Members of the international selection jury called her work unpredictable and “influential and unique,” adding that it “feels fresh and young.” So the Nasher Sculpture Center announced tonight that German artist Isa Genzken would receive its fourth annual Nasher Prize.
Called the most ambitious international award in sculpture, the Nasher Prize confers $100,000 on an artist with “extraordinary impact on the understanding of the art form.” The Nasher Prize Laureate is presented with the award at a ceremony in Dallas in April.
The announcement of the Prize’s 2019 recipient was made by Nasher Sculpture Center Director Jeremy Strick during a reveal event sponsored by Cindy and Howard Rachofsky at their Warehouse Dallas art space.
During his brief remarks, Strick said Genzken’s “range of material and conceptual rigor has positioned [her] as a major influence on younger generations of artists working today amid the clamor of the digital age, offering permission and encouragement to subvert norms and invent new possibilities.”
Born in 1948 in Bad Oldesloe, Germany, Genzken lives and works in Berlin. She is said to use a variety of media, including wood, plaster, and textiles, to “transform vernacular materials into wholly unique forms” inspired by the likes of design, consumer goods, the media, architecture and urban environments.
The 2019 Nasher Prize is co-chaired by John Dayton and Fanchon and Howard Hallam. JPMorgan Chase is the presenting sponsor of the Prize. Founding partners are The Eugene McDermott Foundation and Nancy A. Nasher and David J. Haemisegger.
Previous winners of the Nasher Prize were Doris Salcedo (2016), Pierre Huyghe (2017) and Theaster Gates (2018). The 2019 Nasher Prize Gala honoring Genzken will be held at the Nasher Sculpture Center on April 6, 2019, despite the Nasher website saying it would take place on April 6, 2018. 🙁 It’s probably changed by now. 🙂
* Photo provided by Nasher Sculpture Center
I read recently that Genzken’s Rose 3 was placed in Zuccotti Park. Which I’m pretty sure is across the street from the World Trade Center. I mention this because of the show Genzken had called Ground Zero. If you think about Genzken growing up in postwar Germany you have to look at the Ground Zero show with a certain idea in mind. That perhaps the show was telling us more than may seem obvious at first glance. I think it’s fantastic that Genzken received this prize.