Artist: Alicja Kwade
Exhibition title: Out of Ousia
Curated by: Marie Nipper
Venue: Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Copenhagen, Denmark
Date: September 21, 2018, 2017 – February 17, 2019
Photography: all images copyright and courtesy of the artists and Kunsthal Charlottenborg
The exhibition title Out of Ousia sets the tone for the emerging contemporary artist Alicja Kwade’s (b. 1979) first institutional solo exhibition in Denmark: With her poetic minimalism and powerful sculptures, the Polish-born artist has created an exhibition that questions science and social conventions. 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 international acclaimed 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.
During the last decade, Alicja Kwade has rapidly become a rising star, winning global attention and a prominent place on the international contemporary art scene. Her remarkable career includes exhibitions at leading museums and galleries such as London’s Whitechapel Gallery, Berlin’s Hamburger Bahnhof, and the Venice Biennial.
The exhibition is produced in collaboration with Creator Projects and curated by mag. art, Marie Nipper, current Director of Copenhagen Contemporary, and former chief-curator at ARos Aarhus Art Museum and senior curator at Tate Liverpool, UK. Marie Nipper curated the critically acclaimed exhibition of John Kørner Altid Mange Problemer at Kunsthal Charlottenborg during the summer 2017.
The exhibition is supported by 15. Juni Fonden, 303 GALLERY (New York), A. P. Møller Foundation, KÖNIG GALERIE (Berlin/London), the Danish Arts Foundation and Obel Family Foundation.
Alicja Kwade, ‘DrehMoment’ (2018), ‘Parralelwelt (Ast/AntiAst)’ (2018). Installation view, Kunsthal Charlottenborg 2018. Photo: Roman März. Courtesy the artist, KÖNIG GALERIE, Berlin / London, 303 GALLERY, New York, kamel mennour, Paris / London
Alicja Kwade, ‘DrehMoment’ (2018), ‘Parralelwelt (Ast/AntiAst)’ (2018). Installation view, Kunsthal Charlottenborg 2018. Photo: Roman März. Courtesy the artist, KÖNIG GALERIE, Berlin / London, 303 GALLERY, New York, kamel mennour, Paris / London.
Alicja Kwade, ‘DrehMoment’ (2018). Installation view, Kunsthal Charlottenborg 2018. Photo: Roman März. Courtesy the artist, KÖNIG GALERIE, Berlin / London, 303 GALLERY, New York, kamel mennour, Paris / London.
Alicja Kwade, ‘DrehMoment’ (2018), ‘Parralelwelt (Ast/AntiAst)’ (2018). Detail, Kunsthal Charlottenborg 2018. Photo: Roman März. Courtesy the artist, KÖNIG GALERIE, Berlin / London, 303 GALLERY, New York, kamel mennour, Paris / London.
Alicja Kwade, ‘DrehMoment’ (2018). Detail, Kunsthal Charlottenborg 2018. Photo: Roman März. Courtesy the artist, KÖNIG GALERIE, Berlin / London, 303 GALLERY, New York, kamel mennour, Paris / London.
Alicja Kwade, ‘DrehMoment’ (2018). Detail, Kunsthal Charlottenborg 2018. Photo: Roman März. Courtesy the artist, KÖNIG GALERIE, Berlin / London, 303 GALLERY, New York, kamel mennour, Paris / London.
Alicja Kwade, ‘DrehMoment’ (2018). Detail, Kunsthal Charlottenborg 2018. Photo: Roman März. Courtesy the artist, KÖNIG GALERIE, Berlin / London, 303 GALLERY, New York, kamel mennour, Paris / London.
Alicja Kwade, ‘DrehMoment’ (2018), ‘Parralelwelt (Ast/AntiAst)’ (2018). Installation view, Kunsthal Charlottenborg 2018. Photo: Roman März. Courtesy the artist, KÖNIG GALERIE, Berlin / London, 303 GALLERY, New York, kamel mennour, Paris / London.
Alicja Kwade, ‘DrehMoment’ (2018). Detail, Kunsthal Charlottenborg 2018. Photo: Roman März. Courtesy the artist, KÖNIG GALERIE, Berlin / London, 303 GALLERY, New York, kamel mennour, Paris / London.
Alicja Kwade, ‘Radio (Alicja R-603)’ (2014), ‘Lampe (Kaiser Idell rot)’ (2015), ‘Kaminuhr (Zentra)’ (2014), ‘Parralelwelt (Ast/AntiAst)’ (2018), ‘NachBild’ (2017). Installation view, Kunsthal Charlottenborg 2018. Photo: Roman März. Courtesy the artist, KÖNIG GALERIE, Berlin / London, 303 GALLERY, New York, kamel mennour, Paris / London.
Alicja Kwade, ‘NachBild’ (2017). Installation view, Kunsthal Charlottenborg 2018. Photo: Roman März. Courtesy the artist, KÖNIG GALERIE, Berlin / London, 303 GALLERY, New York, kamel mennour, Paris / London.
Alicja Kwade, ‘iPhone’ (2017), ‘Küchenuhr’ (2017), ‘Computer (PowerMac)’ (2017), ‘Kaminuhr’ (2017), ‘Lampe’ (2017), ‘Parralelwelt (Ast/AntiAst)’ (2018). Installation view, Kunsthal Charlottenborg 2018. Photo: Roman März. Courtesy the artist, KÖNIG GALERIE, Berlin / London, 303 GALLERY, New York, kamel mennour, Paris / London.
Alicja Kwade, ‘Kaminuhr’ (2017), ‘Lampe’ (2017), ‘Parralelwelt (Ast/AntiAst)’ (2018). Installation view, Kunsthal Charlottenborg 2018. Photo: Roman März. Courtesy the artist, KÖNIG GALERIE, Berlin / London, 303 GALLERY, New York, kamel mennour, Paris / London.
Alicja Kwade, ‘Out of Ousia’ (2016). Installation view, Kunsthal Charlottenborg 2018. Photo: Roman März. Courtesy the artist, KÖNIG GALERIE, Berlin / London, 303 GALLERY, New York, kamel mennour, Paris / London. Collection of National Gallery of Australia
Alicja Kwade, ‘Out of Ousia’ (2016), ‘Parralelwelt (Ast/AntiAst)’ (2018). Installation view, Kunsthal Charlottenborg 2018. Photo: Roman März. Courtesy the artist, KÖNIG GALERIE, Berlin / London, 303 GALLERY, New York, kamel mennour, Paris / London. Collection of National Gallery of Australia
Alicja Kwade, ‘Out of Ousia’ (2016), ‘Parralelwelt (Ast/AntiAst)’ (2018). Detail, Kunsthal Charlottenborg 2018. Photo: Roman März. Courtesy the artist, KÖNIG GALERIE, Berlin / London, 303 GALLERY, New York, kamel mennour, Paris / London. Collection of National Gallery of Australia
Alicja Kwade, ‘Out of Ousia’ (2016), ‘Parralelwelt (Ast/AntiAst)’ (2018). Detail, Kunsthal Charlottenborg 2018. Photo: Roman März. Courtesy the artist, KÖNIG GALERIE, Berlin / London, 303 GALLERY, New York, kamel mennour, Paris / London. Collection of National Gallery of Australia
Alicja Kwade, ’60 Seconds’ (2017), ‘Parralelwelt (Ast/AntiAst)’ (2018). Installation view, Kunsthal Charlottenborg 2018. Photo: Roman März. Courtesy of the artist and 303 GALLERY, New York.
Alicja Kwade, ‘113 days, 3 hours’ (2014 / 2018 – ongoing), ‘Parralelwelt (Ast/AntiAst)’ (2018). Detail, Kunsthal Charlottenborg 2018. Photo: Roman März. Courtesy the artist, KÖNIG GALERIE, Berlin / London, 303 GALLERY, New York, kamel mennour, Paris / London.
Alicja Kwade, ‘113 days, 3 hours’ (2014 / 2018 – ongoing), ‘Parralelwelt (Ast/AntiAst)’ (2018). Detail, Kunsthal Charlottenborg 2018. Photo: Roman März. Courtesy the artist, KÖNIG GALERIE, Berlin / London, 303 GALLERY, New York, kamel mennour, Paris / London.
Alicja Kwade, ‘113 days, 3 hours’ (2014 / 2018 – ongoing), ‘Parralelwelt (Ast/AntiAst)’ (2018). Detail, Kunsthal Charlottenborg 2018. Photo: Roman März. Courtesy the artist, KÖNIG GALERIE, Berlin / London, 303 GALLERY, New York, kamel mennour, Paris / London.
