ALICJA KWADE
BIG BE-HIDE
25 FEBRUARY – 31 MAY 2022
Alicja Kwade’s BIG BE-HIDE, 2022 presented in Gstaad as part of Elevation's show "Echoes", is concerned with the interplay of ‘being’ and ‘hiding’. A found stone and its replica cast in aluminum sit across each side of a two-sided mirror. The stone and its counterpart overlap perfectly in reflection, yet uncannily. From one perspective, the mirrored glass may appear as a normal reflecting plane, bearing an unchallenged reflection of the object in its gaze. As the viewer changes perspectives, the mirror begins to deny its reflectivity and appears as a transparent – yet transformational – window through which a natural stone looks onto its shiny metal double. Moving around the piece, the glass may gradually conceal parts of one of the objects, but in return, it will always complete what's missing by revealing its exact complement in a different material.
© Images Andrea Furger