Isa Melsheimer
dal 1/6/2012 al 24/8/2012
Segnalato da
1/6/2012
Isa Melsheimer
Esther Schipper, Berlin
Isa Melsheimer works sculpturally within a given space. "A Green Archipelago" includes works which refer to the underlying architectural structures of a selection of buildings located on the banks of the river Spree, opposite the gallery.
Esther Schipper is pleased to present the first solo exhibition of new works by Isa Melsheimer.
Isa Melsheimer mainly works sculpturally within a given space. From embroidery, glass or concrete works to gouache on paper, the artist chooses her materials carefully. References to architecture or literature play an important role in her work.
The title of the exhibition at Esther Schipper, A Green Archipelago, is taken from a text written in 1977 by architects Oswald Mathias Ungers, Hans Kollhoff and Rem Koolhaas. The architects elaborate the idea of “cities within a city”, specifically with reference to the city of Berlin. The manifesto deals with the deterioration of the metropolis as a centralized agglomeration and with the resulting ‘empty’ spaces, or voids, appearing within the city. It suggests to give up those areas in decay to nature, and instead to focus and promote those that are prosperous. In this way, a city of enclaves and open spaces would –and did, as they observed– grow.
A large, embroidered curtain dividing one of the gallery’s rooms shows a map of Berlin. Highlighted are places the artist uses to exemplify the sprouting of enclaves, “cities within a city”. In the second space, five small-scale, concrete sculptures partly including plants will be shown. They refer to the underlying architectural structures of a selection of buildings located on the banks of the river Spree, opposite the gallery, that were erected for the International Building Exhibition (IBA) in 1987 and partly developed with Ungers’ concept in mind. Among others, Melsheimer’s objects refer to the so-called Öko-Haus located in Rauchstraße by Frei Otto and Oswald Mathias Ungers' residential housing on Lützowplatz, which despite heavy protests has been charted to be torn down. Delicate gouache paintings will line the wall that will explore the taking over of the city by nature.
In the main gallery space, a replica of a Mies van der Rohe support-pillar will be shown alongside sculptural elements inspired by the objects in his sculpture garden in the New National Gallery, Berlin.
Isa Melsheimer, born in 1968 in Neuss, was a graduate of Georg Baselitz at the HdK, The Berlin University of the Arts. Her most important solo exhibitions include shows at Santa Monica Museum of Art, Los Angeles (2012), Bonnefantenmuseum, Maastricht, The Netherlands (2004), The Chinati Foundation, Marfa, Texas (2005), Städtische Galerie Nordhorn (2008) and Carré d’art – musée d’art contemporain, Nîmes, France (2010). She has taken part in many group exhibitions, including: „30 Künstler / 30 Räume“ Neues Museum, Nürnberg (2012), Mondes inventés, Mondes habités“, MUDAM, Luxembourg (2011), „15 Jahre Villa Aurora- Transatlantische Impulse“, Akademie der Künste, Berlin (2010). The artist currently lives and works in Berlin.
Press office:
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Opening Saturday 2 June, 6 - 9 pm
Esther Schipper
Schöneberger Ufer 65
10785 Berlin
Tue - Sat: 11am - 6pm. The gallery will be closed from 31 July till 4 August.
Free admission