Berlin-based artist Alicja Kwade's (born 1979, Poland) work is elegant, rigorous, and highly experiential. Using a wide range of media, Kwade creates sculptures and installations that reflect on time, perception, and scientific inquiry. With equal parts poetry and critical acumen, she calls into question the systems designed to banish doubt from the world and make sense of an otherwise unfathomable universe. Ultimately, Kwade seeks to heighten both the mystery and the absurdity of the human condition in order to enhance our powers of self-reflection.
For The Met, Kwade has created two sculptures using steel and stone to evoke a miniature solar system, a piece of space that has settled temporarily on the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Roof Garden. This is Kwade's first solo exhibition at a museum in the United States.
The exhibition is supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies.
Additional support is 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.