biography

Born in Venice in 1965, Monica Bonvicini lives and works in Berlin.

Monica Bonvicini emerged as visual artist and started exhibiting internationally in the mid-1990s. Her multifaceted practice—which investigates the relationship between architecture, power and gender—is translated into works that question the meaning of making art, the ambiguity of language, the limits and possibilities attached 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, the materials that comprise it, and the roles of spectator and creator. This approach, which has been at the core of her production since her first solo exhibition at the California Institute of the Arts in 1991, has formally evolved over the years without betraying its analytical force and inclination to challenge the viewer’s perspective while taking hefty sideswipes at socio-cultural conventions.

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Born in Venice in 1965, Monica Bonvicini lives and works in Berlin.

Monica Bonvicini emerged as visual artist and started exhibiting internationally in the mid-1990s. Her multifaceted practice—which investigates the relationship between architecture, power and gender—is translated into works that question the meaning of making art, the ambiguity of language, the limits and possibilities attached 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, the materials that comprise it, and the roles of spectator and creator. This approach, which has been at the core of her production since her first solo exhibition at the California Institute of the Arts in 1991, has formally evolved over the years without betraying its analytical force and inclination to challenge the viewer’s perspective while taking hefty sideswipes at socio-cultural conventions.

Bonvicini studied art in Berlin and at Cal Arts, Valencia, CA, USA. From 2003 to 2017 she was teaching Performative Arts and Sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. In October 2017 she assumes the professorship for sculpture at the Universität der Künste, Berlin. The artist has earned several awards, including the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennial (1999); the Preis der Nationalgalerie für junge Kunst, from the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (2005); the Rolandpreis für public Art Bremen, Germany (2013), the Hans Platschek Prize for Art and Writing, Germany (2019); the 2019 Premio ACACIA alla Carriera, Milan; and the prestigious Oskar Kokoschka Prize, Vienna (2020). Her work has been featured in many prominent biennials, including Berlin (1998, 2004, 2014), La TriennaIe Paris (2012), Istanbul (2003, 2017), Gwangju (2006), New Orleans (2008), Venice (1999, 2001, 2005, 2011, 2015) and Busan (2020). She has had solo exhibitions at Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2002); Modern Art Oxford, Oxford, UK (2003); Secession, Vienna (2003); Staedtisches Museum Abteiberg, Mönchengladbach, Germany (2005, 2012); SculptureCenter, New York, NY, USA (2007); Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA (2009); Kunstmuseum Basel, Switzerland (2009); Frac des Pays de la Loire, France (2009); Kunsthalle Fridericianum, Kassel, Germany (2011); Centro de Arte Contemporaneo de Malága, Malága (2011); Deichtorhallen Hamburg, Germany (2012); Kunsthalle Mainz, Germany (2013); BALTIC Center for Contemporary Art, Gateshead, UK (2016); Berlinische Galerie, Berlin (2017); Belvedere 21, Vienna (2019): OGR Officine Grandi Riparazioni, Turin, Italy (2019); Kunsthalle Bielefeld, Bielefeld (2021); Kunstmuseum Winterthur (2022); Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin (2022). Recent group exhibitions include Women House, La Monnaie de Paris, traveled to the National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, DC, USA (2018); The Street. Where the World Is Made, MAXXI Museo nazionale delle arti del XXI secolo, Rome (2018); States of Mind: Art and American Democracy, Moody Art Center for the Arts, Rice University, Houston, TX, USA (2020), There I Belong. Hammershøi by Elmgreen & Dragset, National Gallery of Denmark, Copenhagen (2020); Punto di equilibrio, MAXXI L’Aquila, Italy (2021); Minimalism-Maximalism-Mechanissmmm Act 1–Act 2, Art Sonje Center, Seoul (2022). Il giardino dell’arte, Centro Pecci, Prato (2022).

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images

Doors

Open Room, 2022

2 components lacquer, mirror, aluminum

150 × 100 × 1,7 cm

Pleasant

Why Pleasant, 2022

Paint on mirror

150 × 100 × 3,6 cm

Plush, 2022

Paint on mirror

150 × 100 × 3,6 cm

Alabama 2011, 2016

Diptych

Tempera and spray paint on Fabriano paper mounted on canvas

198 × 307 cm overall; 2 pieces 198 x 153 cm

Point Your Fingers, 2019

Tempera and spray on Fabriano paper

150 × 100 cm

The Vocation, 2020

Tempera and spray paint on Fabriano paper, mounted on aluminum

150 × 100 cm; 155,7 × 105,7 × 5 cm framed

Your Gift, 2020

Tempera and spray paint on Fabriano paper

150 × 100 cm

Hang Your Dry, 2018

LED tubes, wire, rubber caps, electric cable, silver tape, chrome bar, troughed sheets

230 × 232 × 35 cm

Photo: Nicola Morittu

Come on Home/blue, 2021

Murano glass, mirror, ash wood

55 × 50 × 12,6 cm

Photo: Ed. 3 + 2 AP

Breathing, 2017

Installation view at Art Basel | Unlimited 2019

Steel structure, compressed air cylinder, compressor, rope, synthetic fiber, leather belts

Dimensions variable

Photo: Andrea Rossetti

Leather Tool ('triangle end' hammer), 2009

Leather, leather string, hammer

3 × 28,3 × 16,5 cm

Photo: Thomas Bruns

Blind Corner, 2004

Ink and tempera marker on paper

71,5 × 90 cm; 76 x 95 x 4,5 cm framed

Diener/Danish, 2017

brass, iron, wood

190 × 20 × 57 cm

Diener/Elegant Leather, 2017

brass, iron, leather

190 × 20 × 57 cm

Italian Homes #4, 2019

Pigment print on paper

59 × 79,5 cm; 60,5 × 81 × 3,5 cm framed; 39 x 59,5 cm image size

Italian Homes #7, 2019

Pigment print on paper

59 × 79,5 cm; 60,5 × 81 × 3,5 cm framed; 39 x 59,5 cm image size

Italian Homes #28, 2019

Pigment print on paper

59 × 79,5 cm; 60,5 × 81 × 3,5 cm framed; 39 x 59,5 cm image size

Places of ID (Three People at the...), 2002

Tempera marker on Fabriano paper

150 × 130 cm; 160 × 141 × 5,5 cm framed

Photo: Lorenzo Palmieri

Women Carrousel, 2002

Tempera marker on Fabriano paper

150 × 130 cm; 160 × 141 × 5,5 cm framed

Photo: Lorenzo Palmieri

Power Joy Humor Resistance, 2020

Installation view at Italian Cultural Institute Stockholm

Red neon tube letters, aluminum frames, electric cables

330 x 300 cm

Photo: David Puig Serinyà

© Monica Bonvicini and VG Bild-Kunst / Bildupphovsrätt i Sverige, courtesy the artist and Italian Cultural Institute Stockholm

15 Steps to the Virgin / Block 4, 2011

Installation view at Museo del Novecento, Milan, 2019

Wood, silver PVC

167 × 222 × 131 cm

Photo: F. Manusardi

Premio ACACIA alla Carriera / Collezione Museo del Novecento

public exhibitions

Neue Nationalgalerie

Berlin, Germany

I do you

25.11.2022 – 30.4.2023

Kunstmuseum Winterthur

Winterthur, Switzerland

Hurricanes and Other Catastrophes

7.9 – 13.11.2022

Kunsthaus Graz

Graz, Austria

I don’t like you very much

22.4 – 21.8.2022

Centro Pecci

Prato, Italy

Il giardino dell’arte. Opere, collezioni

27.3 – 24.7.2022

Photo: Ela Bialkowska OKNOstudio

Virserums konsthall

Virserum, Sweden

Hem hemska hem

18.4 – 5.12.2021

Courtesy: Virserums konsthall

ATO Art Takes Over

Via della Spiga, Milano

Trasformazione

20.4 – 30.6.2021

Photo: Andrea Rossetti

Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea

Rome

Io dico Io – I say I

1.3 – 23.5.2021

Photo: Monkeys VideoLab

Kunsthalle Bielefeld

Bielefeld, Germany

LOVER'S MATERIAL

10.10.2020 – 21.2.2021

Photo: Jens Ziehe

Kunstmuseum Stuttgart

Stuttgart, Germany

Wände Walls

26.9.2020 – 31.1.2021

Photo: Frank Kleinbach © Kunstmuseum Stuttgart

OGR

Torino

As Walls Keep Shifting

31.10.2019 – 9.2.2020

Photo Andrea Rossetti Courtesy OGR Torino

Belvedere 21

Vienna

I Cannot Hide My Anger

28.6 – 27.10.2019

Photo: Jens Ziehe

Kunstverein Hamburg

Hamburg

2019-05-17

Political Affairs - Language Is Not Innocent

21.7.2019

Photo: Fred Dott

Kunsthal Charlottenborg

Charlottenborg

Europa Endlos

21.3 – 11.8.2019

Photo: Norbert Miguletz

KAI 10 | ARTHENA FOUNDATION

Düsseldorf

Body in Pieces

22.2 – 12.5.2019

Photo: Hans-Georg Gaul

Kunstverein Hamburg

Hamburg

Class Relations: Phantoms of Perception

27.10.2018 – 27.1.2019

Photo: Fred Dott

Berlinische Galerie

Berlin

3612,54 M³ VS 0,05 M³

16.9.2017 – 26.2.2018

Photo: Jens Ziehe

15th Istanbul Biennial

Hamam

Istanbul

a good neighbour

16.9 – 12.11.2017

Photo: Sahir Ugur Eren

BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art

Gateshead

her hand around the room

18.11.2016 – 26.2.2017

press

Monica Bonvicini in conversation with Richard Pallardy

Richard Pallardy

ODDA Magazine

March 2023

Il femminismo 3.0 di Monica Bonvicini

Francesco Bonami

Vanity Fair

February 15, 2023

Die Klünsteriche Ehrfarüng der Architektur

Francesca Interlenghi

Stayinart

October 2, 2020

Chi decidiamo di essere

Valentina De' Mathà

Hestetika Magazine

January 2020

In the Studio: Monica Bonvicini

Sylvia Metz

Collectors Agenda

September 2019

Glamour, Fetish, Durchschlangskraft

Elke Buhr

Monopol

September 2019

Extended Stage: Monica Bonvicini

Ippolito Pestellini Laparelli

Mousse

October 2019

Monica Bonvicini on Her New Massive Sculpture on View in Berlin, a 33-Foot-Long Whip

Kate Brown

Artnet News

December 5, 2017

Six things you need to know about Monica Bonvicini

Fetishism, Freud and transparent toilets - a brief guide to this great Italian artist’s work

Phaidon

June 2017

publications

I do you

Hiebert Grun, Irina; Jäger, Joachim; Adjaye, David; Diederichsen, Diedrich; Gamboni, Dario (texts by)

Neue Nationalgalerie, DISTANZ Verlag GmbH

Berlin

2023

Hot Like Hell

Ed. Christina Végh, texts by Christina Végh, Colin Lang

Snoeck Verlagsgesellschaft mbH

Cologne

2021

Monica Bonvicini: I CANNOT HIDE MY ANGER

Julia Bryan-Wilson, Axel Koehne, Stella Rollig, Mark Wigley

Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König

Berlin

2019

Monica Bonvicini

Dr. Thomas Köhler, Kate Sutton

Kerber

Bielefeld

2017

Monica Bonvicini

Janet Kraynak, Alexander Alberro, Juliane Rebentisch

Phaidon

London

2014

Monica Bonvicini - Disegni

Dirk Luckow, Harald Falckenberg, Susanne Titz, Monica Bonvicini, Bettina Steinbrügge

Distanz

Berlin

2012

A Black Hole of Needs, Hopes and Ambitions

Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König

Berlin

2011

7+1 Project Rooms – Monica Bonvicini – Identify Protection

M. Mühling

MARCO, Museo de Arte Contemporanea de Vigo

Vigo

2010

video


Monica Bonvicini – I Don't Like You Very Much | Kunsthaus Graz

2022

Exhibition teaser featuring Monica Bonvicini. Video © Kunsthaus Graz.


Monica Bonvicini – Breathing, 2017

2019

Installation video at Art Basel | Unlimited 2019. Video: Andrea Rossetti.

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