On the occasion of Art Basel OVR: Portals, 303 Gallery is proud to present In-Between, a thematic solo presentation of sculptures and mixed media works on paper by Polish-born, Berlin-based artist Alicja Kwade.
Strategically employing both natural elements and man-made objects as materials, Alicja Kwade creates confounding and complex arrangements which test the limits of our perception, leading us to question our understanding of space, time, and matter. Big Be-Hide (2020) positions a stone and its fabricated twin on opposing sides of a mirror, so that as a viewer circumnavigates the work, the reflection appears to seamlessly continue into physical space as the original stone's image aligns perfectly with its double. The illusory effect transmutes the mirror into a doorway, between two-dimensional and three-dimensional realities. The motif of the clock is frequently deconstructed in Kwade’s work, as a a symbol of the inherently human desire to control reality by imposing systems of measurement. In her series CC In-Between (2020), consistent increments of clock hand positions alternate with intuitive mark-making, reflecting her personal perception of hours and days seeming to either drag on or disappear. In turn they render visible our collective sense of the subjectivity of time, an awareness which has become amplified through the past year’s disruptions and lockdowns as experienced by many.
Alicja Kwade’s work investigates and questions the structures of our reality and society and reflects on the perception of time in our everyday life. Her diverse practice is based around concepts of space, time, science and philosophy, takes shape in sculptural objects, video and even photography. Recent exhibitions include solo shows at Langen Foundation, Neuss, Germany; MIT List Visual Arts Center, Cambridge; Dallas Contemporary; Centre de Création Contemporaine Olivier Debré, Tours; Blueproject Foundation, Barcelona; ESPOO Museum of Modern Art; Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Copenhagen; Fondazione Giuliani, Rome; Museum Haus Konstruktiv, Zurich; YUZ Museum, Shanghai; de Appel Arts Centre, Amsterdam; Kunsthalle Nürnberg; Kunsthalle Schirn Frankfurt/Main; Haus am Waldsee Berlin; and on the occasion of the award ceremony of the Hectorpreis 2015, at Kunsthalle Mannheim. She has been included in group exhibitions at the Hayward Gallery, London; 57th Venice Biennale; Madam, Luxembourg; Bass Museum of Art, Miami Beach; Kunsthalle Wien; Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit; and CCA Wattis Institute, San Francisco. She was the recipient of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s 2019 Roof Garden Commission. In 2015-2016, Public Art Fund commissioned “Against the Run,” an installation in New York’s Central Park. Her works belong to many important international private and public collections. Alicja Kwade was born in 1979 in Katowice, Poland; she currently lives and works in Berlin