i8 Gallery presents Alicja Kwade’s solo exhibition, The Necessity of Things. Through her diverse artistic practice, Alicja delves into the essence of reality and examines social constructs. Her sculptures and installations, some of which is shown for the first time at Voorlinden, create immersive experiences that will challenge your perception and make you reflect on the nature of reality as you know it.
Asking questions is at the forefront of Alicja Kwade’s work. Her work begins where she no longer understands. Her work investigates scientific and philosophical concepts, challenging the very foundations of our comprehension of reality. Often veering towards the absurd and transforming commonly accepted assumptions into open-ended questions, she challenges the established norms and models that shape our daily lives, prompting a reevaluation of our understanding of existence.
The exhibition covers both the museum and the estate. A major highlight are two monumental outdoor installations created especially for this exhibition, consisting of interlocking curved steel frames supporting substantial boulders that appear to defy gravity. An arrangement of cast bronze chairs and stones, engaged in what appears to be a confrontation, leads you into the museum, where the exhibition begins with a shower of bell weights. To accentuate Alicja’s awe-inspiring work, the museum floors have been whitened, adding a dimension of alienation to the overall experience.