Alicja Kwade’s Sculptural Reverie Arrives in Tokyo
Pace Gallery Tokyo unveils a mesmerising exhibition of new sculptures and works on paper that explore the hidden geometries and mysterious spaces within material form. A peach suspended in an impossible tunnel; boulders confronting their own reflections; time itself caught in endless loops.
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There exists a particular kind of magic in the work of Alicja Kwade, one that dwells in the threshold between the rational and the dreamlike, where the physical laws governing our world become momentarily suspended. Her forthcoming exhibition at Pace Gallery Tokyo presents a collection of new sculptures and works on paper that embody this enchanting paradox, inviting the viewer into realms where familiar objects undergo extraordinary transformations.
The exhibition, titled ‘La Pêche miraculeuse’, unfolds across the gallery’s Tokyo location within the prestigious Azabudai Hills development. Within this carefully appointed space, Kwade’s practice reveals itself in all its multifaceted complexity. A peach becomes caught within the pull of a tunnel, its smooth form suspended in an architecture of impossible geometries. Boulders encounter their mirror images, heavy stones that ought by all logic to rest upon the earth instead appear to float between gleaming funnels of polished material. A clock struggles against the inevitability of its own mechanism, caught in a cycle from which escape remains tantalizingly out of reach.
The Language of Material Transformation
What distinguishes Kwade’s artistic vision is her profound engagement with the spaces that exist within and between things. Rather than treating sculpture as a solid declaration of form, she treats the medium as a vehicle for exploring absence, reflection, and the hidden territories that comprise our material world. Her works function as philosophical inquiries rendered in three dimensions, each piece a carefully constructed meditation on perception, scale, and the nature of objects themselves.
The sculptures on display demonstrate a masterly command of material language. Polished surfaces catch and redirect light with hypnotic precision. Forms interpenetrate and overlap, creating visual paradoxes that reward sustained contemplation. The works on paper extend this investigation into two dimensions, offering studies and explorations that complement and deepen the sculptural narratives.
A Vision of Wonder
Kwade’s practice exists within a rarified realm of contemporary art, one in which wonder and rigorous conceptual inquiry prove entirely compatible. Her exhibition at Pace Gallery Tokyo represents an opportunity to encounter sculpture that elevates, provokes and enchants in equal measure. The unfamiliar spaces she explores within and between material forms invite viewers to reconsider the ordinary objects and geometries that comprise their own experience of the world.
‘La Pêche miraculeuse’ opens at Pace Gallery Tokyo on October 29, remaining on view through December 25, 2026.
Imagery courtesy of Pace Gallery (@pacegallery).