Venedig, 1993
In her earliest works, she used concrete – the building material of the modern age – as well as epoxy resins, glass, wood and metal, while her later works also incorporate objets trouvés, which she transforms into large-scale assemblages. Time and again, her sculptures deal with the ‘phenomenological core of art – namely that it is precisely limitation which opens art’ (Poul Erik Tøjner in his laudatory speech on the occasion of the Wolfgang Hahn Prize 2002). This also holds true of her work Venice (1993), which the Gesellschaft für Moderne Kunst donated to the Museum Ludwig on the occasion of the Wolfgang Hahn Prize 2002. Venice is a two-part ensemble and Genzken’s first sculpture in epoxy resin, which she presented for the first time at the Venice Biennale in 1993, hence the title. Her play with art historical references – from the significance of the window as an outward and inward view to the folding screen as a room divider – is just as diverse as the chosen material, which, as a result of its translucent character, creates ‘a visual echo’ as both ‘a luminous body and reflector’ (Michael Krajewski in the publication on the occasion of the Wolfgang Hahn Prize).