b. 1948, Germany

Isa Genzken Biography

Since the 1970s, Isa Genzken has taken unpredictable ventures into diverse media, aesthetics, and points of reference that include modernist architecture, Constructivism, Minimalism, and our perceptions of the contemporary world.

Read More

The varied nature of Genzken's practice is evident from the early days of her career. While at Kunstakademie Düsseldorf—where she studied under Gerhard Richter, whom Genzken later married and divorced—she produced Two Women in Combat (1974), a black-and-white film that shows young Genzken and her friend Susan Grayson exchanging their clothes. Despite the title, their interaction is cordial and filled with laughter throughout the silent film.

During this decade, Genzken also began to produce large-scale wooden sculptures known as 'Ellipsoids' and 'Hyperbolos', whose simplistic forms evoke the legacies of Minimalism. These were designed by computers, making her one of the first artists, among her contemporaries, to marry digital technology and art.

Genzken travelled to the U.S. in 1977, where she became enamoured with New York. She went on to explore the city's urban and modernist architecture in works such as the steel sculpture, Rose (1993), versions of which have been installed in public spaces and reflect their surrounding corporate buildings and the capitalist consumer culture implicit within them.

In 1996, the artist completed I Love New York, Crazy City, an artist's book containing collages made from found images and the photographs she took around New York. Though two-dimensional, Isa Genzken's collages emit a sculptural quality reinforced by the bold lines of duct tape that section their pictorial planes into compartments.

One of the recurrent motifs in Genzken's practice is the window, which prompts the viewer to consider the material and metaphoric properties of space. In photographs such as Ohr (Ear) (1980), close-ups of ear canals transform them into monumental apertures.

An exploration of the symbolic implications of openings and frames formed the core of her solo exhibition Everybody Needs At Least a Window (1992) at The Renaissance Society, Chicago, and continued in the freestanding resin window sculptures in the 'Venedig' series (1993).

The 1990s also witnessed a succession of the experimental spirit that characterises Isa Genzken's work. Early in the decade, she produced X-rays of her skull as she drank and smoked, obscuring the line between art and an artist's personal life.

Her iconic column sculptures, reminiscent of skyscrapers, are constructed from quotidian materials, such as the shiny mirrors that provide a fragmented reflection of the material world in Little Crazy Column (2000) or the more eclectic arrangement of artificial flowers, wood, and miniature figurines of native Americans and cowboys at war in Bouquet (2004).

Isa Genzken has increasingly turned to figurative sculptures to examine contemporary human experiences. In the 'Schauspieler (Actors)' series (2013), for example, she dresses mannequins in various items and clothing—some her own—to reference the extremes of consumerist excess.

Genzken's work has been organised into several travelling exhibitions, including Isa Genzken: Retrospective (2013), presented by Museum of Modern Art, New York; Isa Genzken: New Works, initiated by Museum der Moderne Salzburg, Austria (2014); and Mach dich hübsch! (2015), a survey exhibition that debuted at Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam.

Isa Genzken solo exhibitions include:

Isa Genzken: Works 1973–1983, Kunstmuseum Basel, Switzerland (2020); Window, Hauser & Wirth, London (2020); Isa Genzken, Kunsthalle Bern, Switzerland (2019); Isa Genzken: Sky Energy, David Zwirner, New York (2017); Isa Genzken. Basic Research Paintings, Institute of Contemporary Arts, London (2015).

Isa Genzken group exhibitions include:

Ikonen. Was wir Menschen anbeten, Kunsthalle Bremen, Germany (2019); Hybrid Sculpture. Contemporary Sculpture from the Collection of the Stedelijk Museum, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (2019); Like Life. Sculpture, Color, and the Body (1300–Now), The Met Breuer, New York (2018); The Long Run, Museum of Modern Art, New York (2017); All the World's Futures, 56th International Art Exhibition, Venice Biennale (2015).

Sherry Paik | Ocula | 2020

Isa Genzken
featured artworks

View 5 More
Untitled by Isa Genzken contemporary artwork sculpture
Isa Genzken Untitled, 2015 Mirror foil, adhesive tape, photography and acrylic paint on acrylic panel
182.9 x 101.6 cm
Hauser & Wirth Request Price & Availability
Weltempfänger Hilde by Isa Genzken contemporary artwork sculpture
Isa Genzken Weltempfänger "Hilde", 1990 Concrete and antenna
15.5 x 14.5 x 5.5 cm
Sies + Höke Request Price & Availability
Weltempfänger Beyreuth by Isa Genzken contemporary artwork sculpture
Isa Genzken Weltempfänger "Beyreuth", 1991 Concrete, antenna
82.9 x 26 x 7.9 cm
Sies + Höke Request Price & Availability
Untitled by Isa Genzken contemporary artwork painting, works on paper, sculpture
Isa Genzken Untitled, 2017 Mannequins, clothes, shoes, fabric, leather, glass, metal, paper bag, and spray paint
192.1 x 200 x 100 cm
Andrew Kreps Gallery Request Price & Availability
Untitled by Isa Genzken contemporary artwork sculpture, print, mixed media
Isa Genzken Untitled, 2015 Canvas, paint, mirror foil, adhesive luggage tag, print on paper, and postcard
120 x 82 cm
David Zwirner Request Price & Availability
Untitled by Isa Genzken contemporary artwork sculpture
Isa Genzken Untitled, 2018 Lacquer paint, paint can, photo holder, cardboard, plastic lid, glue, ash, paper, tissue, tape, plastic foil, c-print, toy figure, cigarette, plastic wrapper, mirror foil, and sticker on aluminium
72 x 100 x 12.5 cm
David Zwirner Request Price & Availability
Untitled by Isa Genzken contemporary artwork painting
Isa Genzken Untitled, 2018 Lacquer paint and metal grid on aluminium panel
70 x 100 cm
David Zwirner Request Price & Availability
Untitled by Isa Genzken contemporary artwork mixed media
Isa Genzken Untitled, 2018 Lacquer paint, c-prints, gloves, sticker, wood, cigarette box, paper, plastic, cardboard, badge, glue, and graphite on aluminium panel
70 x 100 x 6.5 cm
David Zwirner Request Price & Availability
View 5 More

Isa Genzken
upcoming & recent
exhibitions

View 26 More
View 26 More

Represented by these
Ocula Member Galleries

David Zwirner contemporary art gallery in New York: 19th Street, United States
David Zwirner Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, New York, Paris
Galerie Buchholz contemporary art gallery in Berlin, Germany
Galerie Buchholz Berlin, New York, Cologne
Hauser & Wirth contemporary art gallery in Hong Kong
Hauser & Wirth Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, New York, Paris +8
View 26 More

Isa Genzken in
Ocula Magazine

Read 1 More
Read 1 More
Learn more about the market for works
by Isa Genzken.
Enquire for a confidential discussion. Enquire Now
Simon Fisher, Ocula CEO
Ocula Advisor
Simon Fisher
Christoper Taylor, Ocula Advisor
Ocula Advisor
Christopher Taylor
Eva Fuchs, Ocula Advisor
Ocula Advisor
Eva Fuchs
Rory Mitchell, Ocula Advisor
Ocula Advisor
Rory Mitchell

Isa Genzken in
Ocula Advisory

Ocula discover the best in contemporary art icon.
Follow Isa Genzken
Stay ahead.
Receive updates on new artworks,
exhibitions and articles.
Your personal data is held in accordance with our privacy policy.
Follow
Do you have an Ocula account?
Ocula discover the best in contemporary art icon.
Get Access
Join Ocula to request price and availability of artworks, exhibition price lists and build a collection of favourite artists, galleries and artworks.
Do you have an Ocula account? Login
What best describes your interest in art?

Subscribe to our newsletter for upcoming exhibitions, available works, events and more.
By clicking Sign Up or Continue with Facebook or Google, you agree to Ocula's Terms & Conditions. Your personal data is held in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
Thank you for joining us. Just one more thing...
Soon you will receive an email asking you to complete registration. If you do not receive it then you can check and edit the email address you entered.
Close
Thank you for joining us.
You can now request price and availability of artworks, exhibition price lists and build a collection of favourite artists, galleries and artworks.
Close
Welcome back to Ocula
Enter your email address and password below to login.
Reset Password
Enter your email address to receive a password reset link.
Reset Link Sent
We have sent you an email containing a link to reset your password. Simply click the link and enter your new password to complete this process.
Login