MUNICH.- In work that is both playful and formally precise, Iman Issa addresses the perennial questions of art: What is a work of art? How does an object or an image relate to the concerns of its time? What role do artists play in their respective present?

For Issa (b. 1979, Cairo), the well-considered question is as much a medium as wood, metal, or photography. Once a question has been raised or a hypothesis outlined, its validity is tested through the creation of artistic works. This often results in entire series that carry on until the question has been exhausted. Issa’s works allude to the art of others, to monuments, literature, paintings, and photographs, spanning centuries and extending beyond national borders.

After studying philosophy and political science, photography was her primary medium. Today, her works mostly take the form of installations. Her "displays", as she calls them, consist of interrelated elements: short texts, photographs, books, videos, and objects. Often, these constellations lightly subvert or invert traditional relations of caption and illustration. This is the case when a text and a sculpture convoke an absent third object, or when they purposefully talk past each other.

One question that arises from Issa’s methods is the extent to which the perception of objects is shaped by their social context: Is a monument or an image at the mercy of its viewers’ interpretations, so that its meaning is constantly in flux? Conversely, to what extent does an object, such as a monument or does an artistic object, shape consciousness?

Issa provocatively cuts through this knot with the subjective insistence that a particular form is the only one possible for the presentation of a particular concept.

The exhibition title, "Lass uns spielen", suggested by Issa, encourages viewers to take a closer look, to consider the encyclopedic references that have been spun, and thus to form their own impression.

Curated by Stephanie Weber.