Alicja Kwade @ The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC

The Roof Garden Commission: Alicja Kwade, ParaPivot
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
April 16 - October 27, 2019

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Photo: David H. Koch Plaza

© The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Metropolitan Museum of Art announced yesterday that Berlin-based artist ALICJA KWADE has been selected to create a site-specific installation for The Met's Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Roof Garden.

"The Met's Roof Garden Commission is a catalyst for bold artistic intervention and the continuous rethinking of a unique space, and it's with great anticipation that we look forward to unveiling Alicja Kwade's project this spring," said Max Hollein, Director of The Met. "The setting—perched atop the Museum's vast collection and set against New York City's iconic skyline and Central Park—presents a compelling site for Kwade, whose works offer an expansive view of the history of art and science."

The Roof Garden Commission: Alicja Kwade, ParaPivot was conceived by the artist in consultation with Sheena Wagstaff, Leonard A. Lauder Chairman of Modern and Contemporary Art, and Kelly Baum, Cynthia Hazen Polsky and Leon Polsky Curator of Contemporary Art, both of The Met's Department of Modern and Contemporary Art. It is the seventh in a series of site-specific commissions for the outdoor space.

The exhibition will be accompanied by a book published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art and distributed by Yale University Press.

  

Born in 1979, ALICJA KWADE lives and works in Berlin. Raised by a cultural scientist mother and a conservator and art historian father, she grew up in Poland and, later, Germany. In 1999, Alicja Kwade entered the Universität der Künste in Berlin to study sculpture, and three years later she began showing in solo and group exhibitions, achieving a remarkable degree of critical success in a relatively short period of time. Although Alicja Kwade has also made videos and sound art, she is best known for her sculptures and installations, most of which are designed with specific spaces in mind. With equal parts poetry and critical acumen, her work not only reflects on the nature of time and perception; it also investigates the structures and theories we have adopted to understand the physical universe in which we reside. The resulting works are elegant, astute, and highly experiential.

Alicja Kwade's work has been the subject of numerous exhibitions, including Out of Ousia, at Kunsthal Charlottenborg in Copenhagen (2018); Medium Median, at Whitechapel Gallery in London (2016); and The Void of the Moment in Motion, at Schirn Kunsthalle in Frankfurt (2015). Her work has also been featured in such prestigious exhibitions as the 57th Venice Biennale, Viva Arte Viva (2016), and the 2016 Kochi-Muziris Biennale, Forming in the Pupil of an Eye. This is the artist's first solo exhibition at a museum in the United States.

The exhibition is supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies. Additional support is provided by Cynthia Hazen Polsky and Leon B. Polsky.

THE MET - THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART
metmuseum.org

Alicja Kwade @ Whitechapel Gallery, London

Alicja Kwade: Whitechapel Commission
Whitechapel Gallery, London
28 September 2016 – 25 June 2017

For Alicja Kwade’s (b. 1979) first project for a major UK gallery, unveiled on Wednesday 28 September, the Berlin-based artist creates a captivating installation of astronomical data and our position in the universe.

Bronze casts of giant vertebrae stand at either side of the gallery accompanying a projection depicting a slowly rotating, biomorphic form. The film is inspired by NASA data of extrasolar meteors, referencing the cataclysmic event believed to have caused the extinction of the dinosaurs. At the centre of the work and gallery, a large mobile of 24 electronic star maps is suspended from the gallery ceiling, slowly rotating in concentric circles, visualising astronomical data that demonstrates the earth’s position in the known galaxy.

Daniel F. Hermann, Eisler Curator and Head of Curatorial Studies said: “Since 2005, artist commissions have been a core part of the Whitechapel Gallery’s programme that provides a vital forum for the development of artists’ practice. Alicja Kwade’s work represents some of the most interesting developments in sculpture today – with meticulous attention to detail and a sincere appreciation for craftsmanship and quality of materials, her work emphasises the skill that is necessary to give artistic form to philosophical inquiry. We’re delighted to premier her work to the UK audience this autumn.”

Alicja Kwade said: “Material objects are events in time. I am interested in understanding how time operates and how we, in our own lifespan, are also part of these occurring events.”

Alicja Kwade’s sculptures often defy the conventional understanding of time and space: concrete columns melt in the sun, bicycles bend around themselves and everyday objects seem to take on a life of their own. From manipulating the mechanical workings of a clock, to creating liquid pools of mirrored glass, Kwade transforms common materials into extraordinary artworks that challenge our perceptions. Her diverse sculptures are inspired by the intangible ways we try to make sense of the modern world, from theories of astrophysics to stock market analysis.

Alicja Kwade’s new Commission is on display until 23 November in Gallery 2, a dedicated space for site-specific works of art until 25 June 2017.

WHITECHAPEL GALLERY
www.whitechapelgallery.org