Isa Melsheimer Interior Landscape III, 2016
Ceramic, glaze
Keramik, Glasur
Keramik, Glasur
18 x 33 x 16 cm (7 1/8 x 13 x 6 1/4 in)
The glazed ceramic takes as its source Gae Aulenti's designs for the 1972 exhibition Italy: The New Domestic Landscape at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. An Italian postmodern architect, Aulenti is perhaps best known for her redesign of the interior of the Musee d'Orsay in Paris from 1980-86.
In the course of researching buildings, visiting sites, and sifting through the visual material, the artist explores her own relationship to the particular edifice. Since the found photographs on which some of her works are based often are in black and white, the artist effectively reimagines the colors of the buildings and their interiors, unrestrained by the strictures of verisimilitude. Her glazed ceramics find another kind of representation of architectural structures that depart in scale, material and color from the 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.
In her recent work, Melsheimer has increasingly focused on postmodern architecture. In this context, she examines the cross-fertilization of Italian architects, interior design and product design. At the same time, her ongoing interest includes concrete constructions from the 1960s and 1970s, a style often referred to as Brutalism. 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. The artist's choice of buildings by sometimes little known architects working in a widely recognizable style, often creating particularly evocative and beautiful works, draws attention to the sometimes arbitrary mechanisms of gaining professional acclaim.
In the course of researching buildings, visiting sites, and sifting through the visual material, the artist explores her own relationship to the particular edifice. Since the found photographs on which some of her works are based often are in black and white, the artist effectively reimagines the colors of the buildings and their interiors, unrestrained by the strictures of verisimilitude. Her glazed ceramics find another kind of representation of architectural structures that depart in scale, material and color from the 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.
In her recent work, Melsheimer has increasingly focused on postmodern architecture. In this context, she examines the cross-fertilization of Italian architects, interior design and product design. At the same time, her ongoing interest includes concrete constructions from the 1960s and 1970s, a style often referred to as Brutalism. 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. The artist's choice of buildings by sometimes little known architects working in a widely recognizable style, often creating particularly evocative and beautiful works, draws attention to the sometimes arbitrary mechanisms of gaining professional acclaim.