Maureen Paley and Herald St are delighted to announce Gebrochenes Pferd, an exhibition of new works by Alexandra Bircken taking place in both galleries’ East London premises.

German for ‘broken horse’, the title of the exhibition announces a rupture and a feeling of unease. The same name is given to two works which echo one another in separate spaces. At Maureen Paley, we are confronted by a rocking horse in turned wood, its abdomen sliced down the middle and splayed open.

Gebrochenes Pferd refers to the sculptural tradition of the equestrian statue, which for centuries has epitomised the dignified representation of rulers, emperors, kings, and conquerors. The horse continues to serve as a symbol of unbridled mobility, technological prowess, and strength (for example, in the Ferrari horse, the ‘Cavallino Rampante’) even after it has been replaced by motorised and fossil fuel-powered machines. Here, these attributes, the fanatical optimism of progress and the constant need for speed of the twentieth century, are shown as broken and self-destructive.

CNS continues a series of works using cable harnesses. The cable harness, ‘Kabelbaum’ in German which literally translates to ‘cable tree,’ is arranged on the wall in such a way that its entanglements spread out like a climbing plant. Removed from the steel body of a car and unravelled, the complex electronic system exhibits its similarity to organic structures.

This is one of the last elements of a car which is still produced manually and will remain so in the foreseeable future. Its construction by hand allows this mechanism to be tailored according to a wide spectrum of individual needs and requirements, and it functions as the electronic centrepiece of an automobile as it controls all electric functions, from the windshield wipers to the heating appliances. In the root-like structure, all central information is collected and distributed throughout the entire body of the car in a manner similar to the currents and extensions of the nervous system.

Many Folds is formed of two manifolds, mirroring the openings to create one continuous form. Braided hair sprouts from the car parts, drawing a parallel between the process of braiding and the motorised engine part. The title is a reference to an exhaust manifold – a device used in automotive engineering to collect the exhaust fumes into one pipe. Its twisted valves also serve to modify the sound of the exhaust, and they are often altered to amplify the engine’s volume.

Textiles are amongst the earliest achievements of humans; a process which started with braiding hair and went on to constructing cloth. Bircken is interested in the common threads that run through narratives of technological progression, and the overlaps between industrialisation and textile practices.

Mutual Consent continues Bircken’s ongoing interest in textiles and grid structures, employing a rigidly worked knit pattern which she first created in 2023. Checkerboards occur as a by-product of the weaving process and date back as far as the Neolithic Period (c. 10,000 BC), with tartans and checks found on the 3,000-year-old Cherchen Man, Bronze Age pottery, and Roman architecture. It is one of the oldest and most fundamental patterns used by humans, and its origins lie possibly in the game of chess or as purely ornamental decoration. Today the motif is ubiquitous, especially in Great Britain where it carries strong historical associations ranging from Scottish heritage to punk culture and Ska, also adorning police uniforms and ambulance vehicles.

In Bircken’s words, “It serves as a signifier and a signal... What I most like about it is the simplicity and the fact that no two colours meet. The visual effect of the contrasting colours is somewhat stinging and harsh. Its simple optical identifiability, utilised by the current visual imagery of authorities, stand in stark contrast to its origin in the softness of textile fabrics and the wool used to create it in this work.”

A female figure emerges from a black-and-white knit, blending into the stinging precision of the pattern and falling softly, held by her strict underlying structure. Through weaving, knotting, and braiding, Bircken uses textiles as a metaphor for cultural achievement, social systems, and societal regulations, which at once capacitate and encage us inescapably.

This wallpaper reproduces the signature of Christine Lagarde, the current president of the European Central Bank. Legarde’s signature appears as a copy on every single euro banknote printed after her appointment in 2019 and her signature is one of the features that authenticates a banknote as valid.

The smooth, mirrored surface of Glitch, is defined by curved forms that distort the reflections of its surroundings so that it becomes difficult to grasp as a singular and isolated object. As its environment visually inscribes itself onto the sculpture, it loses its own inherent visual logic. This enigmatic quality and the glossy surface create a fetishistic allure. Bircken also observes the gendered nature of saddles, objects which are frequently marketed and altered to a sexed binary of male or female.

Selected solo exhibitions include: A-Z, Le Centre Régional d’Art Contemporain Occitanie, Sète, France (2022); Museum Brandhorst, Munich, Germany (2021); Fair Game, KINDL Centre for Contemporary Art, Berlin, Germany (2021); Top Down / Bottom Up, Fridericianum, Kassel, Germany (2020); Unruhe, Secession, Vienna, Austria (2019); Mammal, Studio Voltaire, London, UK (2018); Stretch, Museum Abteiberg, Mönchengladbach, Germany (2016); Le Crédac, Ivry, France (2017); and Parallelgesellschaften, K21 Ständehaus, Düsseldorf, Germany (2016).

Her work has also been featured in significant group exhibitions, including: Isa Mona Lisa, Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg, Germany (2024); Beaufort24, Beaufort Triennial, Belgian Coast (2024); Impossible, Museum Frieder Burda, Baden-Baden, Germany (2024); outer view, inner world, Maureen Paley: Morena di Luna, Hove, UK (2023); In Prima Persona Plurale, MACRO Museum of Contemporary Art of Rome, Rome, Italy (2023); Bodies in Society, Sprengel Museum Hannover, Hannover, Germany (2022); La pensée corps, Foundation Pernod Ricard, Paris, France (two-person with Lutz Huelle) (2022); and May You Live In Interesting Times, 58th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, Venice, Italy (2019).

Earlier in her career, Bircken’s work was also included in an exhibition at Maureen Paley: Interim Art, London, UK (2005).