Katja Novitskova at Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin

Novitskova’s work tackles the complexity and eventual failures of depicting the world through technologically driven narratives. By bringing together art and science to the level of nature, Novitskova brings awareness to the mediation and representation tools used to depict these realms.

More specifically, Novitskova’s work focuses on the mapping of biological territories that are no longer outside but rather ‘inside’ biological bodies. The technological devices, such as microscopes or brain scans, used to mediate and depict those alternative geographies are able to merge datasets and biology, altering how biology and technology develop. In Novitskova’s mind ‘the look inside has somehow replaced the gaze into the future.’ From parasitic worms to robotic nurturing or incubating machines, technological devices are not only dominating the inner biological realm, but also the affective one. Katja´s adoption of the baby swigs as ready mades, turning them into sci-fi-like looking creatures, is a wink to new technologies of affection and care, mediated through algorithms and artificial intelligence. Those works bring up memories of the “alien” depicted by science fiction, as well as the role of the non-human in an hypothetic not so far away future.

In 2018 the publishing house Ringier released their Annual Report with a commission of Novitskova. Between 2017 and 2018 her third artist book ‘If Only You Could See What I’ve Seen with Your Eyes’ with Kumu Art Museum and Venice Biennale through Sternberg Press and in 2016 ‘Dawn Mission’ was published with the Kunstverein in Hamburg. In 2010, she published the influential artist book the ‘Post Internet Survival Guide’.

Katja Novitskova, born 1984 in Tallinn, Estonia, lives and works in Berlin and Amsterdam. She was artist in residence at the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam from 2013 to 2015.

Novitskova was nominated for the Preis der Nationalgalerie, with an exhibition that opend in August 2019 at Hamburger Bahnhof – Museum für Gegenwart, Berlin. Her work has been exhibited internationally in solo and group exhibitions including the 14. Fellbach Trienniale (2019); Marta Herford Museum, Herford (2018); Whitechapel Gallery, London (2018, solo); Kumu Art Museum, Tallinn (2018, solo), Baltic Triennial, Vilnius (2018); the Estonian Pavilion at the 57th Venice Biennale (2017, solo); The Public Art Fund, New York (2017, solo), Cc Foundation & Art Centre, Shanghai (2017, solo); Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt (2017); The Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, Helsinki (2017); Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Copenhagen (2017); K11 Art Foundation, Shanghai (2017) and Greene Naftali, New York (2016, solo). Other solo and group exhibitions include Kunstverein in Hamburg (2016, solo); the 9th Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art (2016); Museum Folkwang, Essen (Nam June Paik Award 2016); Yuz Museum, Shanghai (2016); Okayama Art Summit, (2016); The Museum of Modern Art, New York (2015); 13e Biennale de Lyonn (2015/2016); Kunsthalle Lissabon (2015, solo); Astrup Fearnley Museum, Oslo (2014); Fridericianum, Kassel (2013) and the CCS Bard, New York (2012). She had her first solo exhibition at Kraupa-Tuskany Zeidler, Berlin, in 2012.

Her work is in the collections of Museum Ludwig, Cologne; Moderna Museet, Stockholm; Kumu Art Museum, Estonia; Marta Herford, Herford; Sammlung zeitgenössischer Kunst der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Bonn; Yuz Museum, Shanghai; Aishti Art Foundation, Beirut; Astrup Fearnley Museum, Oslo; Boros Collection, Berlin; CC Foundation, Shanghai; Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin; Ishikawa Foundation, Okayama; K11 Art Foundation, Shanghai; Ringier Collection, Zurich; Rubell Family Collection, Miami; Sishang Art Museum, Beijing