Kasmin Gallery
Skip to main content
  • Menu
  • Home
  • Artists
  • Exhibitions
  • Fairs
  • News
  • The Kasmin Review
    • In Conversation
    • Weekend Long Reads
    • Storyboard
    • Studio Visits
    • Screenings
    • All
  • Books
  • About
Menu
  • Current
  • Upcoming
  • Past
  • Online

vanessa german: Sad Rapper

Past exhibition
September 8 – October 22, 2022 509 West 27th Street, New York
  • Works
  • vanessa german
  • Explore
  • Kasmin is pleased to announce vanessa german: Sad Rapper. The artist’s first solo exhibition at the gallery will go on view from September 8–October 22, 2022, showcasing ambitious new freestanding and wall-based sculpture in an installation that confronts urgent social and political themes of racial oppression, structural violence, commemoration, and community. Conceived as a fantastical group portrait of figures from a single neighborhood, the exhibition draws on german’s youth in Los Angeles in the 1980s to expose the complex narratives that both represent and shape Black life and culture in the context of the American dream. This presentation is offered by german as a redemptive space in which visitors are invited to identify, experience, and begin to address the rage and grief engendered by both historic and ongoing racial violence in our society, to which the artist’s humanistic vision responds forcefully and compassionately. Over the first three days of the exhibition’s opening, german will be in residence meeting with visitors to carry out a series of healing rituals in the oral tradition.
  • Installation view of vanessa german: Sad Rapper, September 8-October 22, 2022. Photography by Diego Flores. (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Installation view of vanessa german: Sad Rapper, September 8-October 22, 2022. Photography by Diego Flores. (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Installation view of vanessa german: Sad Rapper, September 8-October 22, 2022. Photography by Diego Flores. (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Installation view of vanessa german: Sad Rapper, September 8-October 22, 2022. Photography by Diego Flores. (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Installation view of vanessa german: Sad Rapper, September 8-October 22, 2022. Photography by Diego Flores. (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Installation view of vanessa german: Sad Rapper, September 8-October 22, 2022. Photography by Diego Flores. (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Installation view of vanessa german: Sad Rapper, September 8-October 22, 2022. Photography by Diego Flores. (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Installation view of vanessa german: Sad Rapper, September 8-October 22, 2022. Photography by Diego Flores. (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Installation view of vanessa german: Sad Rapper, September 8-October 22, 2022. Photography by Diego Flores. (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Installation view of vanessa german: Sad Rapper, September 8-October 22, 2022. Photography by Diego Flores. (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
  • Considered inextricable from her identity as an activist, german’s autodidactic artmaking has its lineage in indigenous and West African folk practices as well as Black Arts movements from 1960s onwards. Working primarily with assemblage, german sculpts wood and plaster which she then adorns with a vast range of materials—some found in her community, others sourced from across the country—including prayer beads, doll parts, handmade patterned quilts, skateboards, rope, silk flowers, cowrie shells, coke bottles, vintage porcelain bells, and astroturf. These “ingredients”, as german refers to them, form just one part of each work’s medium, and are listed alongside the metaphysical components that the artist sees as indivisible from the physical objects. Such juxtapositions create complex metaphorical meanings, where the resulting cacophony of language, texture, and image is freighted with both the emotional and the physical; the spiritual and the material. In german’s words, “the objects become both the wound and the medicine.”

     

  • vanessa german Sad Rapper, 2022 wood, tar, 75 pounds of old blue jeans, the blues, sorrow, cuz in 1983 rappers... vanessa german Sad Rapper, 2022 wood, tar, 75 pounds of old blue jeans, the blues, sorrow, cuz in 1983 rappers... vanessa german Sad Rapper, 2022 wood, tar, 75 pounds of old blue jeans, the blues, sorrow, cuz in 1983 rappers...

    vanessa german

    Sad Rapper, 2022

    wood, tar, 75 pounds of old blue jeans, the blues, sorrow, cuz in 1983 rappers could be bad but could not be sad— or gay, holiness, salt, a groan, tears, African blue and white cloth, love, meanness, the way that it feels to need to cry but not be able to cry— for an exceptionally long time, convinced of muscle instead of tenderness, grief, yarn, twine, loneliness, old blue bed sheets, heartbreak and lying about it, canvas, prayer beads, shame, black pigment, delusion, love, love, love, you gonna be ok ni$$a, you ain’t alone homie, it’s ok, just go’on ahead and be broken for a little while, shit~ life is hard sometimes, red and white paint, foam, ptsd, glue, plaster, heat.

    78 x 48 x 40 inches 
    198.1 x 121.9 x 101.6 cm

  • While german’s work abounds with reference to the divine feminine and confronts racist tropes depicting Black women—the “mammy” and “workhorse”, among others—the artist’s considerations of Black masculinity are increasingly significant and especially present in the depictions of state-sanctioned violence toward the male body. A neon wall-based work, WHAT’S THE OPPOSITE OF A LYNCHING (2019) vividly brings into focus the haunting image of Black boys and men at the mercy of white supremacist violence. Sad Rapper, the title work in the exhibition, is laden with dozens of heavy prayer bundles formed by german from reclaimed denim pulled taut by blue string. Standing on a base painted with red and white stripes reminiscent of the American flag, the figure is defined by its precarity and tension, seeming almost as if it might explode. This sense of a heavy burden of grief, complicated by expectations of masculinity in society, asks us to confront how our world has been damaged by its patriarchal structures.
  • vanessa german TV Man, 2022 wood, cloth, cutter quit, glitter, sequined fabric, Yoruba hat found stuck to a shelf at... vanessa german TV Man, 2022 wood, cloth, cutter quit, glitter, sequined fabric, Yoruba hat found stuck to a shelf at... vanessa german TV Man, 2022 wood, cloth, cutter quit, glitter, sequined fabric, Yoruba hat found stuck to a shelf at...

    vanessa german

    TV Man, 2022

    wood, cloth, cutter quit, glitter, sequined fabric, Yoruba hat found stuck to a shelf at a Tjmax in western North Carolina, black pigment, the meanness of houselessness in a world of abundance, a took-apart-tv, 50 feet of rope, white and red pigment, wire, foam, a vision of a man walking up a hill, plaster, plaster gauze, wood glue, heat, hurt, loneliness, magic.

    88 1/4 x 35 1/2 x 28 inches 
    224.2 x 90.2 x 71.1 cm

  • vanessa german THE HERO, 2022 found chair from the Grove Park Inn, wood, black pigment, metallic paint, love, heat, the... vanessa german THE HERO, 2022 found chair from the Grove Park Inn, wood, black pigment, metallic paint, love, heat, the... vanessa german THE HERO, 2022 found chair from the Grove Park Inn, wood, black pigment, metallic paint, love, heat, the...

    vanessa german

    THE HERO, 2022 

    found chair from the Grove Park Inn, wood, black pigment, metallic paint, love, heat, the ingenuity that houselessness demands, mirror box, foam, wire, plaster, plaster gauze, astroturf, quilts, blankets, blankets, blankets, blankets, blankets, blankets, quilts, quilts, quilts, blankets, blankets, blankets, pillows, pillows, pillows, pillows, pillows, blankets, blankets, blankets, blankets, pillows, pillows, pillows, the gold is the soul is the gold is the soul.

    73 x 49 x 46 3/4 inches 
    185.4 x 124.5 x 118.7 cm

  • german offers a passage through all of these injustices—as the artist re-appropriates, re-conceptualizes, and resiliently transforms both her materials and the symbolic weight of the images with which she works, she occasions a transfiguration analogous to healing. The alternative epistemologies of Sad Rapper challenge dominant structures of power and knowledge, and in doing so project beyond Afrofuturism to a space of mystic imagination akin to a transcendental realm.
  • Works
    • vanessa german, Sad Rapper, 2022
      vanessa german, Sad Rapper, 2022
      Inquire
      %3Cspan%20class%3D%22title%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22artist%22%3Evanessa%20german%3Cspan%20class%3D%22artist_comma%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title%22%3ESad%20Rapper%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_comma%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22year%22%3E2022%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E
    • vanessa german, TV Man, 2022
      vanessa german, TV Man, 2022
      Inquire
      %3Cspan%20class%3D%22title%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22artist%22%3Evanessa%20german%3Cspan%20class%3D%22artist_comma%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title%22%3ETV%20Man%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_comma%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22year%22%3E2022%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E
    • vanessa german, 7 Beautiful Ni$$As Awe-Struck in the Glory of An Appalachian Sunset, 2022
      vanessa german, 7 Beautiful Ni$$As Awe-Struck in the Glory of An Appalachian Sunset, 2022
      Inquire
      %3Cspan%20class%3D%22title%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22artist%22%3Evanessa%20german%3Cspan%20class%3D%22artist_comma%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title%22%3E7%20Beautiful%20Ni%24%24As%20Awe-Struck%20in%20the%20Glory%20of%20An%20Appalachian%20Sunset%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_comma%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22year%22%3E2022%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E
    • vanessa german, THE BEAST, or Self Portrait, 2022
      vanessa german, THE BEAST, or Self Portrait, 2022
      Inquire
      %3Cspan%20class%3D%22title%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22artist%22%3Evanessa%20german%3Cspan%20class%3D%22artist_comma%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title%22%3ETHE%20BEAST%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3Eor%20Self%20Portrait%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_comma%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22year%22%3E2022%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E
    • vanessa german, THE HERO, 2022
      vanessa german, THE HERO, 2022
      Inquire
      %3Cspan%20class%3D%22title%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22artist%22%3Evanessa%20german%3Cspan%20class%3D%22artist_comma%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title%22%3ETHE%20HERO%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_comma%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22year%22%3E2022%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E
    • vanessa german, Miss America Is A Hybrid First-Generation Gender Fluid Self-Taught Fashion Designer, 2022
      vanessa german, Miss America Is A Hybrid First-Generation Gender Fluid Self-Taught Fashion Designer, 2022
      Inquire
      %3Cspan%20class%3D%22title%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22artist%22%3Evanessa%20german%3Cspan%20class%3D%22artist_comma%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title%22%3EMiss%20America%20Is%20A%20Hybrid%20First-Generation%20Gender%20Fluid%20Self-Taught%20Fashion%20Designer%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_comma%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22year%22%3E2022%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E
    • vanessa german, BLACK SWAN, or, THE ENVY, 2022
      vanessa german, BLACK SWAN, or, THE ENVY, 2022
      Inquire
      %3Cspan%20class%3D%22title%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22artist%22%3Evanessa%20german%3Cspan%20class%3D%22artist_comma%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title%22%3EBLACK%20SWAN%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3Eor%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3ETHE%20ENVY%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_comma%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22year%22%3E2022%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E
    • vanessa german, WHITE SWAN, 2022
      vanessa german, WHITE SWAN, 2022
      Inquire
      %3Cspan%20class%3D%22title%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22artist%22%3Evanessa%20german%3Cspan%20class%3D%22artist_comma%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title%22%3EWHITE%20SWAN%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_comma%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22year%22%3E2022%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E
    • vanessa german, MERCY, 2022
      vanessa german, MERCY, 2022
      Inquire
      %3Cspan%20class%3D%22title%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22artist%22%3Evanessa%20german%3Cspan%20class%3D%22artist_comma%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title%22%3EMERCY%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_comma%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22year%22%3E2022%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E
    • vanessa german, BIRD #1, 2022
      vanessa german, BIRD #1, 2022
      Inquire
      %3Cspan%20class%3D%22title%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22artist%22%3Evanessa%20german%3Cspan%20class%3D%22artist_comma%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title%22%3EBIRD%20%231%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_comma%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22year%22%3E2022%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E
    • vanessa german, THE THREE-HEADED MAN, 2022
      vanessa german, THE THREE-HEADED MAN, 2022
      Inquire
      %3Cspan%20class%3D%22title%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22artist%22%3Evanessa%20german%3Cspan%20class%3D%22artist_comma%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title%22%3ETHE%20THREE-HEADED%20MAN%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_comma%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22year%22%3E2022%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E
    • vanessa german, Blue Bird, 2022
      vanessa german, Blue Bird, 2022
      Inquire
      %3Cspan%20class%3D%22title%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22artist%22%3Evanessa%20german%3Cspan%20class%3D%22artist_comma%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title%22%3EBlue%20Bird%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_comma%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22year%22%3E2022%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E
    • vanessa german, Red Bird, 2022
      vanessa german, Red Bird, 2022
      Inquire
      %3Cspan%20class%3D%22title%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22artist%22%3Evanessa%20german%3Cspan%20class%3D%22artist_comma%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title%22%3ERed%20Bird%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_comma%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22year%22%3E2022%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E
    • vanessa german, PENIS GIRL (inspired by whomever is the genius mind behind the PENIS GIRL tag in Portland, Oregon.), 2022
      vanessa german, PENIS GIRL (inspired by whomever is the genius mind behind the PENIS GIRL tag in Portland, Oregon.), 2022
      Inquire
      %3Cspan%20class%3D%22title%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22artist%22%3Evanessa%20german%3Cspan%20class%3D%22artist_comma%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title%22%3EPENIS%20GIRL%20%28inspired%20by%20whomever%20is%20the%20genius%20mind%20behind%20the%20PENIS%20GIRL%20tag%20in%20Portland%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3EOregon.%29%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_comma%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22year%22%3E2022%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E
    • vanessa german, White Bird, 2022
      vanessa german, White Bird, 2022
      Inquire
      %3Cspan%20class%3D%22title%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22artist%22%3Evanessa%20german%3Cspan%20class%3D%22artist_comma%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title%22%3EWhite%20Bird%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_comma%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22year%22%3E2022%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E
    • vanessa german, THE JUDGEMENT, THE RAGE, or, Riding Up The Tricycle, 2022
      vanessa german, THE JUDGEMENT, THE RAGE, or, Riding Up The Tricycle, 2022
      Inquire
      %3Cspan%20class%3D%22title%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22artist%22%3Evanessa%20german%3Cspan%20class%3D%22artist_comma%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title%22%3ETHE%20JUDGEMENT%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3ETHE%20RAGE%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3Eor%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3ERiding%20Up%20The%20Tricycle%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_comma%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22year%22%3E2022%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E
    • vanessa german, MAN-MAN and his Inner Child, 2022
      vanessa german, MAN-MAN and his Inner Child, 2022
      Inquire
      %3Cspan%20class%3D%22title%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22artist%22%3Evanessa%20german%3Cspan%20class%3D%22artist_comma%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title%22%3EMAN-MAN%20and%20his%20Inner%20Child%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_comma%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22year%22%3E2022%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E
    • vanessa german, THE INNOCENCE AND THE ORIGINAL SIN, 2022
      vanessa german, THE INNOCENCE AND THE ORIGINAL SIN, 2022
      Inquire
      %3Cspan%20class%3D%22title%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22artist%22%3Evanessa%20german%3Cspan%20class%3D%22artist_comma%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title%22%3ETHE%20INNOCENCE%20AND%20THE%20ORIGINAL%20SIN%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_comma%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22year%22%3E2022%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E
  • About the Artist

    vanessa german

    vanessa german

    vanessa german (b. 1976) is a self-taught citizen artist working across sculpture, performance, communal rituals, immersive installation, and photography. Sad Rapper is german’s first exhibition at Kasmin and follows her solo presentation with the gallery at the Independent Art Fair in May 2022.

    Her work is held in private and public collections including the Art Bridges Foundation, the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, the West Virginia University Museum, Everson Museum of Art, Figge Art Museum, Flint Institute of Arts, Spelman College Museum of Fine Art, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, David C. Driskell Center, Snite Museum of Art, Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art and Wellin Museum of Art at Hamilton College. german’s fine art work has been exhibited widely, most recently at the Figge Art Museum, The Union for Contemporary Art, The Fralin Museum of Art at the University of Virginia, Flint Institute of Arts, Mattress Factory, Everson Museum of Art, Spelman College Museum of Fine Art, Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Studio Museum, Ringling Museum of Art and Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.
    Learn More
  • Explore

    • vanessa german: GUMBALL—there is absolutely no space between body and soul
      Exhibitions

      vanessa german: GUMBALL—there is absolutely no space between body and soul

      April 3 – May 10, 2025 509 West 27th Street, New York, 514 West 28th Street, New York
      Kasmin presents its second solo exhibition of new work by artist vanessa german, which debuts related bodies of sculpture across two of the gallery’s spaces in New York. The exhibition deepens german’s singular approach to sculpture as a spiritual practice with the power to transform lived experience. Both series comprise mineral crystals, beads, porcelain, wood, paint and the energy that these objects bring to life to form monumental heads and figures in the act of falling. Together, each body of work envisions the transformation of consciousness necessary to imagine a new world.
    • Theodora Allen: Oak
      Exhibitions

      Theodora Allen: Oak

      May 7 – July 25, 2025 297 Tenth Avenue, New York
      Allen’s atmospheric oil paintings on linen depict natural phenomena and symbols chosen for their enduring presence in human history and culture, often drawing from mythology and medieval imagery. From hearts and infinity loops to rainbows and locusts, these subjects serve to underscore nature’s propensity for renewal following destruction. Branches of an oak tree, a powerful symbol of wisdom, strength and endurance, reappear. Through compositional devices, such as gates, windows, and architectural niches, Allen's illusionistic spaces create a dynamic interplay between inclusion and exclusion. Her scenes emerge as ruins burgeoning with life, offering glimpses into a realm where the natural world and the metaphysical entwine.
Back to Past exhibitions

509 West 27th Street

New York
Tuesday–Saturday, 10am–6pm
+1 212 563 4474
info@kasmingallery.com

 

297 Tenth Avenue

New York
Tuesday–Saturday, 10am–6pm
+1 212 563 4474
info@kasmingallery.com

 

Kasmin Sculpture Garden

New York
On view from The High Line at 27th Street
Monday–Sunday, 7am-11pm
+1 212 563 4474
info@kasmingallery.com

Facebook, opens in a new tab.
Twitter, opens in a new tab.
Instagram, opens in a new tab.
Join the mailing list
Send an email
Manage cookies
© 2025 Kasmin Gallery
Site by Artlogic

This website uses cookies
This site uses cookies to help make it more useful to you. Please contact us to find out more about our Cookie Policy.

Manage cookies
Accept

Cookie preferences

Check the boxes for the cookie categories you allow our site to use

Cookie options
Required for the website to function and cannot be disabled.
Improve your experience on the website by storing choices you make about how it should function.
Allow us to collect anonymous usage data in order to improve the experience on our website.
Allow us to identify our visitors so that we can offer personalised, targeted marketing.
Save preferences