Alicja Kwade201579Kunsthalle Mannheim

2015Hector Prize2001Petra Lange-BerndtDietmar Rbel192020

Creation Dialectical acuity and lucid absurdity are the defining characteristics of the sculptures and object constellations created by Alicja Kwade (b. Katowice, 1979; lives and works in Berlin). The artist deftly combines elementary materials and ordinary objects with products that carry their own cultural histories. Her haunting pictures in space probe the human condition under the sway of physics as well as late capitalism.

The conceptual tenacity and sensual quality of Kwades work and her keen sense of materials, surfaces, and spatial interrelations earned the artist the 2015 hector prize, which comes with a solo exhibition at Kunsthalle Mannheim. The catalogue accompanying the show offers insights into the extensive oeuvre she has built since 2001. The authors, Petra Lange-Berndt and Dietmar Rbel, trace Alicja Kwades inquiries into matter, resources, and production in the age of modernism and draw connections to the art of the twentieth century, including 1920s art and design, Arte Povera, and post-minimalism.