Alicja Kwade

Kwade is known internationally for sculptures, large-scale public installations, films, photographs, and works on paper that engage poetically and critically with scientific and philosophical concepts. Through a distinctive vocabulary encompassing reflection, repetition, and the manipulation of everyday objects and natural materials, the artist raises questions about structures and systems that govern and shape our daily lives. In her contemplative works, which dismantle boundaries of perception, she challenges commonly accepted ideas and beliefs while proposing new modes of seeing and understanding reality.

At the center of Alicja Kwade: Telos Tales are three large-scale sculptures in which powder-coated steel frames gradually transform into amorphous, tree-like bronze forms. The architectural, linear structures slowly dissolve into organic shapes, as if one material is evolving into the other. The sculptures unfold into a distinct, self-contained configuration—complete in itself, yet intrinsically connected to a larger conceptual framework. Each work is named for a concept from Aristotle’s fourfold theory of causes: Causa Materialis, Causa Efficiens, and Causa Formalis. The fourth cause, Causa Finalis—the purpose, or telos—remains unnamed but not unconsidered: it is implicit in the exhibition’s title.

A second group of works, Phase Chase I–III, explores the intangible nature of time. Each piece consists of a highly polished stainless steel pipe, subtly varied in diameter and length, suspended from the ceiling. Embedded within each pipe is a double-sided clock face, mirrored from within to create a multiplication of reflections that appear to dissolve into these curved, reflective surfaces. Two of the pipes hang high above and pierce directly through two of the tree-like sculptures below, while the third floats just above the floor, concluding the installation at the far end of the gallery.

Though distinct in form and concept, these two groups of works engage in a dynamic dialogue. Material and time intersect, literally and conceptually, generating a space in which perception, causality, and temporality become intertwined.

In this immersive exhibition, Kwade deepens her long-standing interest in time as a structuring principle of perception, reality, and causality. Her works reflect on the cyclical, linear, and ultimately elusive nature of temporal experience and its interdependence on both natural and constructed systems—an ongoing theme in her practice. This presentation showcases new developments in Kwade’s engagement with material, form, and concept, and it exemplifies the experimental spirit that has defined her work from the very beginning of her career.

Kwade’s exhibition at Pace in New York will follow her first solo institutional presentation in Hong Kong, which was presented this year at Tai Kwun. In the fall, the artist will mount a solo exhibition at M Leuven in Belgium.