This weekend, David Zwirner Paris will debut an exhibition of recent works by German artist Isa Genzken. “Paris New York” is her first solo show in the city since 2010, featuring an installation of the artist’s “tower” sculptures and a series of wall-mounted panel works.
Constructing complex creations across a range of media like collage, film, painting, photography, and sculpture, Genzken’s practice cross-examines the effects of our materialistic culture on our day-to-day lives. One of the most engaging elements of the artist’s career is her constant shift between categories like art, design, architecture, and the individual.
Genzken’s “tower” works are architectonic figures that follow her longstanding fascination with urban skylines. Appearing both improvisational and monumental, these sculptural works, like a three-tiered fiberboard “building” filled with human dolls, highlight thoughts on the dualities behind the modern built environment.
The artist will also present a series of wall hangings, made using aluminum and industrial or commercially available materials like acrylic lacquer, strips of graph paper, tape and foil swatches, and photographs. Alluding to an amalgamation of aesthetic elements like modern screens and information surfaces and minimalist sculptures, the works present themselves as multi-media collages, like an untitled piece with pasted strips of paper and paint splatters in yellow, black, and teal.
“Paris New York” coincides with a major exhibition of Genzken’s early work at the Kunstmuseum Basel.