Artists

Kitty Kraus Born 1976 in Heidelberg | Lives and works in Berlin

Portrait

Kitty Kraus

Kitty Kraus

The works byKitty Krauswalk a fine line between fragility and aggressiveness. Using everyday materials like glass, ink, ice, mirrors, and light bulbs, or found objects like the handles of a shopping cart, Kraus produces works that are marked by their delicateness as well as threatening character. 

Her objects assembled from panes of window glass are frail, almost unprepossessing constructions that, if their balance should be upset, could result in them shattering and becoming a danger. This inner tension of the works, paired with their pronounced haptic qualities, intervenes in the exhibition space, at times even in a direct, physical form, making the space not simply a presentation area but part of the work. The melting water colored by ink spreading across the floor in Kraus’ ice block work slowly inscribes itself into the floor, forcing the viewer to move away from his original viewing spot.

Many of her works have something minimalistic about them, paired with a process-like or kinetic aspect. The imprecision of the work is frequently first revealed with a closer look at its often loose construction. This contrast-rich grouping is repeated in other absurd pairings; thus Kraus’ works evoke both fascination and unease and are, at the same time, neither finite nor infinite, neither cool nor warm, neither controlled not uncontrolled.

Solo exhibitions (selection)

2012 Focal Point Gallery, Southend-on-Sea
2011 Galerie Neu, Berlin
2010 Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford
2009 Guggenheim Museum, New York
2008 Kunstverein Heilbronn
Kunsthalle ZĂĽrich

Group exhibitions (selection)

2011 Preis der Nationalgalerie fĂĽr Junge Kunst, Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin
2010 What you see is where you’re at, National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh
2009 Kunstpreis der Böttcherstraße, Stiftung Neues Museum Weserburg, Bremen
2008 Political/Minimal, KW – Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin
So ist es und anders, Muzeum Sztuki, Lodz/Museum Abteiberg, Mönchengladbach