Monika Sosnowska: Weight of Matter – New Exhibition at the South London Gallery
Monumental sculptures, distorted objects and twisted forms. Polish artist, Monika Sosnowska’s new exhibition explores architecture and urban transformation as a reflection on the implosion of the communist regime in Poland.
Weight of Matter
Photo: Urban Adventurer
Weight of Matter is Sosnowska’s first solo exhibition at a London institution in more than 20 years. The exhibition brings together 14 years of artworks spanning across South London’s Gallery’s two buildings: the Main Gallery and the Fire Station.
Photo: Urban Adventurer
The artworks being exhibited in the Fire Station are direct response to the building’s architecture and history.
Photo: Urban Adventurer
The collapsed black metal staircase in the former engine room is just opposite to the white metal stairs installed when the gallery opened to the public in 2018.
Photo: Urban Adventurer
The gallery room next to it overlooking a leafy garden is showcasing plant-like forms. The installations form a concrete garden with collapsed trees and rebar branches.
The former living quarters upstairs, – where seven firefighters and their families used to live – house artworks that use the scars of the building as part of the art.
Photo: Urban Adventurer
Fragments of paint smeared tiles and pieces of steel masquerade that looks like crumpled sheets of paper remind us of the Fire Station’s dilapidated interior before its restoration.
Photo: Urban Adventurer
“Sosnowska’s sculptural practice explores urban transformation, and how architecture reflects social and political change, in particular the implosion of the Communist regime in Poland and the legacy of modernism. Her interest lies in the impact that architecture and space have on people and the challenges involved in transforming existing structures.” – Polish Cultural Institute London.
Photo: Urban Adventurer
The Main Gallery is showcasing a group of site-specific installations, some of which weigh half a ton.
The metal artworks are suspended from the rafters of the building, hanging like skeletons as reminiscence of dark historical events.
Intricate Paper Models Rarely Seen Outside the Studio
Photo: Urban Adventurer
Sosnownska is known for her large-scale sculptures made from industrial materials. Her original ideas, however, start as small, fragile paper models.
Photo: Urban Adventurer
Those maquettes are seldom seen outside her studio, but now visitors of the exhibition have the opportunity to get close to some of them and witness the fascinating aspect of the artist’s working practice.
About Monika Sosnowska
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Monika Sosnowska studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Poznań and completed her postgraduate training in Amsterdam. She is based in Warshaw, and her recent solo exhibitions include Monica Sosnowska: An Order Apart at EMMA (Espoo Museum of Modern Art), Espoo, Finland (2024), Ghosts at Galerie Gisela Captain, Cologne Germany (2024). One of her artworks is currently displayed at the Princess Estelle Sculpture Park, Rosendal, Royal, Djurgåden, Stockholm.
Practical Info
Photo: Urban Adventurer
Address
South London Gallery
Main Gallery: 65 Peckham Rd, London SE5 8UH
Fire Station: 82 Peckham Rd, London SE15 5LQ
The two buildings are almost opposite to one another)
(Nearest station is Peckham Rye | Southern, Southern Replacement Bus & Thameslink)
Opening Times
10th September – 22nd November 2026
Mon & Tue: CLOSED
Wed: 12pm – 9pm
Thu – Sun: 12pm – 6pm
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