Isa Genzken’s architectonic sculptures waver between emerging forms and decomposing rubble. Cast concrete is the artist’s primary medium. However, the medium’s association with strength and durability is countered by Genzken’s crude handling of the sculptures’ surfaces. In almost every work one sees the gravel aggregate inside the cement exposed at eroding corners and chipped edges. Similarly, the internal wire armature often emerges from the mottled surface to suggest a crumbling structure.
Kirche (Church, 1989) is typical of Genzken’s sculpture. A primary concrete structure in the form of a rectangular edifice sits atop a welded wrought-iron stand. From afar this mass appears to be a solid block of gray stone. However, closer inspection reveals that it is composed of walls, each fabricated in horizontal layers of concrete strata. The layers are stacked vertically, laid one upon the other like masonry. They form the outline of the sculpture’s rectangular floor plan. The exterior of this edifice is roughly hewn and shows an irregular surface of worn concrete. There are fissures which look like horizontal and vertical cracks in the fundamental structure, yet many of these are actually produced by the irregular levels in which the vertical concrete slabs were cast. Thus, the outer walls are reminiscent of antiquated brickwork. This massive exterior is fortresslike and contains an inner sanctum whose surface is smooth and finely integrated. These walls are marked with industrial imprints akin to the irregular surfaces of an automobile engine block or die-cut pattern. They are juxtaposed or blended with markings from plywood and terra-cotta molds. Their abstract imprints create a familiar, albeit illegible, record which recalls hieroglyphs within a sacred Egyptian tomb.
Through such formal devices as the variation of the sculpture’s surface treatment and the implication of an internal and external opposition, Genzken imbues her work with symbolic references. The sculptures become more specifically iconographic, as they participate in the historical dialogue of sacred and profane themes used in architectural design. Genzken develops the architectural treatment of the sacred arena in her construction of Bild (Painting, 1989). The opening which leads into the structure is narrow and concealed. The visual entry into this massive block of cast concrete is further obstructed by two doors which are half shut; they seem to guard the long, confined space. The doors enclose an interior that is speckled with inlaid mica, glass, and ornamental porcelain. In addition, the walls are embedded with white plaster striations which are like quartz veins in marble. This gives a geologic and jeweled atmosphere to the sculpture’s construction. To confront this sparkling surface and intimate interior is like discovering the secrets of a sacred monument. The severe, raw exterior in no way reveals these intricacies and ornaments. The treatment of the edifice makes the sculpture recall a spiritual sanctuary.
Genzken also showed a series of paintings titled “Basic Research,” 1989. These works maintain Genzken’s interest in cleaving interior with exterior form. The surfaces, composed of monochromatic earth tones, share the mottled imprint found across the surfaces of her sculptures. Their grainy texture is produced by rubbing the canvas against the rough surface of concrete or other coarse media. Hence, Genzken has created in a two-dimensional format an analogous construction for her sculptural edifices. These images make reference to a layering of activity, made captive through the imprint left from the traces of rubbing.
Genzken’s works have an organic, geologic quality which interacts with their architectonic composition. Like ancient architecture cut from stone, which slowly returns to the earth, Genzken’s work not only relies upon the foundations of human construction but assimilates the creative forces of geology. Strata, striations, and fissures in the concrete mark the imprint of geologic time. Genzken makes intelligent use of material, color, construction, and texture to exhibit the traces of the growth and decay of nature.
—Kirby Gookin
