Iman Issa has been awarded the 13th Ernst Rietschel Art Prize for Sculpture. The history of museums and collections is a focus of her work, in which she deals with the places, the works and their displays, whereby the respective context influences perception. Her objects, usually reduced to clear and precise forms, are often combined with texts that open up surprising perspectives. As part of her exhibition, Issa will present her works in two locations at the Albertinum.

Four works from the ongoing series “Proxies, with a Life of Their Own”, which consists of a collection of sculptural-abstract self-portraits that are also portraits of other personalities, will be on display in the sculpture hall on the first floor. All self-portraits are based on a basic form that is varied in many ways. The formally reduced sculptures are to be understood as representatives of great thinkers, whose accompanying texts characterize the sitters and lend them their individuality. This interplay thus invites viewers to perceive the abstract works as individuals and to engage with their biographies.

Issa’s second work was created especially for the exhibition and also gave it the name “The Game”. Ten photographs are presented in the Schaudepot on the second floor. Visitors can choose a caption for each of the photos from several suggestions, only one of which is the correct one – who will be able to recognize it? There are not only connections between these individual texts, as the artist also explored the other museum texts and captions, the paintings and pictures as well as the objects in the display cases and created references to historical and current events. Issa also exchanged inscriptions on works of art, replacing some and leaving others in their original places. Playing with the changeability of titles leads to a change of perspective for the audience, which alters the perception of the individual works of art.

skulpturensammlung.skd.museum/en/ausstellungen/iman-issa