FOR 11/16

KADER ATTIA INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART MOMENTUM SERIES

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BOSTON, MASS. — The ninth exhibition in the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) Momentum series features French artist Kader Attia. Momentum examines new developments in contemporary art, inviting emerging artists from the United States and around the world to create new work for the ICA.

Attia, who has worked in photography, video, sculpture, drawings and installation, will create a new piece while living in Boston over a six-week period, working with students at Massachusetts College of Art and Design. Attia’s project for the Momentum series will be his first solo exhibition in the United States. “Momentum 9: Kader Attia” will be on view to March 2.

“Kader Attia’s vision is forceful and imaginative,” says Jill Medvedow, director of the Institute of Contemporary Art. “He has emerged over the past ten years as one of the most compelling young voices in European art, and we are thrilled to present his work to United States audiences.”

Attia’s work draws inspiration from the Chinese philosophy, “Man creates things, but emptiness gives them meaning.” Using simple materials, the artist has created an immersive installation with a series of beds or cots, each topped with a foam mattress bearing the imprint of an absent body.

Attia was born in 1970 in Dugny, a suburb of Paris, to parents of Algerian origin. He studied art in Paris and Barcelona before spending two years doing national civil service in the Congo. He has shown extensively in galleries and museums around the world, including solo exhibitions at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Lyon, France and Le Magasin, Grenoble, Switzerland, and in group shows such as the Frieze Art Fair, London, ArtBasel 38, and the Armory Show in New York City.

The Institute of Contemporary Art is at 100 Northern Avenue. For information, www.icaboston.org or 617-478-3100.