Goodbye Sadness, Hello Sadness takes its title from Bonjour Tristesse, the 1954 novel written by the then 18-year-old Françoise Sagan. The book’s hedonistic, carefree spirit—ultimately giving way to a disquieting loss of innocence—infuses the exhibition in Berlin, which coalesces around the nighttime as a setting for possibility and ambiguity.
The same phrase in two parts—Goodbye Sadness and Hello Sadness—can be found in neon red lights, bookending each end of Kunath’s bar. A private space within the artist’s Los Angeles studio, the architecture and contents of the bar have been reproduced in the shared space of the gallery. Around the installation, other works refer to symbols of evening entertainment. Elmgreen & Dragset’s sculpture, "But I'm on The Guest List" (2007-15), a door marked “VIP” that leads nowhere, and Flash (2025), a giant disco ball fly by Esben Weile Kjaer, both uncover charms of the nightclub as carriers of the subconscious.
