ON MONICA BONVICINI’S “AND IF I SEE YOU SUNDAYS” EXHIBITION AT GALERIE KRINZINGER

Galerie Krinzinger is transformed into a battleground of materiality, perception, and linguistic subversion in Monica Bonvicini’s AND IF I SEE YOU SUNDAYS. This exhibition cannot be described as a passive aesthetic experience; it is a deliberate provocation, an assertion of power expressed through the interaction of material, language, and industrial force.

Bonvicini, renowned for her ability to transmute concepts of power into formal languages, immerses the viewer in a space charged with raw urgency. Upon entering, one is immediately confronted with the sheer physicality of the exhibition. The massive anchor chains that dominate the space—brutal, unyielding, and welded into sculptural deformations—seem to mock the weight they are meant to represent. These chains gleam in garish, glossy hues, creating a violent disjunction between appearance and reality. The color, precisely manipulated to engage with the gendered perception of vision, seduces the viewer into a false sense of lightness before subverting it entirely. These objects do not function as static compositions; rather, they are intentional disruptions, emblems of oppression veiled under the guise of decorative forms. In this context, Bonvicini reveals that nothing here is soft; even beauty, as presented through the chains, becomes a weaponized form.

The next phase of the assault manifests itself in Bonvicini’s use of mirrors—seemingly elegant, lacquered surfaces that initially draw the viewer in, only to reflect them back in an unsettling manner. Engraved with phrases such as Implementation of Desire and She is Such a Queen, these mirrors present a linguistic intervention that complicates the act of reflection. The words etched into the surfaces do not serve as affirmations; rather, they function as challenges, accusations, and commands that disrupt the viewer’s relationship to the work. Here, Bonvicini subverts the traditional role of the mirror as a mere reflector, instead transforming it into a consuming, alienating force. In this way, Bonvicini’s mirrors are not objects of self-reflection but agents of existential confrontation, forcing the viewer to reconsider the very nature of perception itself.

AND IF I SEE YOU SUNDAYS offers no refuge, no intellectual detachment that might allow for a passive engagement with the works. The objects on display do not merely occupy the gallery space; they dominate it, bending the environment to their will and demanding attention through sheer, relentless presence. Bonvicini’s approach here is not just a critique of power structures but an escalation into full-scale confrontation, a challenge that moves beyond analysis and into direct engagement. This exhibition is not an invitation; it is a demand.

The presence of the massive anchor chains, sculpturally shaped and coated in glossy colors, immediately captures the viewer’s attention. The paradox of their apparent lightness, which seems to defy their own weight, invites reflection on the ways in which Bonvicini manipulates the viewer's perception. Through this manipulation of material and color, Bonvicini lays bare the power structures embedded in these visual cues. Her work forces us to question the role of illusion in both the art object and the societal constructs it critiques. At the same time, the question arises: isn’t Bonvicini herself implicated in the very manipulations she critiques? Is she not, in fact, the architect of the very illusions she seeks to expose?

Words in this exhibition are not mere text but physical interventions, etched into the surfaces of the mirrors, creating a sense of permanence and inescapability. These phrases cannot be ignored; they are forcibly fixed in place, asserting themselves as a constant presence within the viewer’s gaze. Yet one must ask: to what extent do these phrases genuinely provoke new modes of thinking, and to what extent do they simply fulfill the well-worn expectations of post-feminist critique? In an age where such thematic concerns have become increasingly formulaic, there is the danger that these works might be seen less as provocative challenges and more as obligatory elements in any politically engaged exhibition.

Despite these potential reservations, Bonvicini’s work remains brutally effective. It is as sharp as a cut from a steel blade, as seductive as the deceptions we willingly impose upon ourselves. AND IF I SEE YOU SUNDAYS refuses to compromise, yet it operates within a set of well-established conceptual frameworks. Can art that seeks to be radical still function within the boundaries of established critical strategies? Moreover, is it even possible to produce an exhibition that truly undermines the expectations of an audience that is already familiar with its provocative language?

Bonvicini’s work does provoke, but perhaps less so than she might have hoped. It operates within the context of conceptual strategies that have been in place for decades, raising the question of whether true disruption is still possible within such a framework. In AND IF I SEE YOU SUNDAYS, Bonvicini confronts us with these questions, offering no easy answers but demanding that we engage with them.

Courtesy Galerie Krinzinger and Studio Monica Bonvicini, Photos: Carmen Alber.

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