ICA Educator`s Resource Pack Isa Genzken

1 Jul 2015 –
6 Sep 2015
Upper Gallery
Isa Genzken:
Basic Research
Paintings
ICA
Educator’s
Resource Pack
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Contents
About this pack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
ICA Exhibitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
About the ICA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Introduction to Isa Genzken: Basic Research Paintings . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Discussion Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
ICA Learning events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
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About this Pack
This resource pack has been developed to support
teaching and learning both at the ICA and offsite.
It offers starting points and ideas for visiting
educators to use with students. It was developed
with GCSE and A-Level students in mind but is
well suited for work with groups of all ages.
Activities and discussion points are suggested
and one of the key learning objectives is for
students to develop their skills in aesthetic
understanding and critical judgement. Students
will be guided towards an analysis and exploration
of Basic Research Paintings by Isa Genzken.
Suggested activities are offered for use in the
gallery and offsite.
Please note
We will tailor programmes to respond to curriculum
needs whenever possible. Please contact us
to make arrangements and check the website
for upcoming Learning Events.
Contact [email protected] for more information or to
add your contact to our learning mailing list.
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ICA Exhibitions
Fig – 2 (50 Exhibitions in 50 weeks)
5 Jan 2015 – 20 Dec 2015
ICA Studio
Eloise Hawser: Lives on Wire
1 Jul 2015 – 6 Sep 2015
Lower Gallery
Everything is Architecture:
Bau Magazine from the 60s and 70s
29 Jul 2015 – 27 Sep 2015
Prem Sahib
24 Sep 2015 – 15 Nov 2015
Adam Linder: Choreographic Service No.3: Some Riding
8 Sep 2015 – 13 Sep 2015
Zhang Ding
12 – 25 Oct 2015
Theatre
About the ICA
The ICA supports radical art and culture. Through
a vibrant programme of exhibitions, films, events
and talks, the ICA challenges perceived notions
and stimulates debate, experimentation, creativity
and exchange with visitors.
Founded in 1946 by a group of artists including
Roland Penrose, Peter Watson and Herbert
Read, the ICA continues to support living artists
in showing and exploring their work, often as it
emerges and before others. The ICA has been at
the forefront of cultural experimentation since
its formation and has presented important debut
solo shows by artists including Damien Hirst,
Steve McQueen, Richard Prince and Luc Tuymans.
More recently Pablo Bronstein, Lis Rhodes, Bjarne
Melgaard and Juergen Teller have all staged key
solo exhibitions, whilst a new generation of artists,
including Luke Fowler, Lucky PDF, Hannah Sawtell
and Factory Floor have taken part in exhibitions
and residencies.
The ICA was one of the first venues to present
The Clash and The Smiths, as well as bands such as
Throbbing Gristle. The inaugural ICA / LUX Biennial
of Moving Images was launched in 2012, and the
ICA Cinema continues to screen rare artists’ film,
support independent releases and partner with
leading film festivals.
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Introduction to
Isa Genzken:
Basic Research
Paintings
Isa Genzken is one of the most important and
influential artists of the last forty years. Since the
1970s, Genzken has developed an extraordinary
practice evident through museum shows such as
her recent retrospective at MoMA, New York.
Increasingly ambitious displays of the artist’s work
have tended towards a focus on large scale
sculptures, installations and impressive wall
mounted panel works.
Having experimented with a variety of different
materials and art forms, to include assemblage and
photography, film and video, Genzken also
produced two prominent series of paintings
spanning the late 80s and 90s. This included her
MLR (More Light Research) works from the early
nineties, and the Basic Research Paintings
produced between 1989–1991. The latter have
rarely been shown in isolation, or in the context of a
freestanding painting show.
The Basic Research Paintings are compelling in
that they invite scrutiny for the micro to macro,
presented as close-up impressions of urban
architecture, to aerial views of foreign landscapes.
These works are occasionally compared to the
abstract paintings of Gerhard Richter as a result of
Genzken’s relationship with the artist at the time.
By contrast Genzken’s approach to abstract
painting is emboldened through more of a
straightforward, direct approach, using a limited
palette rarely straying from a range of dark hues
such as dark green or brown.
The exhibition curated by Gregor Muir originally
featured as part of the ICA touring exhibition
Beware Wet Paint held at the Foundazione
Sandretto Re Rebaudengo in 2014–2015.
Media Partner:
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Discussion Points
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In the late 80s, after working predominately as a
sculptor, Isa Genzken created the Basic Research series
of paintings (Fig. 1) using a technique known as frottage.
Placing a paint-covered canvas face down onto her
studio floor she ran a squeegee across the back of this
to trace the details of the surface. What are your initial
impressions of the works? Describe the formal features
that are a result of Genzken’s experimental technique,
such as the use of colour, texture, line and composition.
Basic Research is the artist’s first painting series. Later
on in the 90s she produced another series called MLR
(More Light Research), where she used spray paint,
lacquer and stencils to create photogram-like works
(Fig. 2). Compare and contrast Basic Research and MLR.
What are the main themes in each? Which is more
successful in your opinion and why?
Does the title of the series Basic Research encourage
you to approach the work as research or work in progress?
What is the effect of using this title and do you think the
artist was trying to reveal how the viewer should see
them? Consider also the title of her later painting series
MLR (More Light Research).
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Fig. 1
Isa Genzken – Basic Research Paintings, 1989
Oil on canvas
Fig. 2
Isa Genzken – MLR
Alkyd resin spray paint on canvas
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Discussion Points
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Are there any similarities between Genzken and Gerhard
Richter’s work? Genzken began experimenting with paint
in the 1980s, at the time she was married to Richter.
Would you say he influenced her working style?
Before working on Basic Research Genzken created
minimalist ellipsoids and hyperbolos, geometric shapes
and curves (Fig. 3) created by computers and later used
steel, plaster and concrete to create sculptural works
such as World Receiver (1982) (Fig. 4). Why do you think
Genzken turned to painting in the late 80s? Did her
interest relate to changes in her personal life and
environment, do you think? What did the technique allow
her to investigate and explore?
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Fig. 3
Isa-Genzken – Red-Yellow-Black
Double Ellipsoid Twin, 1982
Fig. 4
Isa Genzken – World Receiver, 1992
Concrete and antenna
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Discussion Points
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Genzken’s extensive body of work across different media
and genres consistently makes reference to architecture.
For example, Fuck the Bauhaus was a series of
sculptures that Genzken created in response to the
design school that operated from 1919-33 in Germany
(Fig. 5). Her series of glass epoxy and steel constructions
from the early 90s that featured in the Renaissance
Society exhibition in 1992 (Fig. 6), reference the John
Hancock building in Chicago (Fig. 7). How do the Basic
Research paintings fit into her wider concern with
architecture and the urban environment?
Genzken’s work is often described as fearless and
she is celebrated for her risk taking and audacious
­inventiveness as an artist. How do these qualities
present themselves in the Basic Research paintings?
Do you think they are more or less present than in her
other work?
Why was Genzken never faithful to one particular media?
Where does the consistency within her body of work
reside in your opinion? Is it necessary for an artist to
align to one medium rather than experiment throughout
their lives?
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Fig. 5
Isa Genzken – Fuck the Bauhaus, 2002
Assemblage
Fig. 6
Isa Genzken – X, 1992
Epoxy resin and steel
Fig. 7
Isa Genzken – John Hancock Centre
Chicago
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Activities
Profile of the Artist
Who is Isa Genzken (Fig. 8)? Why do you think she is relatively unknown
in the UK and the US when she is credited as one of the most important and
influential female artists of the last forty years? The major retrospective of
her work appearing at MOMA in 2013/2014 demonstrates this. Where she
is known, it is often with regard to her marriage to Gerhard Richter. Broaden
your knowledge of Genzken by investigating a range of publications about
her, as well as the exhibitions and the gallery spaces that have featured her
work. Use the list under ‘LINK’ to help you investigate the artist’s œuvre.
Extend the task further by imagining you are compiling the catalogue for
the ICA’s exhibition. Write a short foreword for this, summarising Genzken’s
Basic Research work and her wider body of work. Furnish this with
biographical details about Genzken to present a fuller picture of the artist.
Books:
Isa Genzken: Retrospective, Sabine Breitwieser, Laura Hoptman, Michael
Darling, and Jeffrey Grove, with an essay by Lisa Lee, 2013
Isa Genzken – I’m Isa Genzken, the Only Female Fool by Isa Genzken, 2014
Isa Genzken (October Files) by Lisa Lee, 2015
Isa Genzken: I Love New York, Crazy City by Beatrix Ruf, 2006
Historical Context
Genzken was very much part of the male-dominated German art scene of
the 70s and 80s. Research Genzken’s contemporaries such as Martin
­Kippenberger and Siegmar Polke and other influential figures that she
was surroun­ded by, such as Gerhard Richter. Choose one artist to compare
and contrast her work to and write a paper exploring the themes and
concerns, both material and conceptual, that they share as well as providing
a picture of the German art scene in which they worked.
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View
Watch MOMA’s Youtube video (LINK*) on Genzken’s 2013 retrospective in
New York. Do you think this gives an accurate account of the artist’s work?
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8nLkge34mE
Link
It is difficult to categorise and summarise Genzken’s work. It has meandered
from painted wooden elliptoids and hyperbolos (Fig. 8) that reference
minimalism, to more complex assemblages of objects that critics have
described as both humorous and frightening such as her recent mannequins
(Fig. 9). Print out thumbnails of a selection of works by Isa Genzken and pin
them onto a board. Use different coloured strings and link these, focusing
on the similarities between the following categories:
Materials / meaning / references / techniques / symbolism
Use the list below of major series by the artist to
map the links between works:
2013 MoMA Museum of Modern Art, ‘Isa Genzken: Retrospective’,
New York (Fig. 10)
2007 52nd Venice Biennale 2007, ‘Isa Genzken’, detail of Oil, German
Pavilion, Venice (Fig. 11)
2004 ‘Empire Vampire’, Germany (Fig. 12)
2002 AC Project Room, ‘Fuck the Bauhaus. New Buildings for New York’,
New York (Fig. 5)
1992 Portikus Gallery exhibition, Frankfurt http://www.portikus.de/
1992 Renaissance Society, ‘Jeder braucht mindestens ein Fenster’, Chicago
(Fig. 6) http://archive.renaissancesociety.org/site/Exhibitions/Intro.IsaGenzken-Everybody-needs-at-least-one-window.71.html
1970s/80s Series of Elliptoids & Hyperboles (Fig. 3)
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Activities
Fig. 8
Isa Genzken – The artist in her studio, 1982
Fig. 9
Isa Genzken – Actors, 2013
Mannequins clothes shoes fabric and paper
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Fig. 10
Isa Genzken – Moma Retrospective, 2014
Fig. 8
Isa Genzken – Empire/Vampire, Who kills Death,
2002/2003
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Activities
Frottage
Genzken looked very closely at her surroundings and at architecture in
particular. From her studio windows she was able to investigate the micro
and macro surfaces of buildings. Look at different surfaces in using a variety
of different locations that you visit regularly and create rubbings of these
using different materials such as graphite, pencil and charcoal. You may wish
to extend the task further by using a canvas covered in paint and a squeegee,
adopting the same technique that Genzken used in her Basic Research
series. How easy or hard is it to create the textures Genzken achieved within
her works? Experiment with paint to create your own painting technique.
Think
What are the connections between paintings and architecture? How is this
reflected in Genzken’s work? Consider the ways in which Genzken sees
structure of painting as the ruin it could turn out to be and how the colours
she uses are related to destruction.
Assemble
Create an assemblage of found objects based on the urban environment.
Experiment with the process that Genzken has used for her works in the
series Fuck the Bauhaus and Empire/Vampire, Who kills Death (2002/2003).
Collect objects from charity shops and use recyclable and everyday objects
that you might otherwise discard. Combine found objects with photographs
of the urban landscapes and add other materials and media.
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Isa Genzken – Oil detail, 2007
German Pavilion, Venice Bienale, mixed media
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ICA Learning
Our dynamic learning programme provides opportunities
for creative exchange, investigation and discussion
between practitioners and audiences. The ICA strives to
build sustainable relationships with universities,
students, schools and our wider audiences, nurturing
interest and appreciation of the creative process, and
broadening engagement with contemporary arts.
ICA Learning provides different opportunities to
engage with the ICA programme through gallery tours,
guided visits to our exhibitions, Friday Salons, online
educational platforms and the ICA Student Forum, a
dedicated student body that curates events and projects
for the Public Programme.
Our University Partnerships exist to encourage the
development of joint projects and research. In addition,
ICA Academy provides career paths to Further Education,
Higher Education and employment.
For further information or to make a booking, please
email [email protected]
ICA Learning is generously supported by The Ernest
Cook Trust
ICA Learning Events
Friday Salon: Skeuomorphism
£5/ Free to ICA Members
Fri 21 Aug, 2pm
A discussion on Skeuomorphism, the art of replicating
an artefact in a form which is appropriate to another
medium.
Educators’ Tour of Isa Genzken and Eloise Hawser
Wed 1 Jul, 5pm
Led by ICA Executive Director Gregor Muir and ICA
curator Matt Williams
Gallery Tour: Eloise Hawser
Thu 23 Jul, 6.30pm
Led by artist Yemi Awosile
TEXT2SPEECH: Eloise Hawser
Wed 2 Sep, 6.30pm
Free, booking required
A series of free reading groups responding to the ICA’s
programme of exhibitions and events, discussing the
latest contemporary art theory.
Group and Matinee Screenings
£3 tickets/ Educators go free
A regular programme of films and talks for young
audiences.
Upcoming screenings:
Girlhood
Wed 9 Sep, 2pm
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Workshop on Listening
Sat 8 Aug, 2pm
Free, booking required
A workshop led by artists Mark Peter Wright and Helena
Hunter on sound practice, taking themes from Eloise
Hawser’s exhibition Lives on Wire as a starting point.
Bureaucracy
Wed 1 Jul, 11.45am – 4.15pm
£10 / £8 Concessions / £6 ICA members / £5 ICA
Student Members
This event organised by writer Eliane Glaser with artists
Phil and Galia Kollectiv brings together academics,
writers and artists to expose and represent the meaning
and function of this scourge of everyday life that we all
contend with, yet rarely think or talk about. Additional
speakers include; David Graeber, anthropologist and
author of The Utopia of Rules (2015), political and
cultural theorists Jeremy Gilbert and Mark Fisher and
novelist Tom McCarthy, In partnership with the University
of Reading.
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ICA Learning
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Cover image: Isa Genzken, Basic Research Paintings,
1989. Oil on canvas, 145 x 200cm.
Resource pack developed by Alice Halliday and
Rania Elgarf