The Metropolitan Museum of Art announced that Berlin-based artist Alicja Kwade has been selected to create a site-specific installation for The Met’s Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Roof Garden this Spring. Alicja Kwade, ParaPivot will be on view from April 16 through October 27, 2019.
“The Met’s Roof Garden Commission is a catalyst for bold artistic intervention and the continuous rethinking of a unique space, and it’s with great anticipation that we look forward to unveiling Alicja Kwade’s project this spring,” said Max Hollein, Director of The Met. “The setting—perched atop the Museum’s vast collection and set against New York City’s iconic skyline and Central Park—presents a compelling site for Kwade, whose works offer an expansive view of the history of art and science.”
The Roof Garden Commission: Alicja Kwade, ParaPivot was conceived by the artist in consultation with Sheena Wagstaff, Leonard A. Lauder Chairman of Modern and Contemporary Art, and Kelly Baum, Cynthia Hazen Polsky and Leon Polsky Curator of Contemporary Art, both of The Met’s Department of Modern and Contemporary Art. It is the seventh in a series of site-specific commissions for the outdoor space.
Born in 1979, Alicja Kwade lives and works in Berlin. Raised by a cultural scientist mother and a conservator and art historian father, she grew up in Poland and, later, Germany. In 1999, Kwade entered the Universität der Künste in Berlin to study sculpture, and three years later she began showing in solo and group exhibitions, achieving a remarkable degree of critical success in a relatively short period of time. Although Kwade has also made videos and sound art, she is best known for her sculptures and installations, most of which are designed with specific spaces in mind. With equal parts poetry and critical acumen, her work not only reflects on the nature of time and perception; it also investigates the structures and theories we have adopted to understand the physical universe in which we reside. The resulting works are elegant, astute, and highly experiential.
We have no heads-up on the upcoming installation, but consider that her work often focuses on time and space, remembering her exhibit through Public Art Fund ~ Against the Run in 2015-2016, located at Doris C. Freedman Plaza, Fifth Avenue at 59th Street. We will also look for a corresponding exhibition at 303 Gallery.
Additionally, Kwade will be on view this season at Socrates Sculpture Park, with her installation REVOLUTION (Gravitas), 2017 in the group exhibition, Chronos Cosmos: Deep Time, Open Space from May 5 through September 2, 2019.
In addition, Alicja Kwade will have work on view at The Armory Show 2019, March 7-10, at KÖNIG GALERIE and 303 Gallery, both on Pier 94.
The Roof Garden Commission: Alicja Kwade, ParaPivot is supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies, with additional support provided by Cynthia Hazen Polsky and Leon B. Polsky. The exhibition will be accompanied by a book published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art and distributed by Yale University Press.
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