Monica Bonvicini solo exhibition at the New National Gallery

»I do You« unmasks museum

Monica Bonvicini already dealt with the architecture of the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin more than twenty years ago - but from a social perspective. Today, she exposes and unmasks the building's entrenched gender relations. The special attraction: Bonvicini's works are intended to change the perception of space. The works can be seen starting November 25 in the exhibition I do You.

November 25, 2022
Monica Bonvicini, Never Again, 2005, Galvanized steel pipes, black leather, black leather men\'s belts, galvanized chains, clamps
Courtesy the artist. © Monica Bonvicini and VG-Bildkunst, Bonn / Photo: Rikke Luna
Monica Bonvicini, Never Again, 2005, Galvanized steel pipes, black leather, black leather men's belts, galvanized chains, clamps, Approx. 350 x 1600 x 1100 cm

With I do You, starting on November 25, the Neue Nationalgalerie honors Monica Bonvicini as one of the most important and influential contemporary artists - not only for Berlin. The exhibition could certainly be described as unique: Visitors will be able to view site-specific architectural installations, as well as sculptural objects, performative and sonic works. The compilation works its way into the architecture of the museum, engaging all the senses and evoking a new perception of space while visiting the exhibition. The announcement of direct physical interaction thus draws interested visitors to the upper hall, where the solo exhibition runs through May 7, 2023.

Bonvivini forged a close bond with Berlin more than twenty years ago. Back then, she approached the immense structural transformation of the cityscape with her sculpture 2 Tonnen Alte Nationalgalerie (2 Tons Old National Gallery, 1998). In the current exhibition, she again refers to the building of the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin Mitte. She incorporates its architecture in an unusual way, ironically and playfully unmasking the gender relations that have been enshrined in the museum - unmasking and destabilizing the building's inherent semantics. The artist brings to light »the hidden mechanisms of Western modernism, its sexual charges, and the exaggerations and mythifications that accompany them,« thereby replacing Mies van der Rohe's architecture »with a radical feminist vandalism.«Art.Salon

Monica Bonvicini, „2 Tonnen Alte Nationalgalerie“, 1998, Bauschutt der Fassade der Alten Nationalgalerie Berlin; C-print
Courtesy the artist © Monica Bonvicini und VG-Bildkunst, Bonn /Foto: Stefan Altenburger
Monica Bonvicini, „2 Tonnen Alte Nationalgalerie“, 1998, Bauschutt der Fassade der Alten Nationalgalerie Berlin; C-print,
Monica Bonvicini, Wallfuckin’, 1995/96, 48 min, b/w video, monitor, wood panels, drywall panels, aluminum studs, bricks, plaster, white paint, door, 250 x 310 x 330 cm,
Courtesy the artist. © Monica Bonvicini and VG-Bildkunst, Bonn / Photo: Jan Ralske
Monica Bonvicini, Wallfuckin’, 1995/96, 48 min, b/w video, monitor, wood panels, drywall panels, aluminum studs, bricks, plaster, white paint, door, 250 x 310 x 330 cm

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