Klara Lidén’s creative vocabulary ranges from architectural interventions to performative and often contrarian actions and videos that interrogate the urban public sphere’s social warp and weft. Another central component of Lidén’s practice is the material appropriation of the urban fabric: reprising the tradition of the readymade and minimal art, she pilfers objects from the city’s inventory and transplants them into the exhibition space. Emptied of their original meaning, her works look like bodies or protagonists with whom she confronts the audience. They never only reflect the public space of the city; they can also be read through the lens of institutional structures and boundaries.

 

With essays and literary contributions by Kirsty Bell, Diedrich Diederichsen, Emma Enderby, Hendrik Folkerts, Fanny Hauser, Calla Henkel, Ruba Katrib, John Kelsey, and others, this comprehensive monograph offers unpredented insight into Lidén’s practice.