Isa Genzken. MetLife

This publication was published to accompany the first major solo exhibition by Isa Genzken (1948 Bad Oldesloe–Berlin, DE) in Austria, which was shown at the Generali Foundation in Vienna from September to December 1996. The fact that Genzken chose the New York headquarters of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Corporation as the title subject for her exhibition in the art museum of a European insurance company caused a minor controversy at the Generali headquarters. The artist was living in New York at the time of the exhibition preparations, in the city that she counts as one of her greatest sources of inspiration. Originally built for the airline Pan American, “MetLife” has been emblazoned on the striking skyscraper since the late 1980s.[1] Based on a design by Walter Gropius, it rises above Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan and dominates Park Avenue. As in Genzken’s earlier projects, her appropriation of the MetLife building and its lettering reveals her unmistakable view of architecture and design, usually with a dash of humor. I Love New York, Crazy City is also the title of three newly created books with collages, and this is also how she interprets the inscription in her favorite city as “I met life”. In fact, a vertical cut in the longitudinal axis of the MetLife building is comparable to the floor plan of one of her sculptures, which also resembles a window or a camera.

The exhibition and publication spanned an arc from Isa Genzken’s early stereometric wooden sculptures from the 1970s, to the cast plaster and concrete works (1980/1990s) and the most recent works made of epoxy resin. Also included are films such as Two Women in Combat (1972) and Chicago Drive (1992), photographs and collages that were previously not or little known. In addition, this publication highlights Genzken’s numerous public works, which have been documented for the first time.

[1] After the plane crash at Lockerbie in 1988 Pan Am got bankrupt and sold the building.