Monica Bonvicini

Among the most important artists of her generation, Monica Bonvicini’s evocative and thought-provoking sculptures, installations, texts, photographs, videos and public projects explore the relationship between architecture, gender and power. For the past three decades, Bonvicini’s multifaceted practice has confronted issues of institutional critique and the politics of space. While the idea of the built environment is central to Bonvicini’s research so is the concept of destruction. Her work aims to expose and destabilize outdated social and political structures in ironic and playful ways. Dry-humored and direct, 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.

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Born in Venice, Italy, Monica Bonvicini currently lives and works in Berlin, Germany. The artist studied at the Universität der Künste in Berlin and the California Institute of the Arts in Valencia, CA.

Since the 1990s, Monica Bonvicini has had numerous exhibitions and projects around the world. In 2022, the artist had a major solo exhibition at Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin. Other significant solo exhibitions include Hurricanes and other Catastrophes at Kunstmuseum Winterthur, Switzerland (2022), I Don’t Like You Very Much at Kunsthaus Graz, Austria (2022), LOVER’S MATERIAL at Kunsthalle Bielefeld, Germany (2020), I CANNOT HIDE MY ANGER at Belvedere 21 Museum of Contemporary Art, Vienna (2019), As Walls Keep Shifting at OGR, Turin, Italy (2019), Monica Bonvicini at Berlinische Galerie, Berlin (2017), her hand around the room at BALTIC Center for Contemporary Art, Gateshead, Newcastle (2016), BOTH ENDS at Kunsthalle Fridericianum, Kassel (2011), Desire Deseise Devise at Deichtorhallen, Hamburg (2012), Monica Bonvicini at Frac des Pays de la Loire, Carquefou, France (2009), Monica Bonvicini / Tom Burr at Kunstmuseum Basel, Switzerland (2009), Focus: Monica Bonvicini–Light Me Black at Art Institute of Chicago (2009), NEVER MISSING A LINE at Sculpture Center, New York (2007), Monica Bonvicini at Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2002), among others.

Bonvicini has earned several awards, including the Golden Lion at the Biennale di Venezia (1999); the Preis der Nationalgalerie für junge Kunst, from the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (2005); the Rolandpreis für Kunst for Art in Public Space from the Foundation Bremen, Germany (2013); the Hans Platschek Prize for Art and Writing, Germany (2019); the Oskar Kokoschka Prize, Austria (2020).

Monica Bonvicini’s works can be found permanently installed in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London; on the waterfront at Bjørvika, before the Den Norske Opera & Ballett House, Oslo; the Istanbul Museum of Modern Art (2003-2019); and the Weserburg Museum of Modern Art, Bremen, among others.

Bonvicini’s work is represented in the permanent collection of Museum of Modern Art, New York; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN; Istanbul Museum of Art, Istanbul, Turkey; Museo d´Arte Moderna di Bologna, Italy; MAXXI, Rome, Italy; Castello di Rivoli, Turin, Italy; Jumex Museum, Mexico City, Mexico; MAMbo, Museo d´Arte Moderna di Bologna, Italy; Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Zürich, Switzerland; Museion, Bozen, Italy; Museum Sztuki, Lodz, Poland; Neue Galerie, Graz, Austria; Neue Nationalgalerie Berlin, Germany; Neues Museum Weimar, Weimar, Germany; Sharjah Art Foundation, Sharjah, UAE; Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Kupferstichkabinett, Berlin, Germany; Städtisches Museum Abteiberg, Mönchengladbach, Germany; Volpinum Kunstsammlung, Vienna, Austria, among others.