Deconstructed Value Systems and Human Psychograms.

In his work, Thomas Zipp (born 1966 in Heppenheim; lives and works in Berlin) examines tensions between the individual and the group, and between the self and the collective. His oeuvre includes complex installations and performances as well as painting, drawing, and sculpture. Zipp is one of the most prominent representatives of contemporary art-along with solo exhibitions at the Fridericianum Kassel and participation in the Biennale di Venezia, and the Berlin Biennale, he has been included in group exhibitions at the Tate Modern London, the New York MoMA, and the ZKM Karlsruhe.

For his show at Kunsthalle Gießen (2018), Zipp created one of his distinctively gloomy room scenarios, which reinterpreted the exhibition The Family of Man (1955). While the internationally-famed MoMA presentation coalesced artistic and everyday photography on the premise of global understanding, Zipp parts from this multinational approach by turning the spotlight on his birthplace Heppenheim. The visitors were invited to walk through a housing settlement replicated on a scale of 1:1, resembling countrywide, everyday routines and conventions. In addition, the artist showed private photos from estates.

The exhibition catalog documents this extensive installation and performance; it presents a cross-section of Zipp's multifaceted oeuvre and includes works from the past 10 years.