24F Artist-in-Residence: Rita McBride

Rita McBride was born in Des Moines in 1960 and lives in Düsseldorf and Los Alamos, California. She received a BA in 1982 from Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, and an MFA in 1987 from the California Institute of the Arts, Valencia. In 1988, she began exploring architectural and sculptural form in works ranging from small-scale objects to public commissions. Her major public commissions include Mae West, Munich (2011); Bells and Whistles, the New School, New York (2014); and Obelisk of Tutankhamun, Cologne (2017). Major presentations include Arena Momentum, Dia Art Foundation, New York (2023–ongoing); Particulates, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles (2023–2024); NationalChain 2020/Social Practices (in collaboration with Alexandra Waierstall and Fontys Dance Academy), Museum De Pont, Tilburg (2021); Arena, Bauhaus Museum Dessau, Dessau-Roßlau, Germany (2019); Rita McBride: Explorer, Wiels, Brussels (2017–18); Particulates, Dia Chelsea, New York (2017–18); Rita McBride: Gesellschaft, Kestner Gesellschaft, Hannover, Germany, and Kunsthalle Düsseldorf (2015–16); Rita McBride: Public Tilt, Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego (2014–15); Rita McBride: Public Works, Museum Abteiberg, Mönchengladbach (2008–09). In 2001, she initiated a series of genre-bending publications that often use anonymous, collective writing structures. Since 2003, Rita McBride has been a Professor at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf (Art Academy in Dusseldorf), where she served as its director from 2013–2017.

 

Above: Rita McBride, Vent, 2010 © Rita McBride/Artist Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo: Anne Pöhlmann