Isa Genzken's (b. 1948, Bad Oldesloe, Germany) work draws upon everyday material culture, including design, consumer goods, the media, architecture, and urban environments. Drawing loosely on the legacies of Constructivism and Minimalism and often involving a critical, open dialogue with modernist architecture, Genzken interrogates the way in which common aesthetic styles come to illustrate and embody contemporary political and social ideologies.
Solo exhibitions include the Kunstverein Braunschweig, Germany (2000); Museum Ludwig, Cologne (2002); Camden Arts Centre, London; Galerie im Taxispalais, Innsbruck; Secession, Vienna (all 2006); and Museion, Bolzano, Italy (2010), The Museum of Modern Art, New York (2013), Museum der Moderne Salzburg, Austria (2014), Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (2015), (2019) Kunsthalle Bern, Switzerland, Kunstmuseum Basel | Gegenwart (2020-2021), Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin (2023). Her work has been prominently featured in international biennials and group exhibitions such as documenta (1982, 1992, and 2002); Skulptur Projekte Münster (1987, 1997, and 2007); and the Venice Biennale (1982, 1993, 2003, 2007, and 2015), where she represented Germany in 2007. Major museum exhibitions; Rheinisches Landesmuseum, Bonn, Germany (1988), The Renaissance Society at the University of Chicago (1992), Museum Abteiberg, Mönchengladbach, Germany (2002), Whitechapel Gallery, London (2009).