Isa Melsheimer
Nr. 461
2020
Gouache on paper
56 x 76,5 cm (22 1/8 x 29 7/8 in) (unframed)
65 x 86 x 4 cm (25 5/8 x 33 7/8 x 1 5/8 in) (framed)
From a new series of large-scale gouaches, this work combines concrete architectural structure with two rectangular sections of color, one pink, the other green. The image of the architectural structure draws on the Casa Antônio Junqueira in São Paulo, built 1976-80 by the Brazilian architect Paulo Mendes da Rocha. Several plants expanding in ornate undulations are depicted silhouetted against the elements.
In her gouaches of architectural sites Isa Melsheimer constructs small autonomous worlds, seemingly detached from their real-world settings. The artist often chooses source material showing the building in their original condition, that is, without signs of subsequent decay or dilapidation and without later architectural or landscaping additions. Since the found photographs on which she bases the gouaches are often in black and white, the artist effectively reimagines the colors of the buildings and their interiors, unrestrained by the strictures of verisimilitude.
%3Cspan%20class%3D%22artist%22%3E%3Cstrong%3EIsa%20Melsheimer%3C/strong%3E%3C/span%3E%2C%20%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title%22%3E%3Cem%3ENr.%20461%3C/em%3E%2C%202020%3C/span%3E