Raque Ford
The only one willing to do the hard part

From March 13, 2026
Intervention at the Fridericianum, Kassel

Opening event & artist talk for the site-specific intervention: 
Thursday, March 12, 2026, 7 pm
Fridericianum, Kassel

The artist Raque Ford, born in Columbia, Maryland, in 1986 and living in New York, combines in her practice artistically formed shapes with strong color contrasts and slogan-like text. Through her use of plastic and other industrial materials she creates an aesthetic that hovers between abstraction and simple visual codes. Layered up like collages her works can be located in the realms of sculpture, painting, and graphics and reference the cutouts of the late Henri Matisse, Minimalism, and Pop Art. At the Fridericianum, the artist is creating designs for both public elevators.

The only one willing to do the hard part is part of Ford’s on-going exploration of identity and how it is formed out of elements from pop culture, consumerism, digital communication, and the longings associated with them. Upon entering the elevators, visitors step into unexpected spatial situations: photographic wallpaper depicting details of a discount clothing store. Standardized flower graphics and text are layered over the surrounding image. This script is fashioned in Ford’s characteristic handwritten letters striking a both provocative and sentimental tone: Everyone wants to be the desired but am I the only one willing to do the hard part and do the wanting and I don’t like to joke, joking is a sin.

With Ford’s site-specific intervention, the Fridericianum picks up on works already installed in the Kunsthalle beyond the designated exhibition spaces, such as those of Kerstin Brätsch or Karl Holmqvist.

Ford has featured in solo exhibitions, among others, at Kunstverein Gartenhaus in Vienna (2025), the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York (2024), and The Print Center in Philadelphia (2023). She has also participated in group exhibitions in various institutions, such as MoMA PS1 in New York (2023 and 2021), White Columns in New York (2023), the Buffalo AKG Art Museum (2022), and the SculptureCenter in New York (2016).