Monica Bonvicini ‘I do You’ review: bondage, mirrors and feminist takes on masculine architecture
Emily McDermott reviews Monica Bonvicini’s much-anticipated exhibition ‘I do You’ at Berlin’s Neue Nationalgalerie
- (opens in new tab)
- (opens in new tab)
- (opens in new tab)
- Sign up to our newsletter Newsletter

Monica Bonvicini’s new exhibition ‘I do You’ at the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin is nothing short of monumental—a scale that reflects her practice at large. Bonvicini is known for her site-specific, architecturally transformative works, a factor that means although this exhibition features pieces from the 1990s until today, it is not quite a retrospective. Rather, it is an installation representative of her expansive oeuvre but also focused on her modes of feminist and architectural inquiry, specifically tailored to the Mies van der Rohe-designed building. In fact, I found that the smallest work in the show—and the first one encountered inside—truly set the tone: an old TV monitor on the floor plays Hausfrau Swinging (1997), a video showing a woman wearing nothing but a cardboard model of a house over her head. Alone in an empty room, she bangs her head against two white walls. The sounds of the impact ring out with force; she is at once liberated and trapped within a home. Her body might be free, but her head, perhaps her thoughts, are confined.
Monica Bonvicini ‘I do You’, Neue Nationalgalerie Berlin
The echoes of this woman’s struggle and her fight against the architecture imposed on her sound throughout the exhibition space—the focal point of which is Upper Floor (2022), a functional platform that divides a space renowned for its expansiveness, clarity, and transparency into two levels. The staircase going up is the work SCALE OF THINGS (to come) (2010); three sides are covered in reflective foil inscribed with quotes about architecture (Doors, 2022) and the word ‘desire’ (Desire, 2006); and on top of the platform are sculptures like Bonded Eternmale (2002/2022), Chainswing Belts, and Chainswing Leather Round (both 2022), all of which invite viewers to rest. The floor is covered with Breach of Décor (2020–22), a polyamide carpet printed with hundreds of photographs of Bonvincini’s pants—ranging from Adidas sweats to blue, white, and black jeans—crumpled on the floor. The result is a welcoming, interactive space that could, in theory, resemble a domestic interior. However, the materials used immediately evoke other associations, transforming any such notions into something more reminiscent of lounge areas in Berlin’s clubs: Bonded Eternmale is a set of four design chairs by Swiss designer Willy Guhl, but each one is covered in a piece of black leather connected with a steel ring. The Chainswings resemble hammocks but are constructed from stainless steel chains. Leather accents dangle from one; loose chains collide on the other.
Monica Bonvicini, Breach of Decor, 2020-2022, installation view of 'I Do You' at Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin
Moreover, from this platform, the entirety of the exhibition space can be seen. In one far-away corner hangs Bent Glass (2022), comprising LED neon tubes strung tightly together with black leather, simultaneously referencing the traditionally female craft of weaving and the traditionally masculine notions of industrialisation. Along three of the building’s glass walls hangs You to Me (2022), a series of 20 sculptures, each one made of two floor-to-ceiling chains with a black steel handcuff on either end. Visitors are encouraged to lock themselves to the chains, and the rules stipulate they must do so for a minimum of 30 minutes. During this time, they can stand, sit, and look inside or out, but they are trapped in place. Other visitors, meanwhile, circle around them. Chaining oneself is at once an act of meditation and submission, yet when witnessed from the platform, the visitor becomes an overseer: from here, you can watch everyone chained in place, staring at themselves in the reflective foil or outside into freedom. It’s an unsettling feeling, especially when backdropped by the sounds of the hausfrau struggling to escape. In any kind of game of submission, there is both a passive and an active player; in this exhibition, Bonvicini asks the viewer to be both. And in doing so, ‘I do You’ ensures that a visitor’s perspective—towards the space, themselves, and their surroundings—continuously changes.
Monica Bonvicini, from the series: Doors, 2022, in 'I Do You' at Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin
Monica Bonvicini, 'I Do You', until 30 April 2023, Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin. smb.museum (opens in new tab)
Potsdamer Str. 50,
10785 Berlin
-
Venice Biennale 2024: a guide to the artists announced so far
Keep up-to-date with our ongoing list of who’s representing who at the Venice Biennale 2024 – here's what we know so far
By Martha Elliott • Published
-
New Nike book is an inspirational handbook for the next generation of creatives and athletes
New Nike book, ‘After all, there is No Finish Line’, features eye-catching black-and-white imagery and speculative fiction and essays that ponder design, innovation and sport
By Pei-Ru Keh • Published
-
Sophie Bille Brahe interprets the signet ring with a new initials jewellery
Sophie Bille Brahe’s new initials jewellery is ‘a personal way to express an eternal feeling of love’
By Tilly Macalister-Smith • Published
-
Rala Choi: ‘Now is the time to ask photographers about what photography is’
We profile rising star photographer Rala Choi, whose vivid, ethereal images draw on the legacies of art history
By Sophie Gladstone • Published
-
Ryoji Ikeda and Grönlund-Nisunen saturate Berlin gallery in sound, vision and visceral sensation
At Esther Schipper gallery Berlin, artists Ryoji Ikeda and Grönlund-Nisunen draw on the elemental forces of sound and light in a meditative and disorienting joint exhibition
By Harriet Lloyd-Smith • Published
-
Routine Desire: a racy new 2023 calendar subverts erotica as we know it
‘Routine Desire’, a new 2023 calendar curated and designed by Angelique Piliere, sees 12 contemporary artists toy with notions of erotic fantasy
By Harriet Lloyd-Smith • Published
-
New York art exhibitions: what to see this winter
Stay up-to-date with our ongoing guide to the best new and upcoming New York art exhibitions and events for your diary
By Tilly Macalister-Smith • Published
-
London art exhibitions: a guide for early 2023
Your guide to the best London art exhibitions, and those around the UK, as chosen by the Wallpaper* arts desk
By Harriet Lloyd Smith • Published
-
‘Ageing bodies and failing forms’: Torbjørn Rødland’s new Zurich photography show
‘Old Shep’ at Galerie Eva Presenhuber sees Norwegian photographer Torbjørn Rødland explore themes of time in a visual blend of nordic noir and American pop culture
By Sophie Gladstone • Published
-
Fluffy bunnies meet office politics in Nicolas Haeni’s photo series
To mark the Year of the Rabbit, we return down the rabbit hole of Swiss photographer Nicolas Haeni’s photography series, where mischievous bunnies infiltrate the humdrum of corporate life
By Harriet Lloyd-Smith • Published
-
Cecilia Vicuña’s ‘Brain Forest Quipu’ wins Best Art Installation in the 2023 Wallpaper* Design Awards
Brain Forest Quipu, Cecilia Vicuña's Hyundai Commission at Tate Modern, has been crowned 'Best Art Installation' in the 2023 Wallpaper* Design Awards
By Harriet Lloyd-Smith • Published