Two Roses and a Briar Pipe

Join artists John Neff and Connor Crawford, alongside co-curators Tarik Kentouche, Lorenz Liebig, and Leah Gallant, for a walkthrough of 'Two Roses and a Briar Pipe,' a group exhibition of five established and emerging artists based in Berlin, Vienna, and Chicago.

Titled after an ominous still-life painting in Rainer Werner Fassbinder's film DESPAIR, this exhibition brings together sculpture, installation, and photography that play with the staging and performance of national and social identities. Using artifice and routine, these works suggest a shared sense of psychological and political fragmentation.

This exhibition is presented by Scherben, Co-Prosperity, and the Goethe-Institut Chicago, and is co-curated by Tarik Kentouche, Lorenz Liebig, and Leah Gallant. It will open in Scherben’s Berlin space in spring 2026.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

John Neff
John Neff is a curator, artist and professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. His long-standing artistic practice frequently utilizes photographic techniques, with himself and his social environment often being the subject of his imagery. He is a co-founder of the Iceberg Projects space in Chicago and has had solo exhibitions at the Renaissance Society (Chicago), Regards Gallery (Chicago) and Scherben (Berlin). His work is in the collection of the LACMA (Los Angeles).

Connor Crawford 
Connor Crawford (b. 1992 Ontario, Canada, based in Vienna) is a multidisciplinary artist who currently lives and works in Vienna. His work often employs themes of humour and cliché in order to explore broad concepts. He has recently exhibited at Shore Gallery (Vienna), Kunstraum Schwaz (Schwaz) and Scherben (Berlin).