Nina Canell Biography

The negotiation and displacement of energy has been an integral preoccupation in her work since the very beginning. Thinking beyond the tangibility of sculpture, she sees it not only as something that is grounded in material and objects, but more as a host that might act as a conduit for external events.

For Canell, sculpture is a condition; one that is highly sensitive to spatio-temporal variables. The environment in which her sculptures are placed determines the temperature, atmosphere and transformation of objects–just as they in turn shape what is around them.

Nina Canell (1979, Växjö, Sweden) lives and works in Berlin.

Her recent solo exhibitions include S.M.A.K, Ghent (2018); The Artist’s Institute, New York (2017); Museo Tamayo, Mexico City (2017); Arko Art Center, Seoul (2016); Moderna Museet, Stockholm (2014); Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin (2013).

Her group exhibitions include: the Venice, Sydney, Lyon, and Liverpool biennials; exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art in New York; Palais de Tokyo, Paris, Witte de With, Rotterdam; the ICA, London, and the Kunsthalle Fridericianum, Kassel, among others.

Text courtesy Mendes Wood DM.