Polina Berlin Gallery is pleased to present a solo presentation by German conceptual artist Carolin Eidner for the 2026 edition of Riga Contemporary, on view from July 2 - 5. The presentation will be anchored by Eidner’s THE BABY-LON (THE BODY THAT CARRIES THE WEIGHT), the artist’s monumental, multi-part sculpture in the shape of a knelt figure. 

At once seductive and monstruous, THE BABY-LON fills its enclosed space and appears to test its bounds, an enlarged figure rising nearly high enough to “see” over the walls. On its knees, the figure is in a state of flux and ambivalence. The ambiguity on whether it’s in the process of falling or standing is left to be considered. Much like the idea of mathematical singularity – the point at which a function takes an infinite value, like a black hole – the figure is suspended in perpetuity, bringing to the fore concepts of time, liminality and the indefinite.

Sanded flat by the artist, its smooth surface draws a connection between drawing and sculpture, resulting in a piece that is more than the sum of its parts. The scrawling, animated pink lines and black gestures marking THE BABY-LON unite the work’s fragments, which fit together like pixels in a digital image. The brushwork across the lightweight surface of the pigmented plaster evokes an amorphous entity frozen in time. In contrast to the sculpture’s monumental size, Eidner treats and manipulates her materials in a process that meditates on the sculpture’s own physical authority. Disguising bulk into flatness and exposing the trusses on the reverse, Eidner allows the viewer to consider the relationship between its monumentality, material weight, and structural composition into larger questions about perception and power. 

Carolin Eidner (b. 1984, Berlin, Germany) lives and works in Berlin. She is a graduate of the Düsseldorf Art Academy, where she studied under Rosemarie Trockel, and the University of Applied Arts Vienna, under Erwin Wurm. Eidner has recently held solo exhibitions at Ruttkowski;68, New York (2025) and Düsseldorf (2023); Da in die Front, Düsseldorf (2023); Aurel Schiebler Galerie, Berlin (2022); and Galerie Natalia Hug (2021). Notable group exhibitions include Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf (2023); Kunsthaus NRW, Kornelimünster (2021); and the Bundeskunsthalle, Bonn (2015). Eidner’s work is in the prominent collections of the Bavarian State Painting Collections at the Pinakothek der Moderne (Munich); Kunsthaus NRW (Kornelimünster); and the Collection Becker (Cologne). She has been the recipient of several awards for her innovative material practice, including the 2020 Stiftung Kunstfonds Bonn grant; the NADA Artadia Award (2017) as its first European-based recipient; and the Audi Art Award (2014).

Born

• Berlin, Germany, 1984. Lives and works in Berlin 

Education

• 2010-2014 Art Academy Dusseldorf, Dusseldorf, Germany, Prof. Rosemarie Trockel 

• 2009-2010 University of Applied Arts, Vienna, Austria, Prof. Erwin Wurm

• 2005-2009 Alanus University for Arts and Social Sciences, Alfter, Germany

• Diploma in Cultural Pedagogics and Painting 

One-Person Exhibitions

• 2025 Daddy Dying Sun, Ruttkowski;68, New York, NY (02/21-03/29) 

• 2023 The Cascade Song, Ruttkowski;68, Düsseldorf, Germany (06/23-08/06) 

• 2022 The Baby-Lon, Da in die Front, Düsseldorf, Germany 
  Adios Modernism, Aurel Schiebler Galerie, Berlin, Germany (04/29-06/18) 
  The House That Jack Burnt, Ruttkowski;68, Paris, France (03/12-04/06) 

• 2021 Britney Goes Mad, Galerie Natalia Hug, Cologne, Germany (11/03-01/29) 
  Conceptualising Flesh, POP;68, Cologne, Germany 

• 2019 The Subtle Genesis of Emiliano Bruni, Aurel Scheibler, Berlin, Germany (11/16-02/08) 
  Quantum Phantom (human myth), Natalia Hug and Aurel Scheibler, Art Cologne, Cologne Germany 

• 2018 We are getting so hot – we will take our clothes off, Natalia Hug Gallery, Cologne, Germany 
  Horizon after D (.dracula), Orangerie Schloss Benrath, Düsseldorf, Germany 
  Vanishing Blue in Pursuit of Red in Black, Aurel Scheibler, Berlin, Germany (02/24-04/07) 

• 2017 Creature of Doubt and Delay, artothek Raum für junge Kunst, Cologne, Germany 
  Thousand Suns for a Lonely Man, Langen Foundation, Neuss (Katalog), Germany (04/08-08/20) 

• 2016 Spring of Singularity, Natalia Hug, Cologne, Germany 

• 2015 Mugshot, Parkhaus, Düsseldorf, Germany 

• 2014 Meanwhile „Me”, Natalia Hug, Cologne, Germany 

• 2013 Party Delay (no reimbursement authorized), Maschinenhaus Essen (curated by Max Mayer Kat.), Essen, Germany 
  Getting Strange in Common Sense, Scotty Enterprise, Berlin, Germany  

• 2012 New Dimension of Happiness, Boutique, Cologne, Germany 
  Know Something in Spite of Nothing, Galerie Max Mayer, Düsseldorf, Germany 
  Death of the Vampire, Manifesta9 Parallel Program, Genk, Belgium 

Selected Group Exhibitions

• 2026 2025, Ruttkowski;68, Cologne, Germany (01/25-03/28) 
  Three Rooms, Ruttkowski;68, Bochum, Germany (01/19-04/19) 

• 2025 Body Data, Berthold Pott Galerie, Cologne, Germany (09/05-10/18) 
  The Dinner Guest, The Loft, New York, NY 
  We get Closer, Stoffpavilion Cologne, Germany (07/04-07/20) 
  Itchy Bloom, Ruttkowski;68 (curated by Carolin Eidner), Cologne, Germany (03/30-06/29) 
  Mixed Pickles, Ruttkowski;68, Bochum, Germany 
  Benefizauktion, NAK Neuer Aachener Kunstverein, Aachen, Germany 

• 2024 Three Painters, Kunstverein Emsdetten, Emsdetten, Germany 
  Benefizauktion, NAK Neuer Aachener Kunstverein, Aachen, Germany
  Ufer, Berlin  

• 2023 Charly, Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany 
  Benefizauktion, Neuer Aachener Kunstverein, Aachen, Germany 
  Ufer, Berlin  
  Mixed Pickles, Ruttkowski;68, New York, NY 

• 2022 At the Tip of the Tongue, Kunstverein Bad Godesberg, Bonn, Germany 

• 2021 Neue Malerei, Kunsthaus NRW, Kornelimünster, Germany 
  Means of Escape, Kunsthaus Erfurt, Erfurt, Germany 
  Together, NAK Neuer Aachener Kunstverein, Aachen, Germany 
  Speaking in Tongues, Blake and Vargas, Berlin, Germany 
  Berlin Weekly, Berlin 
  Mixed Pickles, Ruttkowski;68, Berlin/Cologne, Germany 

• 2020 Salon der Gegenwart, Hamburg, Germany 
  Mixed Pickles, Ruttkowski;68, Berlin/Cologne, Germany 

• 2019 Shaped Figure, Kunstverein Krefeld, Kunstverein Mönchengladbach, Mönchengladbach, Germany 
  Polke und die Folgen, Akademie-Galerie, Düsseldorf, Germany 

• 2018 Jahresgaben, Bonner Kunstverein, Bonn, Germany 
  Carolin Eidner, Ina Gerken, Sophie Reinhold, Galerie Tobias Naehring, Leipzig, Germany 

• 2017 Fertility Breakdown, Natalia Hug, Cologne, Germany 
  PIN Auktion, Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich, Germany 

• 2015 Artists Against Aids, Bundeskunsthalle Bonn, Bonn, Germany 
  Becker and Friends, Galerie Loevenbruck, Paris, France 
  Yevgeniya Baras – Carolin Eidner – Adelhyd van Bender, Thomas Erben Gallery, New York, NY 

• 2014 Marres Currents #2, Marres Centre for Contemporary Culture, Maastricht, Netherlands 
  STEADY STATE, Kunstverein Duisburg, Duisburg, Germany 
  I’m so Green, Natalia Hug, Cologne, Germany 
  Plastic Water, Therme Gallery Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan 

• 2013 PWC-Preis, PWC, Düsseldorf, Germany 
  Gruppo di Famiglia in un Interno, Galerie Parrotta, Stuttgart, Germany 
  Cleaning a Bed from Morning Dust, Boutique, Cologne, Germany 
  Videopräsentation Blackbox, Düsseldorf, Germany 
  PostloctationTrouble, Raum Hellrot, Halle (Saale), Germany 

• 2011 Waiting for Suicidal Hares, International Video Art Festival, Chongqin, China  
  The good the bad the indifferent, Künstlerforum, Bonn, Germany 
  You can leave your het on, as a part of „von Beuys inspiriert“, Schmela Haus, K21, Düsseldorf, Germany 

Art Fairs

• 2026 Polina Berlin Gallery, Riga Contemporary Art Fair, Riga, Latvia 

• 2017 Natalia Hug, NADA Miami Beach, Miami, FL 

Awards, Fellowships and Residencies

• 2024 Residency, ISCP, New York, NY 

• 2023 Residency, CCA Andratx, Andratx, Spain 

• 2020 Award, Stiftung Kunstfonds, Bonn, Germany 

• 2017 Award, NADA Artadia Award, Art Basel Miami, FL 

• 2014 Award, Audi Art Award, Düsseldorf, Germany 

• 2011 Residency, Kunsthaus Kloster Gravenhorst, Hörstel, Germany 

Notable Collections

Bayrische Staatssammlung, Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich, Germany 
Kunsthaus NRW, Kornelimünster 
Sammlung Becker, Cologne, Germany