You know that distinctive gray and dim atmosphere Berlin takes on during the winter months. Those in-between hours when the sun is half-present, and it’s unclear when the day has truly ended… This week on Apartment No: 26’s Berlin route, there are two exhibitions that focus precisely on this “twilight” feeling, turning loneliness into an art form.
One features the master of conceptual art, Peter Piller; the other, a duo that “invents” solitude. If you’re ready, let’s add a little meaning to Berlin’s grayness.
“Bürgerliche Dämmerung.” The term, which can be translated into English as “Civil Twilight,” is actually a technical weather description. It refers to the brightest phase of twilight when the sun has dropped 6 degrees below the horizon—streetlights haven’t fully come on, yet daylight has withdrawn.
Berlin’s established gallery Barbara Wien is hosting Peter Piller’s seventh solo exhibition under this title until January 31, 2026. Piller fell in love with the term when he saw it in a weather app and didn’t understand it; for him, misunderstandings open the door to speculation.
We usually know Piller as an “archive artist” who scans and recontextualizes photographs taken by others or newspaper archives. But there’s a break in this exhibition: almost all of the works are photographs taken by the artist himself in 2025.
What’s in the show?
- The back of a motorcycle put into winter hibernation: you might mistake it for a sculpture.
- Muybridge’s Eagle: A photograph of an eagle by Eadweard Muybridge, pioneer of motion studies… but in Piller’s framing, the eagle resembles a broken umbrella.
- Mushrooms and Landscapes: Fragments of nature captured with “silent gazes.”
At the entrance to the exhibition, Piller’s humorous and critical side comes into play. Financial terms like “DAX” (German Stock Exchange) and “Klumpenrisiko” (cluster risk/concentration risk) appear as drawings confined in gray boxes. These drawings whisper that twilight exists not only in the sky but also in economic and social life.
Though Piller currently lives in Rome on a Villa Massimo fellowship, this exhibition fits perfectly with Berlin’s “neither light nor dark” spirit.
The Invention of Solitude: A Winter Tale at Galerie Albrecht
Let’s complete our Berlin tour with another exhibition whose title alone draws you in. Galerie Albrecht is hosting Sid Gastl and Ludwig Spaude’s “The Invention of Solitude” until January 10, 2026.
Though the title recalls Paul Auster’s famous book, the content invites us into the silence of painting. In contrast to Piller’s twilight in the outside world, this exhibition celebrates the “desolation” and contemplation within us. It’s a wonderful stop for escaping Berlin’s crowds, “inventing” your own solitude, and being alone with art.
If you’re in Berlin, add these two exhibitions to your list. One will make you look up at the sky, the other will turn your gaze inward.
Exhibition 1: Peter Piller – Bürgerliche Dämmerung / Civil Twilight
Venue: Barbara Wien, Berlin
Dates: Until January 31, 2026
Exhibition 2: Sid Gastl & Ludwig Spaude – The Invention of Solitude
Venue: Galerie Albrecht, Berlin
Dates: Until January 10, 2026
