Agata Ingarden

Agata Ingarden, Polish, born 1994, lives and works in Paris. Studied at Beaux-Arts, Paris, France and Cooper Union, Brooklyn, USA.

She works with multiple media including installation, sculpture and video. Her practice is driven by material research as well as investigations in post-humanities, science fiction and mythical narratives. 

Exhibitions 2024/25: “Shifting” at One Minute Club, Athens, Greek, curated by Florent Frizet (Jan/Feb 2024) / Huidenclub, Rotterdam, curated by Leo Orta and Oliver Zeitoun (Centre Pompidou) (Feb/March 2024) / “Stranger Things” at Neue Galerie Gladbeck, Germany with Jürgen Klauke, Valie Export, Toni Schmale, Joanna Pietrowska (May/June) / Liste Basel with Piktogramm (June) / Eclipse at 66P Subjective Institution of Culture Poland, curated by Agnieszka Pindera (June/July) / Biennale Gwangju, curated by Nicolas Bourreaud, South Korea (7 Sept – 1 Dec 2024) / Group exhibition at National Museum Krakow, Poland (Dec 2024 – April 2025) / Museum Appenzell, solo exhibition, Switzerland (2025)

Selected past exhibitions: Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France / CAPC museum, Bordeaux, France (curated exhibition by Cédric Fauq)/ The Radicants: “Climate Change”, curated by Nicolas Bourriaud, Palazzo Bollani, Venice, Italy / Nassauischer Kunstverein Wiesbaden, Germany / Künstlerhaus Vienna, Austria / Silesian Museum Katowice, Poland / Pinchuck Art Center, Kiev, Ukrania (Future Generation Art Price, winner of the “Special Prize”) / Komi Biennale, Art Encounters, Timisoara, Romania, curated by Kasia Redzisz and Mihnea Mircan / Museum Unter Tage, Bochum, Germany / Centre D´Art Contemporain D´Intérèt National, Saint Nazaire, France /  East Contemporary, Milan, Italy / Kraupa Tuskany Zeidler, Berlin, Germany / Piktogram, Warsaw, Poland / Soft Opening, London, UK / Sans Titre, Paris, France / Berthold Pott, Cologne, Germany / Exo Exo, Paris, France / High Art, Paris, France

Agata participated in the following residencies: Fondation Fiminco, Paris, France (2021-22), Cité internationale des arts, Paris, France (2021),  A l´oeuvre, Lafayette Anticipations, Paris, France (2020), La Totale, Les studios Orta, France (2020), Villa Belleville, Paris, France (2018), Leo XIII Gastatelier, Tilburg, The Netherlands (2018)

Agata Ingarden Eclipse at 66P Subjective Institution of Culture Poland, curated by Agnieszka Pindera (June/July 2024)

Agata Ingarden at Sybil, group exhibition curated by Laurence Dujardyn, Brussels, Belgium (April/May 2024)

Agata Ingarden Stranger Things at Neue Galerie Gladbeck, Germany with Toni Schmale, Jürgen Klause, Joanna Piotrowska, Agata Ingarden, Valie Export (May/June 2024)

Agata Ingarden Design Sediments at Huidenclub, Rotterdam, NL, curated by Leo Orta and Oliver Zitoun (March-May 2024)

Agata Ingarden Emotional Security Services, solo exhibition Nov 2023 – Jan 2024 at Berthold Pott, Cologne, Germany

Agata Ingarden Emotional Security Services, solo exhibition Nov 2023 – Jan 2024 at Berthold Pott, Cologne, Germany

Agata Ingarden Emotional Security Services, solo exhibition Nov 2023 – Jan 2024 at Berthold Pott, Cologne, Germany

Agata Ingarden Emotional Security Services, solo exhibition Nov 2023 – Jan 2024 at Berthold Pott, Cologne, Germany

Agata Ingarden Emotional Security Services, solo exhibition Nov 2023 – Jan 2024 at Berthold Pott, Cologne, Germany

Agata Ingarden Emotional Security Services, solo exhibition Nov 2023 – Jan 2024 at Berthold Pott, Cologne, Germany

Agata Ingarden Emotional Security Services, solo exhibition Nov 2023 – Jan 2024 at Berthold Pott, Cologne, Germany

Agata Ingarden Emotional Security Services, solo exhibition Nov 2023 – Jan 2024 at Berthold Pott, Cologne, Germany

Agata Ingarden The Creators, solo exhibition Nov 2023 – Feb 2024 at Odyssey, Cologne, Germany

Agata Ingarden The Creators, solo exhibition Nov 2023 – Feb 2024 at Odyssey, Cologne, Germany

Agata Ingarden The Creators, solo exhibition Nov 2023 – Feb 2024 at Odyssey, Cologne, Germany

Agata Ingarden The Creators, solo exhibition Nov 2023 – Feb 2024 at Odyssey, Cologne, Germany

Agata Ingarden The Creators, solo exhibition Nov 2023 – Feb 2024 at Odyssey, Cologne, Germany

Agata Ingarden The Creators, solo exhibition Nov 2023 – Feb 2024 at Odyssey, Cologne, Germany

Agata Ingarden The Creators, solo exhibition Nov 2023 – Feb 2024 at Odyssey, Cologne, Germany

Agata Ingarden The Creators, solo exhibition Nov 2023 – Feb 2024 at Odyssey, Cologne, Germany

Agata Ingarden at Stoffpavillon, Cologne, Germany, group exhibition Nov 2023 with Thea Djordjadze, Michaela Eichwald, Agata Ingarden, Behrang Karimi, Michail Pirgelis, David Ostrowski

Agata Ingarden at Stoffpavillon, Cologne, Germany, group exhibition Nov 2023 with Thea Djordjadze, Michaela Eichwald, Agata Ingarden, Behrang Karimi, Michail Pirgelis, David Ostrowski

Agata Ingarden at Stoffpavillon, Cologne, Germany, group exhibition Nov 2023 with Thea Djordjadze, Michaela Eichwald, Agata Ingarden, Behrang Karimi, Michail Pirgelis, David Ostrowski

Agata Ingarden at Stoffpavillon, Cologne, Germany, group exhibition Nov 2023 with Thea Djordjadze, Michaela Eichwald, Agata Ingarden, Behrang Karimi, Michail Pirgelis, David Ostrowski

Agata Ingarden at Stoffpavillon, Cologne, Germany, group exhibition Nov 2023 with Thea Djordjadze, Michaela Eichwald, Agata Ingarden, Behrang Karimi, Michail Pirgelis, David Ostrowski

Agata Ingarden at Barbe à Papa, Museum CAPC Bordeaux, France, curated by Cédric Frauq, Oct 2022 – April 2023

Agata Ingarden at Barbe à Papa, Museum CAPC Bordeaux, France, curated by Cédric Frauq, Oct 2022 – April 2023

Agata Ingarden at Barbe à Papa, Museum CAPC Bordeaux, France, curated by Cédric Frauq, Oct 2022 – April 2023

Agata Ingarden Future Generation Art Prize at Pinchuk Art Center, Kiev, winner of the Special Prize, 2020-2021

Agata Ingarden Future Generation Art Prize at Pinchuk Art Center, Kiev, winner of the Special Prize, 2020-2021

Agata Ingarden Future Generation Art Prize at Pinchuk Art Center, Kiev, winner of the Special Prize, 2020-2021

Agata Ingarden Future Generation Art Prize at Pinchuk Art Center, Kiev, winner of the Special Prize, 2020-2021

Agata Ingarden History of Absence at AMA House, Speises, Greece, 2022

Agata Ingarden History of Absence at AMA House, Speises, Greece, 2022

Agata Ingarden History of Absence at AMA House, Speises, Greece, 2022

Agata Ingarden History of Absence at AMA House, Speises, Greece, 2022

Agata Ingarden The Power of Wonder at Museum Unter Tage, Bochum, Germany, April-Sept 2022

Agata Ingarden The Power of Wonder at Museum Unter Tage, Bochum, Germany, April-Sept 2022

Agata Ingarden The Power of Wonder at Museum Unter Tage, Bochum, Germany, April-Sept 2022

Agata Ingarden at Kunstfort, Amsterdam, NL, 2021

Agata Ingarden at Kunstfort, Amsterdam, NL, 2021

Agata Ingarden at Kunstfort, Amsterdam, NL, 2021

 

Agata Ingarden Grounded at Berthold Pott, Cologne, 2021:

Agata Ingarden, installation view of „Homeland III“ at Berthold Pott, Cologen, June/July 2020

Agata Ingarden, installation view of „Ei“ at Kunstverein Wiesbaden, Germany, 2020

 

Agata Ingarden, „L´heure de chien (entre chien et loup)“, 2020, at „Borderlinking“, High Art, Paris:

 

Agata Ingarden, Detail „L´heure de chien (entre chien et loup)“, 2020

 

Installation view of Agata Ingarden at „Alles war klar“,  Künstlerhaus Wien, 2020, „The Lounge“

 

Installation views Agata Ingarden at „Futur, Ancient, Fugitive“ at Palais de Tokyo, Paris, 2019/2020:

 

Installation views of AGATA INGARDEN solo exhibition „Hot House“ at Berthold Pott Cologne (March/April 2019):

 

Brief biography: 

Agata Ingarden, born in Kraków/Poland in 1994, lives and works in Paris; studied at Beaux-Arts de Paris (2013-18) and Cooper Union, New York (2016).

SOLO / DUO EXHIBITIONS:  

2020:

„The future in reverse“, duo exhibition Agata Ingarden / Agnieszka Polska at East Contemporary Milan, Italy

„Warm Welcome“, duo exhibition Agata Ingarden / Konstantinos Kyriakopoulos at Exo Exo, Paris, France

2019:

„five fingers, sixth hand“, Alienze, Lausanne, Switzerland, in collaboration with Delphine Mouly

„Heartache“ at Soft Opening, London, UK

„Hot House“ at Berthold Pott, Cologne, Germany 

Liste Basel, with Piktogram Warsaw 

2018:

„Skunk Hour / Like Mushrooms after rain“, curated by Arkadiusz Poltorak, Gastatelier Leo XIII, Tilburg, The Netherlands

„Dom“ at Piktogram, Warsaw, Poland

„The House“, Master Degree Show, Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris, France

2017

„Sweaty Hands“ at ExoExo, Paris, France

„BATHROOM/BATHHOUSE“ at MX Gallery, New York, USA 

 

GROUP EXHIBITIONS:

2022

Planet B Climate change and the new subline III. The tragic death of Nauru Island, group exhibition at Palazzo Bollani, Venice, Italy, curated by Nicolas Bourriaud (The Radicants), 8 Sept – 27 Nov 2022

Barbe à Papa group exhibition at CAPC museum for contemporary art, Bordeaux, France, curated by Cédric Fauq, Nov 2022 – April 2023

Group exhibition at Clima, Milan, Italy, curated by Giovanna Manzotti, Feb/March 2022

Agata Ingarden at Pinchuk Art Center, Future Generation Art Prize at Venice, Italy (April – Nov 2022)

Group exhibition at Centre d´art contemporain d´intérèt national, Saint-Nazaire, France (opening March)

Group exhibition „The power of wonder“ at Museum Unter Tage, Bochum, May-Oct 2022), GER

2021

Our other us,  Art Encounters Contemporary Art Biennial, Timisoara, Romania (Oct/Nov)

Agata Ingarden, Ad de Jong and Carel Visser at Kunstfort bij Vijfhuizen, The Netherlands (June/July)

Agata Ingarden at Pinchuk Art Center, Kiev, Future Generation Art Prize (opening September)

Agata Ingarden group exhibition at Exo Exo, Paris, France

Ehrenfeld group exhibition at Berthold Pott, Cologne, Germany

Agata Ingarden group exhibition at Piktogram, Warsaw, Poland

2020:

„The Casino Aquarius“ group exhibition at LaTotale, Studio Orta, Les Moulins, France

„Homeland III“ at Berthold Pott, Cologne, June – August 2020

„Ei“ at Kunstverein Wiesbaden, Germany, March-June 2020

„Alles war klar“ at Künstlerhaus Wien, Vienna, Austria

„Borderlinking“ at High Art, Paris, France, Feb.-May, 2020

„Your friends and neighbors“ at High Art, Paris, France, June-August, 2020

„Street Trash“ at Friche La Belle de Mai, Marseille, France

„Fun House“ at Parc Saint Lager, Pogues-les-Eaux, France

„The spirit of nature and other tales“ at Silesian Museum, Katowice, Poland

2019:

„Liminal States“ at Kraupa Tuskany Zeidler, Berlin, Nov 2019 – Feb 2020

„Futur, Ancien, Fugitif“, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France

„Boom selection“, curated by Vincent Honoré, La Panacee, MOCO, Montpelier, France

„Felicita“ at Beaux Arts de Paris, Paris, France

„Foncteur d´oublie“ curated by Benoit Maire, FRAC Ile-de-France / Le Plateau, Paris, France

„Rachel Is“, duo exhibition with Motoko Ishibashi at Pact Gallery, Paris, France

„A closed mouth gathers no feet“ at DASH, Kortrijk, Belgium

„Some of us“, curated by Jérome Cotinet-Alphaize, Marianne Derrien, Nord´art, Budelsdorf, Germany

„Memoire de forms“ curated by Petite Surface at Michel Journiac, Paris, France

Agata Ingarden, installation view of „Ehrenfeld“ at Berthold Pott, Cologne, April/May 2021

 

Exhibition text English (for German version scroll downwards) for Hot House, solo exhibition at Berthold Pott, Cologne, 2019:

Agata Ingarden combines, superimposes, connects and interweaves various types of materials in abstract sculptures that simultaneously evoke concrete forms. The vocabulary associated with her works refers to living organisms, plants, as well as technology. In various sizes, her sculptures hang either on the walls like sensor screens, from the ceiling like metal lianas, at the ends of which caramelised onions trickle down, or lie on the floor as strange vehicles, a combination of sledge and spaceship. The latter type, which is presented in this exhibition, consists of a large metal structure, drawn by a pair of mirrors in the form of fluttering hearts, driven by a machine composed of an arrangement of rods, caramel balls and a concretion of oysters. Spaceships, generators, sensor screens or insect machines camouflaged behind colours that artificially imitate nature – together, these sculptures set a narration in motion which explores the connection between humankind, nature and technology. 

This narration takes form starting from the choice of materials and their treatment. The materials are ostensibly subjected to only a few modifications. They are often presented in a rough state, at times painted in a full colour and connected by gestures associated with elementary mechanics. The metal rods are rudimentarily welded together to form a geometric framework with visible joints. The wood is presented in its natural state or processed in a block to give back to it the schematic aspect of a branch. Connected at its end, the elements wood and metal seem to form some parts of a body. Both caramel and oysters are fused into an amorphous aggregate, without any fixed form or true unity. From this original state of matter, the obvious work of the hand and the scientific aspect of this work, a vision emerges directly out of the past of our future. A leap into an archaeo-futuristic universe that combines surrealism and alchemy.

Like Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818), these sculptures occasionally even resemble creatures from elsewhere, whose ‘component parts might be manufactured, brought together, and endued with vital warmth.’[1] Some works actually seem to be permeated by activity. This happens when the caramel comes into contact with the air and a certain temperature. Modified by oxygen, it changes from a solid to a liquid state. It drips down onto the surrounding surfaces like a life fluid. This is reflected on a more metaphorical level in the use of acoustic foam, which absorbs the sound and waves that surround it. With each movement of the viewer, the mirrors reflect something new. Through these subtle but incessant changes, the sculpture becomes transformed over time. Beyond the fact that it adopts forms of life, it seems to manifest the energy that flows actively between materials and their environment.

At the core of Ingarden’s critical analysis, the concept of energy plays a fundamental role in her work. Irrespective of whether it lies in the mutation experienced by caramel, or is simply evoked it, it recalls the ideas of transformation reminiscent of those of entropy. Entropy ‘is the last and most mysterious of the five physical quantities (temperature, pressure, volume, internal energy, entropy) that represent the state of a thermodynamic system, i.e. a limited set of materials capable of exchanging heat and working with the external environment.’[2] But whereas, for Robert Smithson (1938–1973), entropy also corresponds to the irreversible collapse of things and the ‘energy is more easily lost than obtained, and that in the ultimate future the whole universe will burn out and be transformed into an all-encompassing sameness’,[3] it is not understood by Ingarden as something that necessarily leads to deterioration. Following the ideas of New Materialism, Ingarden regards matter as something active, whether animate or not, and perceives this energy as something that mutually interlinks the bodies. By leading us out into an environment in which nature and technology are fully interconnected and the boundary between the living and the non-living is fluid, the artist ultimately poses the question as to the influence of things and materials on humankind: How could the perception of this change our relationship to the world?

Oriane Durand

 

Exhibition text German:

Agata Ingarden kombiniert, überlagert, verbindet und verwebt verschiedene Arten von Materialien in abstrakten Skulpturen, die gleichzeitig konkrete Formen evozieren. Das mit ihren Arbeiten assoziierte Vokabular bezieht sich sowohl auf das Lebendige, das Gewachsene, als auch auf das Technische. In verschiedenen Größen hängen ihre Skulpturen entweder wie Sensorbildschirme an den Wänden, wie Metall-Lianen an der Decke, an deren Ende „Karamell-Zwiebeln“ versickern oder entfalten sich auf dem Boden als fremdartiges Fahrzeug, eine Kombination aus Schlitten und Raumschiff. Letzteres, das in dieser Ausstellung präsentiert wird, besteht aus einer großen Metallstruktur, gezogen von einem Gespann aus Spiegeln in Form flatternder Herzen, angetrieben durch ein an eine Maschine erinnerndes Objekt, komponiert aus Stäben, Karamellkugeln und einer kegelförmigen Komposition aus Austern. Raumschiffe, Generatoren, Sensorschirme oder Maschinen-Insekt, getarnt hinter Farben, die die Natur künstlich imitieren – gemeinsam setzen diese Skulpturen eine Narration in Gang, die die Verbindung zwischen Mensch, Natur und Technologie auslotet.

 

Diese Narration nimmt aufgrund Ingardens Materialauswahl und ihres Umgangs damit Gestalt an. Anscheinend unterliegen die Materialien nur wenigen Änderungen. Sie werden häufig im rauen Zustand gezeigt, manchmal monochrom bemalt und durch Gesten miteinander verbunden, die zu einer elementaren Mechanik gehören. Die Metallstäbe sind rudimentär miteinander verschweißt, um ein geometrisches Gerippe mit sichtbaren Gelenken zu bilden. Das Holz wird in seinem natürlichen Zustand präsentiert oder im Block bearbeitet, um schematische Aspekte des Astes zu pointieren. An ihren Enden miteinander verbunden, scheinen die Elemente Holz und Metall bestimmte Teile eines Körpers zu bilden. Sowohl Karamell als auch Austern werden zu einem amorphen Aggregat verschmolzen, ohne festgelegte Form oder wahre Einheit. Aus diesem ursprünglichen Zustand der Materie, der offensichtlichen Arbeit der Hand und dem wissenschaftlichen Aspekt ihrer Arbeit, entsteht eine Vision aus der Vergangenheit unserer Zukunft. Ein Sprung in ein archäo-futuristisches Universum, das Surrealismus und Alchemie vereint.

Wie bei Mary Shelleys Frankenstein (1818) ähneln diese Skulpturen manchmal sogar Kreaturen von anderswo, deren „component parts might be manufactured, brought together, and endued with vital warmth „[1]. Einige Arbeiten scheinen tatsächlich von einer Aktivität durchdrungen zu sein. Diese wird offenbar, wenn das Karamell mit der Luft und einer bestimmten Temperatur in Berührung kommt: Durch Sauerstoff modifiziert, geht es von einem festen in einen flüssigen Zustand über. Es tröpfelt auf die darunter liegenden Oberflächen wie eine „Flüssigkeit des Lebens“ herab. Auf metaphorischere Weise spiegelt sich dies in der Verwendung von Akustikschaum, auf den das Karamell tropft, wider, der den Klang und die Wellen, die ihn umgeben, absorbiert. Bei den in den Skulpturen zu findenden Spiegeln reflektiert sich mit jeder Bewegung des Betrachters etwas Neues. Durch diese subtilen, aber unaufhörlichen Veränderungen, verwandelt sich die Skulptur im Laufe der Zeit. Über die Tatsache hinaus, dass Ingardens Skulpturen an gewisse Lebensformen erinnern, scheinen sie die Energie zu bekunden, die aktiv zwischen Materialien und ihre Umgebung fließt.

Im Zentrum der Fragestellung der Künstlerin spielt der Begriff der Energie eine grundlegende Rolle. Unabhängig davon, ob sie in der Mutation, die das Karamell erfährt, liegt, oder sie einfach nur hervorgerufen wird, beschwört sie die Ideen der Transformation, die an die der Entropie erinnern. Entropie „ist die letzte und geheimnisvollste der fünf physikalischen Größen (Temperatur, Druck, Volumen, innere Energie, Entropie), die den Zustand eines thermodynamischen Systems, d. h. ein begrenztes Materialset beschreibt, das in der Lage ist, Wärme auszutauschen und mit der Außenumgebung zu arbeiten »[2]. Wenn aber für Robert Smithson (1938-1973) Entropie auch dem irreversiblen Zusammenbruch der Dinge entspricht und die „energy is more easily lost than obtained, and that in the ultimate future the whole universe will burn out and be transformed into an all-encompassing sameness »[3], wird sie nicht von Ingarden als etwas begriffen, das notwendigerweise zur Verschlechterung führt. Den Ideen des Neuen Materialismus folgend, betrachtet Ingarden die Materie als aktiv, sei sie belebt oder nicht, und nimmt diese Energie als etwas wahr, das die Körper in einer Wechselbeziehung miteinander verbindet. In dem uns die Künstlerin in eine Umgebung hinausführt, in der Natur und Technologie völlig miteinander verbunden sind und die Grenze zwischen der lebendigen und der nicht lebendigen fließend ist, stellt sie schließlich die Frage nach dem Einfluss von Dingen und Materialien auf den Menschen: Wie könnte dessen Wahrnehmung unsere Beziehung zur Welt verändern?

Oriane Durand

 

Further Exhibition Examples:

The Solstice, (Bomba Fragola)
2019, part of Five fingers, sixth hand, collaborative show with Delphine Mouly, Alienze, Lausanne, CH
bee wax, metallic mesh sew with copperwire, uv lightbulb, electric cord, silicone

 

The Solstice, (Bomba Fragola)
2019, detail

Sunset
2019
double sided mirror, coated steel, glass vase, alcohol, table, salt

 

Lightning III and VII
2019, redwood, coated steel, doublesided mirror

Venus
2019, coated steel, oyster shells, carbonized sugar, silicone, copper wires

HEARTACHE
2019, solo exhibition at Soft Opening Gallery, London, UK

The House
2018, solo exhibition DNSAP Beaux Arts de Paris

The House
2018, ceramics, sound installation, video, coated metal, acoustic foam and butter- flies crystalized in salt

The Screen
2018, coated metal, acoustic foam and butterflies crystalized in salt

The Mirror I
2018, detail

The Moth
2018, glazed seramics, sound system

Sweaty hands, 2017 . EXO EXO. Paris

BATHROOM / BATHHOUSE
2017 . exhibition with Irina Jasnowski . MX Gallery . New York

Heat Pipe 1
2017 . caramel, coated steel, copper wires

Mates – still alive ( crabs in the tank )
2017 . fish tank, water, aluminium, copper

Concrete chair 1, 2
2017 . concrete, metal rebar

sticky surveillance
2016 . installation view at The Cooper Union . round elevator, steel, caramel, copper wires, carpet

Still alive – mates
2016 . installation view at The Cooper Union . rooftop, horseshoe crabs casts, sand, aluminium, copper

it smells like iron
2016 . steel, water contaminated with rust, video, resin, ceramics, concrete, sound system

The Antidote 2
2016 . epoxy resin, steel, chicken wire, cables, wasps . 73 x 57 x 7 cm

 

 

LEG
2016 . ceramic . 140 x 40 x 55 cm

hanging on a string (Cosmos)
2015 . steel, screen, video 21 min . 210 x 50 x 50 cm