Written by: VISUALHOUSE
Photography: Hans Georg Esch and Sebastian Drüen
With the exhibition Kausalkonsequenz, the Langen Foundation is presenting an extensive solo exhibition by the artist Alicja Kwade, one of the most important visual artists of her generation.
By intensively engaging with the clear architecture of the Langen Foundation, which exudes a sense of continuity, the Berlin-based artist Alicja Kwade has conceived for this special place an exhibition that extends well into the vast premises and emphasizes the transition between inside and outside.
For the first time, the exhibition building's monumental staircase is played in its entirety and becomes a time scale that can be read in both directions. Kwade's spatial installations examine the processes of transition and transformation, different states of existence and repeatedly question our perception of reality. Human beings, as a reference point, are regarded individually and also socially as part of an overall structure.
The works of Alicja Kwade are founded on concepts of space, time, science and philosophy. They usually entail sculptural objects and open installations in public space, but also pieces involving videos and photographs. Pure materials like gold, copper, coal, rock and wood are of particular importance to Kwade, as are symbolically charged everyday objects like clocks and lamps as references to aspects of time, energy and material.
She combines these elementary materials and culturally influenced objet trouvé in her conceptually precise and ever poetically magical arrangements. In doing so, she succeeds in presenting the seemingly obvious as deceptive and alternating the viewer's perception.