Kiki Smith Light Past Sep 9 – Oct 31, 2020 Geneva Light will examine Smith’s central themes of spirituality, mortality, mysticism, and their interconnections with the natural world.The first exhibition of Smith’s work presented at Pace in Geneva, Light will coincide with Hearing You with My Eyes, a solo-exhibition presented at MCBA Musée cantonal des Beaux‑Arts of Lausanne, from 9 October 2020 – 10 January 2021. Exhibition DetailsKiki SmithLightSep 9 – Oct 31, 2020 Gallery15-17 Quai des BerguesGenevaAbove: Installation view, Kiki Smith: Light, September 9 – October 31, 2020, Pace Gallery, Geneva © Kiki Smith PressPress Release - EnglishPress Release - French Connect (opens in a new window) @pacegallery Kiki Smith is recognized for her multidisciplinary practice through which she explores the human condition. Drawn to the cogency of repetition in narratives and symbolic representations, much of Smith’s work is inspired by the visual culture of the past, spanning scientific anatomical renderings from the eighteenth century to the abject imagery of relics, memento mori, folklore, mythology, Byzantine iconography, and medieval altarpieces. Centered on the literal and symbolic meaning of light, the exhibition at Quai des Bergues will feature works from 1997 to 2019, spanning the full spectrum of media including sculpture, tapestry, print, and works on paper. Light will underscore the truly multifaceted approach to art-making Smith has pursued throughout her oeuvre.The 2017 series, the light of the world exemplifies Kiki Smith’s interest in both the aesthetic and processes of light. Made by etching delicate marks onto Plexiglas plates and then placing them one on top of the other over light sensitive paper, these cyanotype prints are an innovative reworking of the artist’s long-standing printmaking practice. By stacking the plates, Smith plays with the refraction of light, creating varying degrees of sharp and faint impressions. The resulting dreamlike compositions address not only the systems of nature, but also to the ways in which light shapes, distorts, clarifies and blurs the world around us. In contrast, Spectrum I, II, III, 2010, take man made electrical light from a hanging bulb as their subject. In so doing, Smith’s practice seeks to explore the multitude ways in which light is harnessed and experienced. Read More We are part of the natural world and our identity is completely attached to our relationship to our habitat and animals. I am making images for things I think merit attention. It’s a quieter way. Kiki Smith Kiki Smith, Oak Leaves IV, 2018, bronze, 11-1/4" × 10-1/2" × 2" (28.6 cm × 26.7 cm × 5.1 cm) © Kiki Smith It is this universal, yet oft forgotten, intersection of the human world and the natural world that captivates so much of Kiki Smith’s work. Through her practice, Smith creates a world in which all things – be they humans, animals, nature or the cosmos – are given equal weighting. Whether it is a delicate bronze wall sculpture such as Oak Leaves IV, 2018, a minute bronze sculpture of a snail titled Wives and Mistresses, 2019, or a monumental intricately executed Jacquard tapestry like Earth, 2012, Kiki Smith approaches her subjects with a democratic view that is at once unifying and equalizing. Integrating the celestial universe into this realm, Quiver, 2018, an installation made of bronze with gold and silver leaf depicts a female form partially obscured by small particles that radiate out into the surrounding space. Smith creates a feeling of other worldly spiritualism, commenting on our fluid relationship to the world around us. Similarly, the Sungrazer sculptures crystalize fleeting stars in motion through dense bronze. These wall mounted works are almost corporeal in their form, and much like Quiver, remind us that we are all made of the same substance. In the end, we are all just matter. Read More Kiki Smith, Earth, 2012, cotton Jacquard tapestry, 9' 10" × 76-1/2" (299.7 cm × 194.3 cm) © Kiki Smith Through Sorcery, a series of nine etchings on Hahnemühle paper, Smith explores the mythological and folkloric within nature. These meticulously crafted artworks look to the minutiae of the natural world to examine themes of ageing, storytelling and magic. These works on paper resonate with Shadow 1 and 2, new bronze standing sculptures of the moon that speak to not only of the beauty of natural forms but also the forces that govern our universe. Light follows the 2019 critically acclaimed exhibitions of Smith presented at Monnaie de Paris, France, and Modern Art Oxford, UK. Thirty years ago, Smith was the subject of an exhibition at Centre d’Art Contemporain de Genève. It was Smith’s first solo-exhibition in Europe. On the occasion of the MCBA Musée cantonal des Beaux‑Arts’ exhibition, a fully illustrated catalogue is forthcoming. Read More Kiki SmithKiki Smith (American, b. 1954, Nuremberg, Germany) is recognized for her multidisciplinary practice through which she explores the human condition. The body, mortality, regeneration, gender politics, as well as the interconnection of spirituality and the natural world are observed through a postmodern lens. Her expansive practice resonates personally and universally, manifesting in sculpture, glassmaking, printmaking, watercolor, photography, and textile, among other production methods. Drawn to the cogency of repetition in narratives and symbolic representations, much of Smith’s work is inspired by the visual culture of the past, spanning scientific anatomical renderings from the eighteenth century to the abject imagery of relics, memento mori, folklore, mythology, Byzantine iconography, and medieval altarpieces.Learn More