A Sanctuary in the Twilight of Berlin Nights: We Experienced the “Goodbye Sadness, Hello Sadness” Exhibition at Pace Gallery!

While tracing Berlin’s uniquely uncanny and mesmerizing art trail recently, we made our way to Pace Gallery (Die Tankstelle) on Bülowstraße. Welcoming art lovers since July 4 and running through August 23, 2026, the group exhibition titled “Goodbye Sadness, Hello Sadness” offers an immersive experience quite literally dedicated to the night, hedonism, and the loss of innocence.

The atmosphere that greeted us the moment we stepped inside was screamingly far from the typical chill of a traditional gallery. At the very heart of the exhibition sits Bar Va Bene, a fully functioning replica of artist Friedrich Kunath’s studio bar in Los Angeles. Standing between the glowing red neon signs reading “Goodbye Sadness” and “Hello Sadness” at either end, we felt the carefree yet subtly melancholic spirit of Françoise Sagan’s iconic 1954 novel Bonjour Tristesse right to our bones. Serving visitors as an actual functioning bar from Thursday to Sunday between 5:00 PM and 10:00 PM, sipping our drinks in this space while experiencing the night as a stage of possibilities and ambiguities was truly spellbinding.

As we wandered among the works of 27 international artists shaped around the bar, we were drawn into an illusion filled with symbols of nightlife and the subconscious. Elmgreen & Dragset’s steel door sculpture titled “But I’m on The Guest List”, which opens to nowhere and reads “VIP”, threw the false sense of privilege in club culture right in our faces; meanwhile, Esben Weile Kjaer’s giant disco-ball fly artwork radiated the night’s chaotic shimmer throughout the venue. Lauren Quin’s intensely gestural painting—seemingly transforming the canvas from the inside out—and Kylie Manning’s spellbinding new work were among the most powerful pieces visualizing those fleeting internal states during the transition from day to night.

We witnessed an incredible lineup spanning from classical to contemporary art: from the uncanny world of David Lynch to Albrecht Dürer, and from the sharp commentaries of Norbert Bisky and Monica Bonvicini to Alicja Kwade, Robert Nava, Martin Eder, Jeremy Shaw, and Trevor Paglen, every single artwork pulled back a different layer of the night and the subconscious. Standing there at the edge of Kunath’s bar under those neon lights, we personally experienced the exact moment where day meets night. If you happen to be in Berlin these days, you must definitely visit and experience this captivating nocturnal adventure before it closes on August 23.