Isa Genzken’s practice incorporates everyday objects and materials that reference consumer culture, design, the media, architecture, and urban environments. Although known for her sculptures and installations, her work includes paintings, collages, drawings, films, and photographs. In her series titled Schauspieler, male and female mannequins become the protagonists of a bizarre catwalk. Genzken dresses these figures in a selection of eclectic clothing and other extravagant materials and accessories, most of which were drawn from her own wardrobe. Not unlike the mannequins that were dressed up by artists during the 1938 International Surrealist Exhibition in Paris, these sculptures conjure a kind of alter-ego, a human presence that is both a proxy for the artist and a reflection of the viewer. In Genzken’s own words, through these works she strives “to animate the viewers, hold a mirror up to them.”

Image: Courtesy Galerie Buchholz, Berlin/Cologne/New York© VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn / SOMAAP, México