Isa Genzken - Untitled (Mach Dich hübsch! - Leonardo deCaprio) - image-1

Lot 6 D

Isa Genzken - Untitled (Mach Dich hübsch! - Leonardo deCaprio)

Auction 1177 - overview Cologne
17.06.2021, 18:00 - Modern/Contemporary Art - Evening Sale
Estimate: 70.000 € - 90.000 €
Result: 87.500 € (incl. premium)

Isa Genzken

Untitled (Mach Dich hübsch! - Leonardo deCaprio)
2016

Assemblage of poster, adhesive tape, metal foil, plastic orchids and spray paint. Approx. 93 x 80 cm. Signed and dated 'Isa Genzken 2016'. - Traces of studio.

With her self-confident and multifaceted works, Isa Genzken encourages viewers to have their very own interpretative approaches and associations as the artist seldom offers any explanation for her works. However, those who engage in her life and her experiences will discern the influence of music, dance, architecture, New York, and her predilection for the actor Leonardo DiCaprio within her oeuvre. The assemblage on offer here combines the multiple characteristic elements used by Genzken and that reoccur as set pieces in her work. The reflecting properties of foil and mirrored surfaces incorporate the viewer and the surroundings; however, they do not provide an exact reflection but a distorted, fragmented representation. For the artist, the white orchid - once a symbol for luxury and exoticism - is the epitome of a now plentiful and globally available plant that still possesses a flawless, pure aura offering a multitude of possible interpretations. She has been integrating photographs and posters of the young Leonardo DiCaprio into various objects, collages, and artists' books since the end of the 90s - among others in the collage book “Mach dich hübsch!” [pretty yourself up] created around 2000.
The artist creates a complex narrative assemblage from these industrially manufactured mass products charged with personal levels of significance, whose subtitle „Mach dich hübsch!“ is quoted in the aforementioned artists' book. This title was also chosen for the major retrospective by Isa Genzken, which was shown at the Stedelijk-Museum Amsterdam and at the Martin Gropius Bau in Berlin in 2016.

Certificate

The present work is registered in Isa Genzken's works archive, Galerie Buchholz Cologne, Berlin.

Provenance

Directly from the artist; private collection, Berlin