The Art Pledge
Portrait of Isa Melsheimer

Isa Melsheimer

Born in
1968
From
Neuss, Germany
Lives and works
Berlin, Germany
Represented by
Galerie Jocelyn Wolff
Website
https://isamelsheimer.com/

UN goals

Tags

We are still living in a man-made age using up resources incapacitating nature. We consume more than is allowed and man is the main actor deciding the history of our world. What is required is the balance between man, nature, and technology (...).

Biography

Animating architecture and reviving their history, Isa Melsheimer transforms spaces that once held the ideals of an era, ideals which have often evolved into modern-day disillusions. Making smaller-scale  and accessible models, the German artist brings an analytic point of view rather than anything too nostalgic to the edifices. She also draws her inspiration from natural systems, and the reciprocal environments they embody, where all depend on one another. Melsheimer’s practice thus involves hard materials such as concrete and ceramics, but also lighter ones like textiles, glass, and plants.


As our natural environments have gradually evolved into forests of concrete, understanding the meanings ascribed to them has become a fascination for many artists, such as Hilla and Bernd Becher. Although more responsive to the purely aesthetic feature of forgotten industrial architecture, the couple also strips these structures to the essence of their meaning.


Finding connections between architecture and nature is similarly something that ultimately motivated Joseph Paxton, originally a gardener, to revolutionize modern design with his buildings inspired by greenhouses such as the Crystal Palace.

Career highlights

Solo shows

Group shows

Collections

Media

Selected artworks

Related artists