GROUND LEVEL, GALLERY 2
GERMANY, BORN 1979
LIVES AND WORKS IN BERLIN
PROJECT
In Alicja Kwade’s large-scale installation WeltenLinie 2020, commissioned by the NGV, nothing is quite what it seems. Using double-sided mirrors and carefully placed, paired objects, Alicja Kwade achieves the illusion of sudden and surprising material transformations. Mirrored panels reflect part of an object, yet at the same time, a mirror image of the same object is revealed. In this way a new, illusionary object is created through the overlaying of reality and appearance.
As viewers move around and through Kwade’s steel-framed hexagonal structure, the way one reads and understands the objects within it shifts dramatically, depending on perspective. WeltenLinie is more of an experience than a static installation, which comes to life through the viewers movement within the structure.
In her cross-media work, Alicja Kwade deals with perceptual structures and basic physical laws. Optical experiences and their deceptions characterise her creations, which regularly transgress and question habitual ways of perception.
ABOUT
Alicja Kwade’s work investigates concepts of space, time, science and philosophy, and takes shape in sculptural objects, public installations, video and photography.
In 2019, Kwade was selected for the Roof Garden Commission at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and in 2017 she participated in the 57th Venice Biennale Viva Arte Viva. Recent exhibitions include solo shows at MIT List Visual Arts Centre, Boston (2019); Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Copenhagen (2018); Haus Konstruktiv, Zürich (2018); and YUZ Museum, Shanghai (2018).
The NGV warmly thanks Triennial Champion NGVWA for their support.