Silke Wagner: Migration and Plant

Magdalena Kita at WIELS, Brussels

21 May 2017, 4 pm, at the auditorim of Wiels is an event to mark the debut of »Californication«, the first major book by Magdalena Kita, published by Snoeck, Cologne. The programme will be presented in a »talk show« format, with panel interviews of the book's contributors and a performance display of Kita's work. Participants include Matthew Licht (writer for the book, Florence), JL Murtaugh (editor and designer of the book, director of Syndicate, Cologne), and moderator Marthe Ramm Fortun (artist, Oslo, Norway).

»Californication« represents the culmination of Kita's two-year project conducted in Los Angeles and several other cities, consisting of a large series of painted beach towels, choreographed performances with fitness models, and television advertisements. The book connects these outcomes with ten essays from art critics, professional colleagues, and the artist's ex-boyfriends, establishing a tone typical for her work which blurs the boundaries between Kita's personal life, public persona, and the social consequences of sexual politics.

Magdalena Kita was awarded 2016 with Van Bommel Van Dam Prize at the eponymous museum in Venlo, Netherlands, and completed a six-month residency in Brussels and Athens developing a new series of Byzantine-style icons. Kita is the resident artist at SUPERDEALS, Brussels this May.