Monica Bonvicini’s site-specific installation in a deconsecrated church adds another step to the artist’s practice centered on the interaction between artwork, viewer and architecture. With imposing sculptures from the series “Chainswings” dominating the nave, Bonvicini continues her incisive exploration of the dynamics of power inherent in architectural spaces, bringing her investigation to new levels of complexity and resonance.
These performative sculptures, which oscillate between play and submission, are made with galvanized steel chains and embody a provocative synthesis of industrial aesthetics and sub-cultural allusions, challenging the expectations associated with both contemporary art ad sacred spaces.
The installation is critically inserted in the current debate about the role of art in public spaces and the participatory nature of artistic experience. By inviting visitors to physical interaction, Bonvicini subverts the traditional dynamic of passive contemplation, transforming the audience into an active co-creator of the work.
The choice of a deconsecrated church as an exhibition space amplifies the importance of the work, creating a tense dialogue between sacred and profane, institutional and subversive. This gesture not only highlights Bonvicini’s ability to respond eloquently to architectural spaces, but also raises crucial questions about the re-appropriation of public spaces and the fluidity of the boundaries between art, architecture and social criticism.
“And Rose” immerses itself in the central points of Bonvicini’s practice: feminism, sexuality, power and institutional criticism. However, in this context, these themes acquire new nuances, inviting a reflection on the persistence of power structures even in apparently desacralized spaces.
Monica Bonvicini
Among the most important artists of her generation, Monica Bonvicini’s practice investigates the relationship between architecture, power structures, gender and space. Her research is translated into works that question the meaning of making art, the ambiguity of language, and the limits and possibilities connected to the ideal of freedom. Dry-humored, direct, and imbued with historical, political and social references, Bonvicini’s art never refrains from establishing a critical connection with the sites where it is exhibited, its materials, and the roles of spectator and creator.
Since her first solo exhibition at the California Institute of the Arts in 1991, her approach has formally evolved without betraying its analytical force and inclination to challenge the viewer’s perspective while taking hefty sideswipes at patriarchal, socio-cultural conventions.
Her works have been featured in many prominent biennials, including Busan (2020), Venice (2015, 2011, 2005, 2001), Berlin (2014, 2004, 1998), Istanbul (2017, 2003), New Orleans (2008), Gwangju (2006), Shanghai (2002), Santa Fe (1999). They have also been presented in major museums around the globe, such as MAXXI, Rome (2024, 2018), Kunsthaus Zürich (2023), Deichtorhallen, Hamburg (2023, 2019, 2017, 2012, 2010), Nationalgalerie, Berlin (2022), Kunst Museum Winterthur (2022), Art Sonje Center, Seoul (2022), Castello di Rivoli, Turin (2021, 2005), Belvedere 21, Vienna (2019), National Gallery of Denmark, Copenhagen (2019), BALTIC Center for Contemporary Art, Gateshead, Newcastle (2016), Kunsthalle Fridericianum, Kassel (2011), Art Institute of Chicago (2009), MoMa PS1, New York (2009), Kunstmuseum Basel (2009), Sculpture Center, New York (2007), Secession, Vienna (2003), Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2002).
Bonvicini has earned several awards, including the Oskar Kokoschka Prize, Austria (2020), the Rolandpreis für Kunst for Art in Public Space from the Foundation Bremen, Germany (2013), the Preis der Nationalgalerie für junge Kunst, from the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (2005) and the Golden Lion at the Biennale di Venezia (1999). Some of her public works are permanently installed in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London; on the waterfront at Bjørvika, before the Den Norske Opera & Ballett House, Oslo; and at the Weserburg Museum of Modern Art, Bremen.
Monica Bonvicini studied art at Universität der Künste in Berlin and at the California Institute of the Arts, Los Angeles. As a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, Bonvicini led the Performative Arts and Sculpture courses from 2003 until 2017. In October 2017, she assumed the professorship for Sculpture at the Universität der Künste, Berlin. Monica Bonvicini lives and works in Berlin.
