Goshka Macuga
b. 1967, Poland
Goshka Macuga was born in 1967 in Warsaw, Poland and lives and works in London. Her practice is based on historical and archival research, which informs her installations, sculptures, tapestries, and collages. As an artist she simultaneously assumes the role of a curator, historian, and designer. Macuga questions historiography, political structures, and the pressing issues of our time. Over the past years, Macuga has created a series of large-scale tapestries that weave her ideas in assembly mind maps, presentations, and panoramic scenes. Macuga takes up the historical medium of Gobelin tapestries, a portable textile often emblazoned with political messages. Her new series of tapestries are woven in 3-D so that the viewers themselves become part of the scenario.
In 2019, Macuga conceived What Was I? a post-apocalyptic exhibition at Prada Rong Zhai, Shanghai. She was also commissioned to make a large-scale tapestry for the Museum of Modern Art, New York in 2019. The work re-stages a well-known photograph of Andre Malraux taken in 1954 by Maurice Jarnoux for the magazine Paris Match, featuring Macuga surrounded by images that are intrinsically linked to MoMA’s history and collection. Solo exhibitions include Kestnergesselchaft, Hannover, Germany (2019); Neues Museum, Nüremberg, Germany (2018); Fondazione Prada, Milan, Italy (2016); Schinkel Pavilion, Berlin, Germany (2016); New Museum, New York, USA (2016); MCA Chicago, USA (2012); Zachęta National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, Poland (2011); Walker Arts Centre, Minneapolis, USA (2011); Whitechapel Gallery, London, UK (2009); Tate Britain, London, UK (2007); Kunsthalle Basel, Basel, Switzerland (2009). She was included in Documenta 2012 and nominated for the Turner Prize in 2008.