Nature Morte is pleased to present Alicja Kwade’s first solo exhibition in India. Known for her distinctive artistic language involving reflection, repetition, and the deconstruction and reconstruction of everyday objects, Kwade uses natural materials to explore our reality’s essence and examine social structures. Often veering towards the absurd and transforming commonly accepted assumptions into open-ended questions, her poetic and mesmerizing oeuvre disrupts familiar systems and searches for new explanations to comprehend our world.
For Kwade’s first solo exhibition at Nature Morte, she delves into the intricate pursuit of knowledge, unraveling the paradoxes that while we relentlessly seek it, we are often eluded by it. The show further examines measurement, scale, and the vantage points from which we contemplate our quest for understanding wealth distribution, national responsibility, and the role of resources.
At the center of the exhibition stands a series of four new sculptures by the artist entitled Know-ledge, which utilize Encyclopedia Britannica books representing the consolidation of knowledge. Tethered on one end via a stainless steel funnel that appears to condense the entirety of human knowledge and time, the other end presents a symbolic stone that serves as a counterweight. Hanging afloat above these works are a series of mobiles that feature rocks suspended by gold-plated structures and wires, bringing acute attention to the operations of gravity and the precarity of its states of equilibrium.
Various works on paper line the walls of the gallery, transcending mere representation and delving into the philosophical realms of measurement, time, and perception. They prompt viewers to consider the nuanced relationships between these seemingly disparate systems. Transformator, installed in an adjacent gallery space, is comprised of a natural, original branch and its mirrored counterpart in patinated bronze. At the heart of this work is a polished bronze sphere nestled amidst the branches, serving as a mirror with a unique twist—it doesn’t just reflect reality, it transforms it. This piece encourages viewers to explore the enigmatic aspects of our universe, pondering the existence of hidden forces and parallel realms that may exist beyond our everyday perception.
The artist will be present at the opening of the exhibition in New Delhi on January 25th. In addition, she has created a new installation, Superposition, for the Sculpture Park at Madhavendra Palace, Jaipur. The ambitious work, comprised of multiple elements that interact with each other, will occupy the courtyard of the palace. The exhibition will open to the public on Sunday, January 28th from 3 to 6 pm, remaining on view until December 1st, 2024.
Alicja Kwade (b. 1979) lives and works in Berlin where she studied sculpture at the Berlin University of the Arts. In the past decade, she has become known internationally for sculpture, expansive public installations, film, photography, and works on paper that challenge scientific and philosophical concepts by dismantling the boundaries of perception.
Solo exhibitions of her work have been presented at Lehmbruck Museum, Duisburg, Germany; Langen Foundation, Neuss, Germany; MIT List Visual Arts Center, Cambridge, USA; Dallas Contemporary, USA; Centre de Création Contemporaine Olivier Debré, Tours, France; Blueproject Foundation, Barcelona, Spain; ESPOO Museum of Modern Art, Finland; Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Copenhagen, Denmark; Museum Haus Konstruktiv, Zurich, Switzerland; YUZ Museum, Shanghai, China; Whitechapel Gallery, London, UK; Kunsthalle Schirn Frankfurt/Main, Germany; Haus Esters, Krefeld, Germany; Kestner Gesellschaft, Hanover, Germany; and Hamburger Bahnhof, Museum für Gegenwart, Berlin, Germany.
Her work has also been presented in numerous group shows at institutions including the Museo Jumex, Mexico; Hayward Gallery, London, UK; Hirshhorn Museum, Washington, USA; Bass Museum of Art, Miami Beach, USA; Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna, Austria; Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit; and CCA Wattis Institute, San Francisco,.
USA. Over the past years, she has increasingly worked in the public realm, creating vast installations that respond to the architecture and the natural phenomena of various sites.
In 2019, Kwade was commissioned to create a monumental installation for the rooftop of the Metropolitan Museum in New York. For her 2022 installation Au Cours Des Mondes in the Place Vendôme, Paris the artist created a dialogue between natural stone globes affixed to endless concrete stairs and a set of natural stone spheres. Both works explored our place in the world, underlying mechanisms of power, and our relationship to knowledge thereof. Other notable installations include a 2022 participation at Desert X, AlUla in Saudi Arabia and an acclaimed presentation at the 57th Venice Biennale Viva Arte Viva in 2017.
Upcoming solo exhibitions include Museum Voorlinden, Wassenaar, Netherlands and Tai Kwun, Hong Kong. In 2023 Kwade joined the roster of Pace Gallery. Her works are part of numerous public collections worldwide, such as the Centre Pompidou, Paris; Hirshhorn Museum, Washington; National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne; Museo Jumex, Mexico; LACMA – Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles; Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebaek; Mudam – Musée d’Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean, Luxembourg; and mumok – Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig, Vienna.
Alicja Kwade: MatterMoments
Opening on Thursday, January 25th from 6 to 8 pm.
The exhibition remains on view until Sunday, March 3rd.
Nature Morte
287–288 The Dhan Mill, 100 Feet Rd, Chhatarpur Hills, New Delhi 110074. 11 AM–7 PM. Tuesday–Sunday
