Hector Prize 2015. Alicja Kwade. // The Kunsthalle Mannheim and the H.W. & J. Hector Stiftung award the Hector Prize every three years to a young artist working in sculpture, conceptual and installation art. This reflects a cornerstone of the museum's collection. See the work of this year's winner Alicja Kwade from 2 July to 6 September at the Kunsthalle Mannheim.
The exhibition opens with the sculpture "I am other" (2001) presenting a new look at duplicity, mirror images and parallel realities. At the centre of this exploration is the work "Nissan" (Parallel World 1 + 2) (2009) comprised of two silver cars, identical in every scratch, dent and detail, but as a mirror image. The artist's new works reflect her earlier sculptures through recurring motifs. One such motif is champagne bottles: ground and formed into sand cones in “412 empty litres to the start” (2008) and now filled with lead in the “The heavy weight of lively light” (2015). Kwade reveals the unequal relationships between material, economic, ideological and aesthetic values. In “Curbstone jewels” (2008-10), she cut and polished stones from the street into the familiar shapes of precious jewels. In another recent series she shows the relative market relationship between the value of industrial metals on the stock market. Alicja Kwade has a tremendous feel for the relationship between material, surface and space. With her concise, sculptural language she makes complex themes visible and accessible.
The Kunsthalle is grateful for the generous support of the H.W. & J. Hector Stiftung for this project and the 50-million-euro donation towards the new completion of the new museum building.