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Press release

Alexandra Bircken: A–Z

28 July 2021 - 16 January 2022, Lower Level | PRESS PREVIEW on 27 July 2021 at 11:00 a.m.

Die Abbildung zeigt die Skulptur mit dem Titel 'RSV 4' (2020) der Künstlerin Alexandra Bircken. Zu sehen ist ein Motorrad, das in der Mitte auseinander geschnitten wurde.
Press text as PDF

Press release

Alexandra Bircken: A–Z

 

Press Preview: 27 July 2021, 11:00 a.m.
Opening: 27 July 2021, from 5:30 p.m.
Exhibition: 28 July 2021 – 16 January 2022

 

The exhibition at Museum Brandhorst is the artist’s largest solo show to date, and it seeks to capture her sculptural repertoire of forms from “A–Z”; from her exploration of textiles and the cultural technique of knotting, to the congruence of the human body and its environment, to almost living and organic-seeming machines.

 

You are cordially invited to a press preview in the presence of the artist on Tuesday, July 27, at 11 a.m.. Please obtain accreditation by no later than 11 a.m. on July 26, 2021 at presse@museum-brandhorst.de. Capacity is limited due to current Covid-19 regulations.

 

Program

Inaugural address | Prof. Dr. Bernhard Maaz, Director General Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen
Inaugural address | Achim Hochdörfer, Director Museum Brandhorst
Introduction | Dr. Monika Bayer-Wermuth, Curator of the exhibition

Opportunity to pose questions to Alexandra Bircken and Dr. Monika Bayer-Wermuth
Exhibition viewing
Possibility to make film and photographic recordings in the exhibition

 

I am concerned with our immediate environment. The architecture in which we move, as well as the fabrics in which we wrap ourselves. Ultimately, it always comes back to the protection and, at the same time, the vulnerability of our bodies. Our skin is also a shell and at the same time the interface between inside and outside. This is where I start.

— Alexandra Bircken

 

The Berlin-based artist (*1967) has been Professor of Sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts Munich since 2018, and is known for her sculptures and installations, for which she draws on an unusual range of materials: from everyday objects such as hair-dye packaging, rocking horses and sawn-up motorcycles, through textiles in handmade and machine-processed form to organic matter such as wood, leather, bones, or even a placenta. Anything that surrounds us can become a sculptural medium. Her approach is characterized by an examination of the human body, its needs, desires, and relationship to its environment. Highly topical questions such as the need for protection of the individual, gender identity in its ambivalence, and the relationship between humans and machines inevitably resonate in Bircken’s sculptures.

 

The exhibition „Alexandra Bircken: A–Z“ brings together works from throughout her practice: from the first sculpture completed in Bircken’s store-front studio “Alex” in Cologne in 2003 to installations that she conceived especially for the space at Museum Brandhorst. Rather than proceeding chronologically, this show uses themes and formal concepts to progress through the artist’s oeuvre.

 

The exhibition is accompanied by a comprehensive publication. In addition to a large picture essay, six contributions by internationally renowned authors examine the artist’s work from different perspectives.

328 pages, ca. 240 color images

German edition: ISBN 3775750436
English edition: ISBN 3775750428

 

Curator: Dr. Monika Bayer-Wermuth

 

The exhibition is supported by

Jan Fischer

PIN. Freunde der Pinakothek der Moderne e.V.

 

Media partner:

ZÜNDFUNK Bayern2

 

#MBAlexandraBircken
#MuseumBrandhorst

Press photos

Alexandra Bircken auf der Treppe im Museum Brandhorst sitzend.

Alexandra Bircken at Museum Brandhorst

Portrait of Alexandra Bircken

Key Visual „Alexandra Bircken: A–Z“

Key Visual „Alexandra Bircken: A–Z“

Key Visual „Alexandra Bircken: A–Z“