Carolin Eidner
Riga Contemporary
Booth 1.05
July 2 - 5, 2026
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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.
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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).
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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, Germany2019 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 Germany2018 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, Germany2012 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, Germany2024 Three Painters, Kunstverein Emsdetten, Emsdetten, Germany
Benefizauktion, NAK Neuer Aachener Kunstverein, Aachen, Germany
Ufer, Berlin2023 Charly, Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany
Benefizauktion, Neuer Aachener Kunstverein, Aachen, Germany
Ufer, Berlin
Mixed Pickles, Ruttkowski;68, New York, NY2022 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, Germany2020 Salon der Gegenwart, Hamburg, Germany
Mixed Pickles, Ruttkowski;68, Berlin/Cologne, Germany2019 Shaped Figure, Kunstverein Krefeld, Kunstverein Mönchengladbach, Mönchengladbach, Germany
Polke und die Folgen, Akademie-Galerie, Düsseldorf, Germany2018 Jahresgaben, Bonner Kunstverein, Bonn, Germany
Carolin Eidner, Ina Gerken, Sophie Reinhold, Galerie Tobias Naehring, Leipzig, Germany2017 Fertility Breakdown, Natalia Hug, Cologne, Germany
PIN Auktion, Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich, Germany2015 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, NY2014 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, Japan2013 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), Germany2011 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