Sculpture Talk: Alexandra Pirici

‘Sculpture, alive: materiality and mutability of form, structure and meaning’

In this online talk, Alexandra Pirici discusses her work with a focus on the living body and the concept of sculpture from a performative perspective. The talk highlights the capacity of sculpture’s materiality to intrinsically convey meaning and the possibility to be interpreted within its context. Pirici explores the relationship of the sculptural object/subject with its surroundings, its ability to be porous or opaque, looking at the pierced forms and hollow spaces found in Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore’s sculpture. Finally she discusses the notion of the “public” in public art and the ongoing negotiation of presence and visibility that it affords.

Alexandra Pirici works in museum contexts, theatrical frameworks and the public space. She choreographs ongoing actions, performative monuments and performative environments that fuse dance, sculpture, spoken word and music. Her works deal with monumentality or the history of specific place and institutions in order to playfully tackle and transform existing hierarchies. They also reflect on the history and function of gestures in art and popular culture or on questions about the body, its presence, absence or image and the politics of capture. Her performative artworks are part of private and public collections as live actions.

Alexandra Pirici (b. 1982, Bucharest, Romania) is an artist with a background in dance and choreography who works undisciplined, across different mediums. Her works have been exhibited internationally at venues including Tate Modern, London; New Museum, New York; Centre Pompidou, Paris; Museum Ludwig, Cologne; the Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven; Russian Museum, St. Petersburg; Neuer Berliner Kunstverein; HAU Theatre, Berlin; Museum of Modern Art, Warsaw. Her work has been included in Skulptur Projekte Munster 2017; Chicago Architecture Biennale; Venice Biennale ‐ Romanian Pavilion at the 55th edition; Art Basel Messeplatz; 9th Berlin Biennale and Manifesta 10, St Petersburg.