German artist Isa Genzken has won the $100,000 Nasher Prize for Sculpture in Dallas for her irreverent and unexpected work such as a mannequin with football helmet and life jacket; cinder blocks with retractable metal radio antennae; and a slot machine with color photo prints and tape.
When Isa Genzken’s 26-foot-tall painted steel rose was unveiled last fall in lower Manhattan’s Zuccotti Park, formerly home to the Occupy Wall Street protest movement, it was as close as the charismatic yet elusive artist usually comes to a public statement. Her spirited sculptures are now seen more widely in this country and in Europe, but she rarely engages with the media — unlike a younger generation of Instagram-savvy art stars.
Indeed, the 70-year-old artist has declined most interview requests (including ours) even after winning this year's fourth annual $100,000 Nasher Prize for sculpture. As of press time, she was not yet confirmed to attend the black tie gala to be held in her honor April 6 at the Nasher Sculpture Center, which would make her the first laureate to not accept the prestigious international award in Dallas. A series of educational programs inspired by her work will go on without her next week.
This won't be Dallas' first encounter with Genzken's work. Local art lovers will recall the "immense and thought-provoking" retrospective of her work that came to the Dallas Museum of Art four years ago from New York's MoMA.
Although Genzken's work is highly respected by other artists and by curators, it is not always easy to grasp at first glance. We can better understand Genzken's work by comparing it with that of her peers, and by learning about her own journey from art school, through personal struggles, to her eventual late-life fame.