Fresh from his studies in Düsseldorf, conceptual artist Thomas Rentmeister arrived in Berlin in 1988 with a high-profile Philip Morris scholarship in hand. Later that year Rentmeister had his first solo exhibition at the now defunct Vincentz Sala Galerie, where, fresh from the fall of the Wall, East Berliners made their way to their first-ever West Berlin gallery opening.

Fifteen years later, Rentmeister, who’s work has been has been coined “dirty Minimalism,” moved back to the once divided city only to find massive redevelopment. In his soothsaying words, he predicts that “it will take another 50 years for the city to become gritty again.”

A regular at many Berlin haunts, his favorite spot in the city is his Weissensee studio. He describes it as one “like you see in the movies, with beautiful rooms and lots of light.” Coincidentally, the space was a former film studio, Filmstadt Weissensee, in which parts of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) was shot and Marlene Dietrich and Fritz Lang both flexed their silver screen prowess.

In the footsteps of the cinematic stars and in the shadow of the socialized laundry of the DDR (which inhabited the space before the artist studios), Rentmeister has made a name for himself. While the artist celebrates exhibitions around the world, he points readers in the right direction here in Berlin.