Wiebke Siem’s Floppy Stick Figure Sculptures Stand Strong—See Them Here

Show of the Day: Wiebke Siem's "Damenskulptur" (Ladysculpture) is on view at Esther Schipper in Berlin.

Exhibition view of Wiebke Siem's Damenskulptur, Esther Schipper, Berlin Courtesy: the artist and Esther Schipper, Berlin Photo: © Andrea Rossetti
Exhibition view of Wiebke Siem's Damenskulptur, Esther Schipper, Berlin Courtesy: the artist and Esther Schipper, Berlin Photo: © Andrea Rossetti

WIEBKE SIEM
“Damenskulptur (Ladysculpture)”
Esther Schipper, Berlin
November 4, 2017-December 16, 2018

What the Gallery Says: “The new sculptures, made of soft knitted fabric and more than two meters long, hang in the exhibition space. Each consists of basic geometric shapes in different variations. The forms of the pompons or fringes refer to the history of modern sculpture (especially the Bauhaus and Minimalism), while the figurative elements such as head, hands or feet counteract this serial arrangement at the same time.”

Why It’s Worth a Look: These tragicomic, drooping figures mark something of a return to previous works by the German artist Wiebke Siem (b. 1954), who has an incredible talent for shaking up associations between material and function.

What It Looks Like:

Exhibition view of Wiebke Siem’s Damenskulptur, Esther Schipper, Berlin
Courtesy: the artist and Esther Schipper, Berlin
Photo: © Andrea Rossetti

Exhibition view of Wiebke Siem’s Damenskulptur, Esther Schipper, Berlin
Courtesy: the artist and Esther Schipper, Berlin
Photo: © Andrea Rossetti

Exhibition view of Wiebke Siem’s Damenskulptur, Esther Schipper, Berlin
Courtesy: the artist and Esther Schipper, Berlin
Photo: © Andrea Rossetti

Exhibition view of Wiebke Siem’s Damenskulptur, Esther Schipper, Berlin
Courtesy: the artist and Esther Schipper, Berlin
Photo: © Andrea Rossetti

Wiebke Siem’s Untitled (2017).
Courtesy: the artist and Esther Schipper, Berlin
Photo: © Andrea Rossetti

Wiebke Siem’s Untitled (2017).
Courtesy: the artist and Esther Schipper, Berlin
Photo: © Andrea Rossetti

Wiebke Siem’s Untitled (2017).
Courtesy: the artist and Esther Schipper, Berlin
Photo: © Andrea Rossetti

Exhibition view of Wiebke Siem’s Damenskulptur, Esther Schipper, Berlin
Courtesy: the artist and Esther Schipper, Berlin
Photo: © Andrea Rossetti

Exhibition view of Wiebke Siem’s Damenskulptur, Esther Schipper, Berlin
Courtesy: the artist and Esther Schipper, Berlin
Photo: © Andrea Rossetti

Exhibition view of Wiebke Siem's <i>Damenskulptur</i>, Esther Schipper, Berlin Courtesy: the artist and Esther Schipper, Berlin Photo: © Andrea Rossetti

Exhibition view of Wiebke Siem’s Damenskulptur, Esther Schipper, Berlin
Courtesy: the artist and Esther Schipper, Berlin
Photo: © Andrea Rossetti

Wiebke Siem’s Untitled (2017).
Courtesy: the artist and Esther Schipper, Berlin
Photo: © Andrea Rossetti

Wiebke Siem’s Untitled (2017).
Courtesy: the artist and Esther Schipper, Berlin
Photo: © Andrea Rossetti

Wiebke Siem’s Untitled (2017).
Courtesy: the artist and Esther Schipper, Berlin
Photo: © Andrea Rossetti


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