Invited Artists



Pawel_Althamer | Michael_Asher | Nairy_Baghramian | Guy_Ben-Ner | Guillaume_Bijl | Martin_Boyce | Jeremy Deller | Michael_Elmgreen und Ingar_Dragset | Hans-Peter_Feldmann | Dora_Garcia | Isa_Genzken | Dominique_Gonzalez-Foerster | Tue_Greenfort | David_Hammons | Valérie_Jouve | Mike_Kelley | Suchan Kinoshita | Marko_Lehanka | Gustav_Metzger | Eva_Meyer und Eran_Schaerf | Deimantas_Narkevicius | Bruce_Nauman | Maria_Pask | Manfred_Pernice | Susan_Philipsz | Martha_Rosler | Thomas_Schütte | Andreas_Siekmann | Rosemarie_Trockel | Silke_Wagner | Mark_Wallinger | Clemens von Wedemeyer | Annette_Wehrmann | Pae_White

 


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Isa Genzken

*1948, Bad Oldesloe, lives and works in Berlin




Project: Without Title

On the square in front of the Überwasserkirche (Unserer Lieben Frauen), a passion play will be performed. But the contemporary version represents a dramatic departure from the historic original. The new tale of woe does not have to be the same as the one two thousand years ago. Rather than staging sandal-footed figures wearing monk’s habits, Isa Genzken presents twelve assemblages made up of cheap, garish plastic kitsch, and buried beneath them are the protagonists of the tale – children’s dolls – which seem to have gotten tangled up in classical design furniture. These brash agglomerations of our glitzy consumer world demand every attention possible. Plastic flowers in shallow seat pans of plexiglass together with inflatable swim rings and water pistols – it looks improvised, yet it has been composed with great precision. Baseball caps, sunhats, and lots of colorful umbrellas protect the dolls from sun and rain. And they need all the protection they can get, since they are stuck in all sorts of impossible situations, suffering from the neglect that comes with affluence. “Art does not need to be quiet,” says Isa Genzken, “but should rather be an attraction in and of itself.” Located in front of a church, the work may also be interpreted as a religious statement alluding to the Way of the Cross. But it is the grotesqueness of Genzken’s combinations that makes her work accessible to anyone who wishes to comprehend it – be it in silent contemplation or through pure vandalism.


Biography

Isa Genzken participated in the sculpture projects in 1987 and 1997. Her works explore the impact of the environment on us, and the effect it has. The tensions between architecture, advertising, design, and the media determine human behaviour in public space, and are the focus of Genzken's interest. In terms of form, her art is bound by an autonomous concept of art and sculpture. She often uses materials that underline the temporary character of her works. Genzken also employs the traditional media, i.e. photography, video, mirrors, plastic film, and everyday accessories. Her art establishes an immediate reference to the location: She tries to capture its nature and to transfer it into a new context.

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