Isa Genzken
dal 13/11/2012 al 11/1/2013
Segnalato da
13/11/2012
Isa Genzken
Hauser & Wirth - Savile Row, London
Genzken's work is continuously looking around itself, translating into three-dimensional form the way that art, architecture, design and media affects the experience of urban life. Genzken makes use of all surfaces of the gallery, includingan on-going series of collages that span the floor of the space, like a pavement down abusy city street.
Inspired by the stark severity of modernist
architecture and the chaotic energy of the
city, just as much as by art history, the
aesthetics of the great American artists of
the Sixties and pop culture, Isa Genzken's
work is continuously looking around itself,
translating into three-dimensional form
the way that art, architecture, design and
media affects the experience of urban life.
From 15 November, Genzken will present an
exhibition of new and recent works at Hauser
& Wirth's Savile Row gallery. Genzken's
totemic columns, pedestal works and
collages combine disparate aspects from her
many sources in seemingly nonsensical, yet
harmonious sculptural compilations.
The bust of Nefertiti, an ancient icon of feminine
beauty, is one of the most well-known and
historically significant sculptures. In Genzken's
new series of sculptures, she appropriates plaster
reproductions of this bust, which the artist first
saw at the Egyptian Museum in Berlin, gives them
sunglasses and places them upon tall, white pedestals. She pairs Nefertiti with a reproduction of the
Renaissance icon of feminine beauty, the Mona Lisa, whose famous portrait leans against the foot
of each pedestal. Genzken then overlays her own self-portrait on to the reproduction of Mona Lisa,
playfully inserting herself and her own
practice into this multimedia exploration
of the lineage of feminine beauty and the
place of women in art history.
Genzken's sculptures are precariously
stacked assemblages of potted plants,
designer furniture, empty shipping
crates and photographs, among other
things, arranged with the traditions of
modernist sculpture in mind – traditions
which are then manipulated by the
artist. With this cacophonous array
of objects, Genzken undermines the
classical notions of sculpture and, in the
North Gallery of Savile Row,
re-creates the architectural dimensions of
the artist's beloved skyscrapers and the
riotous colours of the city streets. Devoid
of the weightiness and overpowering scale
seen in the sculptures of her Minimalist
predecessors, these works abandon notions
of order and power, allowing the viewer
to relate to the works' inherently human
qualities of fragility and vulnerability.
Both sculpture and photography combine
and overlap in Genzken's collages, whose
dense surfaces are formed from the
materials of the artist's world: magazines,
flyers, snapshots of friends, self-portraits
and reproduced artworks. Genzken makes
use of all surfaces of the gallery, including
an on-going series of collages that span the
floor of the space, like a pavement down a
busy city street.
Born in Bad Oldesloe, Germany, Isa Genzken
studied at the renowned Kunstakademie
Düsseldorf whose faculty at the time included
Joseph Beuys, Bernd and Hilla Becher,
Benjamin H.D. Buchloh and Gerhard Richter.
Genzken had her first major retrospective in 2009. 'Isa Genzken: Open Sesame!' opened at the
Whitechapel Art Gallery, London, England (2009) and travelled to Museum Ludwig, Cologne,
Germany (2009). Other important solo exhibitions include 'Hallelujah', Schinkel Pavillon, Berlin,
Germany (2012); Museion Bozen, Bolzano, Italy (2010); 'Ground Zero', Hauser & Wirth London,
England (2008); Wiener Secession, Vienna, Austria (2006); Kunsthalle Zürich, Switzerland (2003)
and the major touring exhibition, 'Jeder braucht mindestens ein Fenster', which opened at the
Renaissance Society, Chicago IL (1992) and travelled to Portikus, Frankfurt am Main (1992); Palais
des Beaux Arts, Brussels, Belgium (1993); and Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich,
Germany (1993). In 2007, Genzken was chosen to represent her country in the 52nd Venice
Biennale. Also in 2007, Genzken's works were featured for the third time in Skulptur Projekte
Münster, Munster, Germany. Genzken's work has also been included in three Documenta
exhibitions: documenta XI (2002); documenta IX (1992); and documenta VII (1982). The Museum
of Modern Art, New York will host Genzken's first US museum survey, opening in November 2013.
Genzken currently lives and works in Berlin, Germany.
Image: Untitled, 2012. MDF, plastic, glass, mirror foil, perspex, glass and plastic figures, mask, tape, artificial hair, casters
237 x 95 x 104 cm / 93 1/4 x 37 3/8 x 41 in.
Opening: Wednesday 14 November 6-8 pm
Hauser & Wirth - Savile Row
23 Savile Row -London
Hours: tue-sat 10am-6pm
Free admission