Monika Sosnowska Fire Escape   From 2 September 2023

Monika Sosnowska. Fire Escape

Polish artist Monika Sosnowska (*1972 in Ryki, Poland), who has represented her country at the Venice Biennale 2007, is one of the most well-known sculptors of her generation. Her preferred materials come from building and construction. Along with cement, she chiefly uses steel bars, rebar, and pipes that often appear to have collapsed or have become deformed. Sosnowska is inspired by nondescript building elements such as handrails and banisters, traditional modern architecture, and disappearing evidence of the Communist period in Poland. Her sculptures and installations explore issues dealing with history, memory, and identity.

In the Kunstverein's anniversary year, Monika Sosnowska presents the large-scale sculpture Fire Escape on the façade of the Kunsthalle building.

The installation on the façade of the Kunsthalle Bremen is presented by the Supporters’ Circle for Contemporary Art in the Kunstverein Bremen.

(Fig. top of the page: Monika Sosnowska, Fire Escape, 2012 (Detail), Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Commission; Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Gisela Capitain, Cologne. installation view, Skyscraper: Art and Architecture Against Gravity, MCA Chicago, 2012, photo: Nathan Keay, © MCA Chicago)