francesca kaufmann is happy to announce Thomas Zipp’s first solo exhibition in Italy.

In his paintings, sculptures and installations Zipp deconstructs scientific, philosophic and religious systems through formal experimentations that unearth visionary and anarchic images. Like an architect, Zipp creates environments, structures and scenarios through the stratification of heterogeneous materials: paintings, lamps, and musical instruments whose sound saturates the created environment with further presence.

In the work of Thomas Zipp art, science and religion appear to converge in an intersection of appropriations, overlapping icons of western culture, symbols, historical figures and artistic movements. These elements, recontextualized with gothic and humorous overtones, confuse desecration with idolatry.

The series of paintings presented at francesca kaufmann are constructed along the theme of sexuality. Each work is titled with a feminine name onto which the German suffix for the female gender “-in” is added. This double affirmation is reinforced by the ambiguity of the painted forms, which oscillate between figuration and gestural abstraction.

Like in many of Thomas’ works, the paintings maintain a dreamlike vision, suggesting a landscape inhabited by surrealistic presences.

In the same space Zipp establishes a tension between eros and thanatos: two large-scale skull sculptures stand in head-to-head confrontation. The sculptures recall a kind of vanitas monument or a grotesque presence, blazoned with a feminine name.

In the other space of the gallery, Thomas presents ILSATIN, an austere installation composed of a vintage 1970s organ, a series of neon lamps and a mysterious sculpture, a marble torso of a faceless woman. The sculpture, fixed stoically and commandingly, hovers above of the organ as a kind of pagan divinity, the muse in this sacral convocation.

Thomas Zipp (b. Heppenheim, 1966), lives and works in Berlin. Recent museum solo exhibitions include: Museum Dhondt – Dhaenens, Deurle, Belgium; South London Gallery, London; Kunsthalle Mannheim; Oldenburger Kunstverein, Oldenburg. Zipp has participated in the following group exhibitions: Sympathy for the Devil, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; André Butzer, Andreas Hofer, Thomas Zipp and more, Rubell Family Collection, Miami; Defamation of Character, PS1, New York; Rings of Saturn, Tate Modern, London; Of Mice and Men, 4th Berlin Biennale. In 2009 Sammlung Goetz, Munich, will hold a solo exhibition by the artist.

francesca kaufmann è lieta di annunciare la prima mostra personale in Italia di Thomas Zipp.

Nei suoi dipinti, sculture e installazioni Thomas Zipp decostruisce sistemi filosofici, scientifici e religiosi attraverso una sperimentazione formale che scaturisce in immagini anarchiche e visionarie. Come un architetto, Zipp crea ambienti, strutture e scenari attraverso una stratificazione di oggetti eterogenei, dipinti, lampade e strumenti musicali il cui suono contribuisce a saturare un ambiente già denso di presenze. Nell’opera di Thomas Zipp arte, scienza e religione sembrano convergere in un intreccio di appropriazioni che sovrappone icone della cultura occidentale, simbologie, personaggi storici e movimenti artistici, tutti ricontestualizzati attraverso un gusto gotico e insieme umoristico, in cui la dissacrazione si confonde con l’idolatria.

Nelle sua mostra in galleria Thomas Zipp presenta ILSATIN, un’installazione che raggruppa elementi di natura e funzione diversa. Un organo costituisce la voce di questo insieme eterogeneo che parla in toni austeri e insieme penetranti. Nell’altro spazio della galleria, un insieme di dipinti, disegni e sculture fanno da controcanto alla giustapposizione di oggetti, come in un dialogo che riattiva conoscenze intersoggettive, stimola connessioni, apre varchi dimenticati della nostra memoria.

Thomas Zipp (Heppenheim, 1966), vive e lavora a Berlino. Tra le sue ultime mostre personali museali: Museum Dhondt – Dhaenens, Deurle, Belgio; South London Gallery, Londra; Kunsthalle Mannheim; Oldenburger Kunstverein, Oldenburg. Ha partecipato inoltre alle seguenti mostre collettive: Sympathy for the Devil, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; André Butzer, Andreas Hofer, Thomas Zipp and more, Rubell Family Collection, Miami; Defamation of Character, PS1, New York; Rings of Saturn, Tate Modern, London; Of Mice and Men, 4th Berlin Biennale. Nel 2009 Sammlung Goetz, Monaco, ospiterà una mostra personale dell’artista.