couldn’t think of a better partner and second space for the gallery.”
Galerie Judin, founded by Juerg Judin in Zurich in 2003 and resident in Berlin since 2008, operates its main exhibition in the spacious former printing facility of the Tagesspiegel in Potsdamer Straße, just a short walk away from the new space. Since its\ move there in 2011, the neighborhood has evolved into the undisputed heart of Berlin's art scene, just a stone's throw from the Neue Nationalgalerie and the future Berlin Modern. Galerie Judin, headed jointly by co-owners Juerg Judin and Pay Matthis Karstens, has distinguished itself by introducing a new generation of artists to the art world, organizing in-depth museum and academic collaborations, maintaining a distinctive publication program, and, underlining the gallery’s art historical approach, editing significant catalogues raisonnés.
“We look back on a longstanding collaboration and friendship with Pace and the Glimcher family. Among other things, we share a ‘non-territorial’ and collegial attitude towards the art market, which now finds an expression in the sharing of this unique, historic location, and the interaction of our programs.”
Pace is a leading international art gallery representing some of the most influential artists and estates of the 20th and 21st centuries, founded by Arne Glimcher in 1960. Holding decades-long relationships with Alexander Calder, Jean Dubuffet, Agnes Martin, Louise Nevelson, and Mark Rothko, Pace has a unique history that can be traced to its early support of artists central to the Abstract Expressionist and Light and Space movements. Now in its seventh decade, the gallery continues to nurture its longstanding relationships with its legacy artists and estates while also making an investment in the careers of contemporary artists, including Torkwase Dyson, Loie Hollowell, Robert Nava, Adam Pendleton, and Marina Perez Simão.
Under the current leadership of CEO Marc Glimcher and President Samanthe Rubell, Pace has established itself as a collaborative force in the art world, partnering with other galleries and nonprofit organizations around the world in recent years. The gallery advances its mission to support its artists and share their visionary work with audiences and collectors around the world through a robust global program anchored by its exhibitions of both 20th century and contemporary art and scholarly projects from its imprint Pace Publishing, which produces books introducing new voices to the art historical canon. This artist-first ethos also extends to public installations, philanthropic events, performances, and other interdisciplinary programming presented by Pace.
Today, Pace has eight locations worldwide, including two galleries in New York—its eight-story headquarters at 540 West 25th Street and an adjacent 8,000-square-foot exhibition space at 510 West 25th Street. The gallery’s history in the New York art world dates to 1963, when it opened its first space in the city on East 57th Street. A champion of Light and Space artists, Pace has also been active in California for some 60 years, opening its West Coast flagship in Los Angeles in 2022. The gallery maintains European footholds in London and Geneva as well as Berlin, where it established an office in 2023. Pace was one of the first international galleries to have a major presence in Asia, where it has been active since 2008, the year it first opened in Beijing’s vibrant 798 Art District. It now operates galleries in Hong Kong and Seoul and opened its first gallery in Japan in Tokyo’s Azabudai Hills development in 2024.
Galerie Judin was established in 2003 in Zurich, the hometown of Juerg Judin. In 2008, it relocated to the rougher but artistically much more vibrant Berlin and took on the former printing facility of the Tagesspiegel in Potsdamer Straße in 2011 – at the time, a daring move. The neighborhood has since evolved into the undisputed heart of Berlin's art scene, just a stone's throw from the Neue Nationalgalerie and the future “Berlin Modern”. The nine-meter-high, daylight-flooded halls are considered one of the most beautiful exhibition venues in the city. In 2007, the gallery acquired an abandoned 1950s petrol station, which it restored and expanded with great care, and which became a crucial part of its social DNA. From 2022 to 2024, it served as the home for a temporary museum dedicated to George Grosz, the great Berlin artist, receiving much international praise. Since 2015, Juerg Judin shares the responsibility for the gallery's artistic and commercial advancement with art historian Pay Matthis Karstens, who in 2024 became co-owner. From the start, the two partners bonded over a shared passion for books and art historical curiosity. This has led to them taking on the responsibility for three catalogues raisonnés and the management of two estates.
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