Alicja Kwade Presents Out of Ousia at Kunsthal Charlottenborg
Taking place at Kunsthal Charlottenborg in Copenhagen, Out of Ousia is the first Danish solo exhibition of Polish-born artist Alicja Kwade. Bringing together several poetic minimalist and powerful sculptures, the artist has created an exhibition that questions science and social conventions.
September 21, 2018 — February 17, 2019
Kunsthal Charlottenborg
Nyhavn 2, 1051 København K, Denmark
A vase created by the dust from a blended PowerMac, surreal mirror reflections, and a brand-new work created specially to the exhibition consisting of massive stone spheres which lightly float in the air, are some of the sculptural elements that make up the exhibition and surprises and awakens reflection.
Alicja Kwade’s sculptural landscapes often consist of familiar objects and natural materials stripped of their usual function and imbued with new qualities and value. Mass, surfaces and materials act in new ways: pebbles have been cut and polished as if they were diamonds, coal is disguised as gold bars, and branches, glass and copper rise up from the ground, defying gravity.
The laws of nature are suspended as Alicja Kwade draws us into her warped version of reality, which is both recognisable and alien, near and far away, real and unreal. The artist challenges our understanding of abstract concepts such as the nature of time, space and light, the laws of physics, the mysteries of science and the deeply embedded social conventions that form the bedrock of our perception of reality. She raises these large questions in a light-hearted, poetic and humorous way that provokes curiosity, wonder and amusement.
The exhibition is curated by Creator Projects and Marie Nipper, current Director of Copenhagen Contemporary, and former chief-curator at ARos Aarhus Art Museum and senior curator at Tate Liverpool, UK.
All photos by Sebastian di Persano.
Alicja Kwade, ‘Out of Ousia’ (2016), Installation view Art Unlimited, Art Basel 2016. Courtesy of the artist, KÖNIG GALERIE, Berlin / London, 303 GALLERY, New York, kamel mennour, Paris / London. Collection of National Gallery of Australia.
