Rita McBride was born in Des Moines, Iowa in 1960. She currently lives and works in  Düsseldorf, Germany and Los Alamos, California. She received a BA from Bard College and an MFA from the California Institute of the Arts. In 1987, she began to explore architectural and sculptural form in works ranging from small scale objects to large public commissions. She is the recipient of the Lee Krasner Award for lifetime achievement (2021-22).

Her major public commissions include Practicing (in collaboration with Jeanne van den Horst) (2022); National Chain 2020 / Social Practices (in collaboration with Alexandra Waierstall and Fontys Dance Academy), De Pont Museum, Tilburg (2021); Particulates, Dia Art Foundation, New York (2017); Portal, Liverpool Biennial of Contemporary Art (2016); Obelisk of Tutankhamum, Cologne (2017); Donkey’s Way, Mönchengladbach (2016); Artifacts (C.W.D), P.S. 315, Queens, New York (2015); Bells and Whistles, The New School, New York, (2014); Mae West, Munich (2011); and Arena, Kunstinstituut Melly (formerly Witte de With), Rotterdam (1997).

Institutional solo exhibitions include Arena, Bauhaus Museum Dessau; Explorer, Wiels, Brussels (2017); gesellschaft, Kestner Gesellschaft, Hannover and Kunsthalle Düsseldorf (2015–2016); Public Tilt, Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego (2014); Transacción pública, Museo Tamayo, Mexico City (2013–14); Public Tender, Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona (2012); Previously, Kunstmuseum Winterthur, Switzerland (2010); and Public Works, Museum Abteiberg, Mönchengladbach (2008).

Group exhibitions include Suite Matrimonial (with Glen Rubsamen), Mai 36 Galerie, Zürich (2021); gerlach en koop: Was machen Sie um Zwei? Ich schlafe, GAK Gesellschaft für Aktuelle Kunst, Bremen (2021–21); Studio for Propositional Cinema: In Relation to a Spectator, Kestner Gesellschaft, Hannover (2017); Everything Architecture, Bozar, Palais des Beaux-Art, Brussels, (2016); Liverpool Biennial (2016); Making Is Thinking, Witte de With, Rotterdam (2011); The World as a Stage, Tate Modern, London and Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston (2007); and What If: Art on the Verge of Architecture and Design, Moderna Museet, Stockholm (2000).

Several of Rita McBride’s most quintessential works will be exhibited in 2023. Particulates will be on view at the Hammer  in Los Angeles from March 26 through November 5th.   Arena will be exhibited with three additional works at Dia:Beacon beginning in July and remain on view into September, 2024.