Architecture as a source of inspiration has been a constant in her work since the 1980s and 1990s. This has led to architectural forms and principles of organization, but also to the integration of art into new buildings, in collaboration with the Belgian architecture duo Paul Robbrecht and Hilde Daem.
Isa Genzken emerged onto the scene in the 1980s, a period in which art took on new eclectic paths after the conceptual deconstruction of modernism. Her work is in a tense relationship with modernism and minimalism, translating into various media such as sculpture, installation, film, and artist books.
Like buildings, Genzken’s works seem to “frame” reality. At first glance, they offer a conceptual and material frame to interpret the rampant chaos of reality. In some sculptures, this results in ruinous concrete structures on metal pedestals.
In Fenster I and II, created for the exhibition ‘New Images’ (1993), the fragmented and eroded gives way to a sleek and smooth finish. Genzken placed two window sculptures amidst the shrubbery of Middelheim-Laag. Their hidden position between the bushes and the (too) high steel structure acting as a pedestal, makes them not very functional. You don’t look through them, but rather up at them. They frame the trees and branches of the surrounding area, but these Fremdkörper mainly draw attention to themselves.
The use of materials – transparent epoxy resin that reveals the internal iron reinforcement – reinforces this dysfunctional effect. The translucent resin is sensitive to changes in daylight and highlights the frame in relation to what is framed.
www.ftn-books.com now has the Neue Nationalgalerie publication available.
