Monika Sosnowska – Kauno Bienalė

Monika Sosnowska

Poland

Monika Sosnowska

C and Concrete, 2017

Concrete and metal

Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth

Personal and collective memories inform Monika Sosnowska’s sculptural works that challenge our experience of the built environment. The artist witnessed first-hand the rapid transformation that took hold of her hometown of Warsaw following the change from communist to neo-liberal governance. As she remarks, architecture often embodies political, even utopian, aspirations. The artist looks beyond the skin of buildings to reveal the materiality of their structural elements, such as concrete, rebar and steel beams. Through skillful and surprising manipulation, she renders these rigid materials vulnerable and pliable. C and Concrete particularly resonates in Kaunas. In a similar way to what was experienced in Warsaw, the city is in a moment of important transition. While some buildings are being demolished or shrouded, the fate of many others is unknown. In the context of the newly built House of Basketball, Sosnowska’s sculpture might be interpreted as a trace of what may have stood here before.