Courtesy: The artist and Esther Schipper, Berlin
Photos: © Andrea Rossetti
Esther Schipper is pleased to present Isa Melsheimer’s
second solo exhibition with the gallery. Entitled Über die
Dünnhäutigkeit von Schwellen, the exhibition includes
new concrete and ceramic works. In addition to a suite of
gouaches, the rooms will be altered by a network of threads
addressing the changeability and fragility of space, both in
general and in the context of the specific conditions of this
exhibition space.
Known for her engagement with the history of architectural
styles—especially the legacy of Modernism and of concrete
constructions from the 1960s and 1970s, a style generally
referred to as Brutalism—Isa Melsheimer’s works are
expressions of her intense research as well as formal
investigations. The artist acts as archeologist of often
forgotten or neglected buildings, recreating their distinctive
shapes both from her study and from her vivid re-imagining
of the forms and the spirit of the structures. Even if the individual buildings are not all well known and
therefore might not be immediately recognized, the formal language is familiar and has become a
ubiquitous part of the urban landscape. Her work seeks to examine the connotations of the building’s
historical and architectural context, and the ideological connotations with which its materials, aesthetics,
and functions may be imbued.
The concrete works in this exhibition take as points of reference Brutalist buildings that were neither
popular nor critical successes and have subsequently been demolished.
In her gouaches of architectural sites Isa Melsheimer constructs small autonomous worlds, seemingly
detached from their real-world settings. The artist often choses black and white source material showing
the building in their original condition, that is, without signs of subsequent decay or dilapidation and
without later architectural or landscaping additions. Isa Melsheimer effectively reimagines the colors of
the buildings and their interiors, unrestrained by
the strictures of verisimilitude. The impression
of these structures existing in a self-contained,
timeless space is further emphasized by
the fantastic elements that appear in these
environments: wild animals like foxes or
porcupines, clusters of brilliantly colored
crystalline formations and/or extravagantly
dark starry night skies.
Isa Melsheimer’s glazed ceramics find another
kind of representation of architectural structures that depart in scale, material and color from their sources. Although their scale recalls the miniaturized
and schematic appearance of preliminary architectural models, the material and colors add a fantastic,
playful aspect, and even let the works appear akin to individual personages.
A large-scale installation using threads to create geometric shapes addressing the architectural conditions
of the exhibition space will span both rooms. In 2015 Isa Melsheimer installed a similarly expansive
network of threads at the Espace Culturel Louis Vuitton in Paris.
Both Isa Melsheimer’s object-based works and her gouaches take a certain amount of free license,
sometimes containing elements of fantastic recreation, but are always infused with a deep understanding
for their architectural sources.