Witte de With’s director Nicolaus Schafhausen is appointed as curator for the German contribution to the 52nd Venice Biennale, he chose to show Isa Genzken (b. 1948, Bad Oldesloe, Germany) to represent Germany.
Schafhausen explained this choice by stating that Genzken is one of the most uncompromising artists of today, pinpointing current times like almost no other contemporary artist. Furthermore, he said that for Genzken, life and existence are just as complex as art itself. Her creative work stands in contradiction to a one-trick-pony society and culture, which searches for happiness in simple answers. For more than thirty years, Genzken has created a diverse oeuvre that spans sculpture, installation, photography, collage and film, a practice that continues to move and develop while meeting new challenges. This is why she remains such an important influence to so many international artists of subsequent generations.
The team of the German Pavilion includes:
Nicolaus Schafhausen, Witte de With, Rotterdam – commissioner
Sophie von Olfers, Witte de With, Rotterdam – project coordination
Roger Bundschuh, Bundschuh Architekten, Berlin – architecture
Sven Bergmann, Bonn – press and public relations
Markus Weisbeck, Surface, Frankfurt am Main – design
Paul van Gennip, Witte de With, Rotterdam – technical realisation
Natasa Radovic, Julia Moritz, Laura Preston – assistance
Contact:
Deutscher Pavillon
Sophie von Olfers
p/a Witte de With
Center for Contemporary Art
Witte de Withstraat 50
3012 BR Rotterdam
The Netherlands
Tel. 0031 (0)104110144
[email protected]
Press Contact:
Deutscher Pavillon
Sven Bergmann
Meckenheimer Allee 125
53115 Bonn
Germany
Tel. 0049 (0)228.2665275
[email protected]
www.deutscher-pavillon.org
On March 24, 2007, Witte de With hosted the Isa Genzken Special, an occasion to discuss and explore Genzken' work in depth. With Alex Farquharson, Kasper König, Vanessa Joan Müller, Juliane Rebentisch and Karel Schampers.
You can download the lectures and discussions as MP3’s from theevents’ page.
The German Pavilion at the 52nd International Art Exhibition La Biennale die Venezia 2007 is commissioned and sponsored by the Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany and co-organised by the Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations (ifa).
The main sponsor of the pavilion is Deutsche Bank.
Media partner is DW-TV Deutsche Welle. The pavilion is supported by AXA Art Kunstversicherung
and technically realised by the production team of Witte de With, Center for Contemporary Art.
The catalogue for the German Pavilion is published and supported by DuMont Literatur and Kunst Verlag.
Deutsche Bank