Monika Sosnowska
18 Apr - 16 Jun 2012
MONIKA SOSNOWSKA
18 April - 16 June 2012
Monika Sosnowska’s new works (it’s her third exhibition at Galerie Gisela Capitain) refer to the market stands of the “Jarmark Europa“ in Warsaw, which after the end of comunism in Poland was for a period of about ten years a place for all kind of goods - even for the black market. The metal constructions of these market stalls are transformed into seemingly abstract sculptures, and it’s not obvious what the new forms represent. The artist is known for translating everyday architecture into a new level. Buildings with a primarily social or political connotation are freed from their functionality. Monika Sosnowska’s architectural artworks challenge the viewer’s perception of what is rational or even possible, capturing moments when, as she puts it, “architectural space begins to take on the characteristics of mental space“.
The choice of technicians to build her works is part of Monika Sosnowska’s creative process. The artist choses metalworkers who reflect the character of the times her sculptures refer to - and in Poland in the 60s or 70s the craftsmen started working with a cigarette in their mouth and after having a shot of vodka.
Monika Sosnowska was born in Poland in 1972 and lives and works in Warsaw. After studying at the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunst in Amsterdam and the Academy of Fine Arts in Poznan she had several solo exhibitions, for example at the Serpentine Gallery, London (2004), Museum of Modern Art, New York (2006), at the 52nd Venice Biennial representing Poland in the Polish Pavillion (2007), at the Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein, Vaduz (2007), Schaulager, Basel (2008), Herzliya Museum of Contemporary Art, Israel (2010) and the K21, Dusseldorf (2010-2012).
18 April - 16 June 2012
Monika Sosnowska’s new works (it’s her third exhibition at Galerie Gisela Capitain) refer to the market stands of the “Jarmark Europa“ in Warsaw, which after the end of comunism in Poland was for a period of about ten years a place for all kind of goods - even for the black market. The metal constructions of these market stalls are transformed into seemingly abstract sculptures, and it’s not obvious what the new forms represent. The artist is known for translating everyday architecture into a new level. Buildings with a primarily social or political connotation are freed from their functionality. Monika Sosnowska’s architectural artworks challenge the viewer’s perception of what is rational or even possible, capturing moments when, as she puts it, “architectural space begins to take on the characteristics of mental space“.
The choice of technicians to build her works is part of Monika Sosnowska’s creative process. The artist choses metalworkers who reflect the character of the times her sculptures refer to - and in Poland in the 60s or 70s the craftsmen started working with a cigarette in their mouth and after having a shot of vodka.
Monika Sosnowska was born in Poland in 1972 and lives and works in Warsaw. After studying at the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunst in Amsterdam and the Academy of Fine Arts in Poznan she had several solo exhibitions, for example at the Serpentine Gallery, London (2004), Museum of Modern Art, New York (2006), at the 52nd Venice Biennial representing Poland in the Polish Pavillion (2007), at the Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein, Vaduz (2007), Schaulager, Basel (2008), Herzliya Museum of Contemporary Art, Israel (2010) and the K21, Dusseldorf (2010-2012).