Saturday, February 21, 2009

Isa Genzken

Isa Genzken has been one of my favorite artists for a few years, so when I saw her in Chelsea a few weeks ago (wearing some awesome dirt bike riding pants), I figured I'd put a post up of her work. Unfortunately, there's not a whole lot of info about her life online. I guess that's how it tends to go with artists who are still alive, especially female artists. Isa was born in 1948 in Bad Oldescloe, Germany and studied at the Hamburg College of Fine Arts (1969 - 1971), Berlin University of Fine Arts (1972 - 1973), and Düsseldorf Art Academy (1973 - 1977). For a time she was married to the artist Gerhard Richter. Genzken received the International Art Prize in 2004 and theWolfgang-Hahn-Prize in 2002. One of the things I love about Isa Genzken's work is that she explores all sorts of mediums - sculpture, installation, video, painting, works on paper, photography, and artist books. Genzken uses everything from wood and plaster to found materials. I've always been interested in how she can combine themes that are generally thought of as masculine, such as architecture, modernism, and industrialization, and approach them with a fresh visualization that seems to know no gender or class distinction.
















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