Kasia Fudakowski
Kasia Fudakowski (b. 1985, London, UK) lives and works in Berlin. She studied at the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art, Oxford University, graduating in 2006 before moving to Berlin.
Her diverse and playful practice, which includes sculpture, film, performance, and writing, explores social riddles through material encounters, surreal logic and comic theory. Her ever-expanding, life-long sculpture Continuouslessness, (2017- ongoing), employs a fixed modular system of connecting panels to allow for complete sculptural freedom within its rigid framework, and is intended to reach completion only in the event of the artist’s death.
Often referring to the allure and danger of binary categorization and the subsequent absurdity that it unfolds in our political and social climate, her work reveals the discrepancies amongst cultural norms. Her interest in the limitations of language is explored through her ongoing film series Word Count, (2016- ongoing) which takes as its premise a globally limiting law on the amount of permitted spoken words.
Where she employs comic mechanisms, the tragic is never far behind, so that her work often hovers between the horrific and the comic. Frequently the target of her own attacks, she explores her own role as an artist and the stereotype thereof with both a seriousness and irreverence typical of her approach. Her long-term infatuation with failure, and redefining success, has resulted in a number of tragi-comic performances and pieces of writing.
In 2019, she participated in the BMCT residency at IKSV, Istanbul, received the Villa Romana Fellowship in 2017 and the Fürstenberg Contemporary residency in 2016. She was a recipient of the Günther Peill Foundation grant from 2018 to 2020.
Fudakowski’s work has been exhibited in venues such as Palazzo Grassi – Punta della Dogana, Venice; Museum Ludwig, Cologne; Sprengel Museum Hannover; LOKremise – Kunstmuseum, St.Gallen; Deutsches Hygiene-Museum, Dresden; 15th Istanbul Biennial; SALTS, Basel; Kunstverein Braunschweig; Kunstverein für die Rheinlande und Westfalen; Museo Marino Marini, Florence; 1646, The Hague, Futura Centre for Contemporary Art, Prague; Max Pechstein Museum, Zwickau; GAK Gesellschaft für Aktuelle Kunst, Bremen; Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego; the Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin and Leopold-Hoesch-Museum, Düren.
Collections: Sammlung zeitgenössischer Kunst der Bundesrepublik Deutschland; GAM, Fondazione Torino Musei, Turin, Italy; AGI Verona, Italy; Furstenberg Collection, Donaueschingen; Frac des Pays de la Loire; Sammlung Philara, Düsseldorf.
Awards and Residencies
2019 – 2020
Arts Maebashi, Japan
“Be Mobile Create Together”, hosted by IKSV, Istanbul
2017
Villa Romana, Florence
2016
Otto d’Ame Film Award
Fürstenberg, Donaueschingen
2004
Mitzi Cunliffe Prize for Sculpture, Ruskin School, Oxford awarded by Ania Gallacio, Brian Catling and Antonia Cunliffe-Davis
2003
Stephen Farthing Anatomy Award
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2022
Gallery Power LTD, ChertLüdde, Berlin
2021
Living with grave potential, Spaced out, Gut Kerkow
Continuouslessness Travel Edition, Klosterfelde, Berlin
Türen, curated by Andreas Prinzing, the exhibition is part of Günther Peill Foundation Laureates and Fellows 2018 – 2020/21, Leopold-Hoesch-Museum, Düren
2020
NOW MORE THAN EVER, ChertLüdde, Berlin
2019
Brexit: TBC with Kasia Fudakowski and Company, Performance at Grünersalon, Volksbühne, Berlin
2018
Elephant Juice, Stichting Project Space 1646, The Hague
Bad Basket, 45 cam Studioraum, Staatliche Kunsthalle, Baden-Baden
Boiling Frogs, curated by Eva Birkenstock, Kunstverein Düsseldorf
Miart, Generations Sector, with ChertLüdde, Milan
2017
Double Standards, ChertLüdde, Berlin
Bad Basket, Lodos, Mexico City
2016
Tap & Die, Performance at 1646, The Hague
Exitainment, Riverside, Bern
Meat in window, worried by a wasp, curated by Michal Novotným, Centre for Contemporary Art FUTURA, Prague
2015
Statements, Art Basel, with Chert Berlin
Round Five, with Isa Genzken, at Flex, Berlin
2014
Dream House Experience, Städtische Galerie Delmenhorst, Delmenhorst
Pessimistinnen, performance at the opening of Liste, Basel
Local Artist, Chert, Berlin
Stoikerinnen, curated by Anna Sabrina Schmid, Kunstverein Harburger Bahnhof, Hamburg
2013
Certaines Femmes pessimistes près d’un lac, M J Gallery, Geneva
Pessimistinnen, solo presentation with Chert, Art Berlin Contemporary, Berlin
Where is your alibi, Mr. Motorway?, Deweer Gallery, Otegem
2012
Enthusiastinnen, Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin
2011
Villa Tokyo, solo presentation with Chert gallery, Tokyo
Smile, Chert, Berlin
2009
Gleaning the Gloss, Zak/Branicka gallery, Berlin
2008
Daytime Drama, ArtPol, Kraków
2005
Sculpture, The Project Space, Ruskin School, Oxford
Group Exhibitions
2023
The Art of the Palliative Turn / Art for the end of our way of living, Bauhaus Museum Dessau, Dessau
2022
Zeitgeister, Kunstverein Arnsberg, Arnsberg
ATMEN, curated by Brigitte Kölle und Sandra Pisot, Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg (upcoming)
Empowerment, curated by Andreas Beitin, Katharina Koch, and Uta Ruhkamp, Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Wolfsburg
60×60, Museum Brot und Kunst, Ulm
Future Food, curated by Viktoria Krason, Museum Industriekultur, Osnabrück
New Adventures in Vexillology #8, curated by Matthias Droste, Kunstverein Amrum, Amrum
2021
ON DISPLAY V, Sammlung Philara, Düsseldorf.
Future Food, curated by Dr. Viktoria Krason, Museum Brot und Kunst, Ulm
US and THEM, curated by Nathalie Hoyos and Rainald Schumacher, Kapana Gallery Plovdiv, Bulgaria
State of High Performance, curated by Christin Müller, Basis, Frankfurt am Main
The Palliative Turn, curated by Gerrit Gohlke, BKV Postdam
Bite the hand that feeds you and Doubling the marshmallows as part of FOOD FIELD ASSEMBLIES 2021´programme, Dietikon Projektraum, Dietikon, Zürich
Ruhr Ding: Klima 2021, curated by Britta Peters with Vlado Velkov, Urbane Künste Ruhr, Bochum, an Exhibition in Public Space in Haltern am See, Herne, Marl and Recklinghausen
Cracking Up and Staging Down: Tickle and Tackle Stand Up, organised by Martina Mächler and Anastasia McCammon, Cabaret Voltaire, Zurich
The Way We Are 3.0, curated by Ingo Clauß and Janneke de Vries, Weserburg Museum für Moderne Kunst, Bremen
2020
FORCE OF ATTRACTION I – NOW MORE THAN EVER, with Vesselin Sariev, curated by Rainald Schumacher and Nathalie Hoyos Sariev, Plovdiv, Bulgaria
Etwas mehr als Arbeit, curated by Santiago da Silva and Malte Rollof, Kunstverein Göttingen, Göttingen
Untitled, 2020, curated by Caroline Bourgeois, Muna El Fituri and Thomas Houseago, Palazzo Grassi – Punta della Dogana, Venice
Essen für die Welt von Morgen, curated by Viktoria Krason, Deutsches Hygiene-Museum, Dresden
Love Letters: Stories of Distant Proximities, Curated by Marie DuPasquier & Lea Schleiffenbaum , Horse & Pony, Berlin
Cosmic Relief, curated by Adriana Bildar, Wendy’s Subway, New York
2019
Lo scherzo dell’arte, curated by Kasia Fudakowski and Roberto Fassone, organised by Leonardo Bigazzi, Lo schermo dell’arte (Short film festival), Palazzo Strozzi, Florence
Max Pechstein Prize, Max Pechstein Museum, Zwickau
THE GARDEN BRIDGE, curated by Kinderhook & Caracas, Brücke Museum, Berlin
A Shiver in Search of a Spine, Arario Gallery, Samcheong, Korea
Two to Tango, Sperling, Munich
Kronos e Kairos, Curated by Lorenzo Benedetti, Organised by Electa, Parco Archeologico of Colosseo, Rome
Body in Progress, Curated by Ala Glasner, Austrian Cultural Forum, Berlin
Camouflage, Curated by Lorenzo Benedetti, LOK | Kunstmuseum St.Gallen
Jahresausgaben or ne travaillez assez, ne comptez jamais, Lothringer13 Halle, Munich
2018
Léopoldine, Sans titre (2016), Paris
Constructing Desire #2 Delirium, Curated by Gabriela Acha and Antonia Breme, Knopf Paul, Berlin
Il Mondo in Fuga – Villa Romana Fellows 2016/17, Schloß Corvey, Höxter, Germany
Further Thought on Early Materials, Curated by Janneke de Vries and Katja Schroeder, GAK, Bremen
6th Moscow International Bienniale for Young Art: Abracadabra, curated by Lucrezia Calabrò Visconti, Moscow
Friend of a Friend, ChertLüdde hosted by Foksal Gallery Foundation, Warsaw
Infinity has its limits, SALTS, Basel
2017
An incantation fixed at its culminating point, curated by Inês Gerald’s Cardoso, Galeria Boavista, Lisbon
FIAC, with ChertLüdde, Paris
15th Istanbul Biennial, Curated by Elmgreen & Dragset, Istanbul
Kunst ins Leben! Der Sammler Wolfgang Hahn und die 1960er Jahre, Museum Ludwig, Cologne
Produktion. Made in Germany drei, Sprengel Museum Hannover
Sechs Richtige, Fürstenbergische Museum, Donaueschingen
Onder Ons, CIAP – Association for Contemporary Art, Hasselt
Villa Romana – Fellows 2017, at Villa Romana, Florence
2016
Feature Expanded – 2nd Edition, at HOME, Manchester and at Lo Schermo dell’Arte, Florence
The Marmory show III – Guilty Pleasures, Deborah Schamoni Gallery, Munich
Shared Flat, Hospitality, curated by Carla Donauer, Piusstrasse 36, Cologne
In space no one can hear you laugh, curated by Clarissa Tempestini, at Galleria Giovanni Bonelli, Milan
2015
Alfred Jarry Archipelago, Performance Day at la Ferme du Buisson, Noisiel
Mixer, performance event at Laff Box, MAMA, Rotterdam
Group presentation at Art Cologne, with Chert, Berlin
Alfred Jarry Archipelago: ‘HA ‘HA, curated by Leonardo Bigazzi, Museo Marino Marini, Florence
Proximities and Desires, ABC Art Fair, Berlin
Per4m, Artissima Art Fair, Turin
OPEN HOUSE, curated by Jule Hillgärtner, Kunstverein Braunschweig, Braunschweig
Inside the city. Public Space and Free Space, Curated by Janneke de Vries, GAK Gesellschaft für Aktuelle Kunst, Bremen
Vom Großen und Ganze, Sammlung Haus N in der Gerisch Stiftung, Neumünster
Laugh-in: Art, Comedy, Performance, Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego
2014
Fortune III Grey skies and sunny dispositions, The Ister, Paris.
2013
Editionshow, Chert, Berlin
Ian Hamilton Finlay Weekend, Arnolfini, Bristol
You’re my wife now, Infernoesque project space, Berlin
Role models, Chert, Berlin
Mum, I just really need to focus on my art right now, Galeria Miejska Arsenal, Poznan
2012
Celluloid Brushes, Isabella Bortolozzi Galerie, Berlin.
Focus, Frieze art fair, with Chert Berlin.
Tintenfisch, CNEAI=, organised by Chert and Motto, Berlin – Paris exchange, Paris
New Sculpture?, Zacheta National Gallery of Art, Warsaw
Art Brussels, with Chert, Berlin
Re-Opening, DEWEER gallery, Otegem, Belgium
2011
Pentimenti, Kleine Humboldt Galerie, Berlin
Petrosphere, ReMap3, Athens
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials…, Johann König, Berlin
Based in Berlin, organised by Kulturprojekte Berlin Gmbh, Berlin
A Skeleton in the Closet, curated by Rebecca Lamarche-Vadel, Heidelberger Kunstverein-Ausser Haus project, Heidelberg
That which doesn’t kill us is often made of foam, Chert, Berlin
2010
Imploaded, Mareschstrasse, open studios, Berlin
2 Sculpture Biennale, Przestrzeń. Rozwinięcie” Warsaw
Przekleństwa wyobraźni, Bunkier Sztuki, Kraków
Die Kleine Improvisation, Stadtgalerie, Kiel
Group show, Infernoesque projekt Raum, Berlin
Hostile Aesthetik Takeover, Apartment, Berlin
Irregular Wasps, Tintype Gallery, London
Der agnostische Blick, mbf-kunstprojekte, München
Various one night, Forgotten Bar, Berlin
2009
Ekspektatywa, Fundacja Bęc Zmiana, Warsaw
Anabasis. Rituals of Homecoming, Festival of Dialogue of Four Cultures, curated by Adam Budak, Ludwik Grohman Villa, Lodz
2008
Birne, Tät, Berlin
National Museum, Lavafeld, Berlin
2007
Things Happen, Kompact Living Space Galerie, Berlin
16 Things that might not have been found, ArtPol, Kraków
2006
Detour, Moleskin exhibition, Waterstones Piccadilly, London
Tournament, Spital square, Spitalfields, London
100° show, Ruskin School, Oxford
Omni-Shop, Albion Stables gallery. Kings Cross, London
2005
Montana Butch, The Great Eastern Hotel, Liverpool Street, London
One Happy O’ Clock, British Embassy, Tokyo
2004
Atomic Art Bomb, Modern Art Oxford, Oxford
Collections
Sammlung zeitgenössischer Kunst der Bundesrepublik Deutschland; GAM, Fondazione Torino Musei, Turin, Italy; AGI Verona, Italy; Furstenberg Collection, Donaueschingen; Frac des Pays de la Loire; Sammlung Philara, Düsseldorf.
Selected Press and Publications
2021
“Embracing Absurdity: Kasia Fudakowski’s ‘The Roll of the Artist’” by William Kherbek on Berlin Art Link, 19 November 2021.
“Kasia Fudakowski” by Isabel Parkes on Artforum online, 17 November 2021.
“The roll of the artist” by William Kherbek on Burlington Contemporary, 21 October 2021.
“„Sie haben Null Stimmen“: Hunderttausende Berliner dürfen nicht zur Wahl” by Susanne Lenz on Berliner Zeitung, 08 September 2021
“Portrait of the Artist as Endless Bodies Under Pressure” by María Inés Plazo Lazo on Arts of the Working Class Issue N° 16, Berlin, Spring 2021
Catalogue: “The Roll of The Artist – Volume One” by Kasia Fudakowski, Strzelecki Books, Cologne, 2021, ISBN: 978-3-946770-76-3
2019
“Interview zu Brexit und Kunst” by Saskia Trekking on Monopol, 21 May 2019, online.
2018
“Continuouslessness, A visual essay” by Kasia Fudakowski, Special Project Cover on L’Officiel. #issue27, Fall 2018. pp.112–123
“William Kherbek in conversation with Kasia Fudakowski on curating Body pt. 2 (An Ex-hibition)” on samizdatonline, 11th June 2018.
Catalogue: “Villa Romana 2017”, argobooks, 400 copies, ISBN 978-3-942700-93-1
2017
Catalogue: “INFO-FUNCTION: The Second Swipe”, written and produced on the occasion of Double Standards – A Sexhibition by Kasia Fudakowski and Chertlüdde.
“Looking Back 2017: Europe and Beyond”, by Samuel Leuenberger on Frieze, 7 December 2017.
“Ten summer shows you shouldn’t miss” by Martin Herbert on ArtReview online, July 2017.
“Gallery Weekend Berlin 2017” by Giulia Ponzano on ATP Diary.
“Das Spiel mit der Arbeiterhymne” by Tobias Timm on Die Zeit.
“Double Standards” on Blouinartinfo.
“Special Berlin Gallery Weekend 2017” by Mitch Speed on Mousse Magazine.
“Il Gallery Weekend a Berlino, tra nuove tendenze e ritorni di scena” by Sara Dolfi Agostini on Il Sole24Ore.
“12 Gallery-Weekend-Ausstellungen, die Sie nicht verpassen sollten” on Monopol.
“Double Standards” by Emily Steer on Elephant.
“Mad artists: Kasia Fudakowski” by Carrie M. King on Xberliner.
“Critic’s Guide: Berlin” by Harry Thorne on Frieze.
2016
Catalogue: “Info-Fuction. The First Swipe”, written and produced for TAP & DIE performance. Text and drawing by Kasia Fudakowski, Design by Bernd Grether. Copyright Kasia Fudakowski and Chertlüdde, edition of 100.
2015
Catalogue: “Fraustellungen: Exercises in Self Sabotage”, Chert and Motto Books, Berlin, 2015, ISBN: 9782940524372
2014
“5 Berlin Artists that Happened to be Women” by Elvia Wilk on Sleek Magazine, issue #22, December 2014.
Exhibition catalogue: “Dream Home Experience”, Städtische Galerie Delmenhorst, Annett Reckert, design Santiago da Silva, ISBN: 978-3-944683-06-5, Delmenhorst
“Kasia Fudakowski”, review of the solo show “Local Artist” by Elvia Wilk on Art in America, August 2014.
“Kasia Fudakowski” review of the exhibition “Local Artist” by Miki Kanai on Bijutsu Techo, Japan.
“Kasia Fudakowski”, Review of the exhibition “Local Artist” by Karen Smith on Art World Magazine, China.
2013
“Watchlist” by Anne Kohlick on Monopol, Magazin für Kunst und Leben, September 2013
Exhibition catalogue: “You are my wife now”, Die lustige Grube at Infernoesque art space, Berlin,
June – October 2013
2012
Deweer Gallery / Re-Opening, catalogue, artist’s page
Frieze Art Fair 2012 – catalogue, artist’s page
Review of the exhibition “New Sculpture?” by Iwo Zmyślony at Zacheta National Gallery on dwutygodnik.com, Warsaw
“New Sculpture?” by Maria Brewinska and Karol Sienkiewicz on exhibition newspaper
2011
Exhibition catalogue: “A Self-Fulfilling Prophecy”, Great Expectations, organized and published by agitPolska e.V. and Gdańska Galeria Miejska,
Exhibition catalogue: Villa Tokyo, organized and published by Raster Gallery, Warsaw, text by Helen Marten
“Kasia Fudakowski”, interview with Judith Vrancken on Novembre Magazine, December issue
“Kasia Fudakowski, Chert, Berlin” by Melissa Canbaz on Frieze
“Kasia Fudakowski”, Tip Magazine, about “Based in Berlin” exhibition, Berlin, 8 June
Exhibition catalogue: “Based in Berlin”, Walther Koenig Verlag, Cologne
Exhibition catalogue: “That which doesn’t kill us is often made of foam”, Chert, Berlin
Exhibition catalogue, “Przekleństwa wyobraźni”, Bunkier Sztuki
Exhibition catalogue: “Die Kleine Improvisation”, Stadtgalerie, Kiel
“DTP Issue 001”, Lowdown magazine
In the Event of Sculpture, with David Alvarez Castillio, Bec Zmiana
2009
“Gleaning the Gloss”, Sarah James, Frieze, March 2009
“Gleaning the Gloss”, Kolja Reichert, Tagesspiegel, 28 March 2009
“Kasia Fudakowski: Sculpture With Ears” by Matthew Evans on interviewmagazine blog, March