Charlotte Posenenske's Minimalist Sculptures at Palais de Tokyo

The Palais de Tokyo in Paris presents a group exhibition titled "Pergola" from February 19 to May 16, 2010, featuring Charlotte Posenenske alongside Laith Al-Amiri, Valentin Carron, Serge Spitzer, and Raphaël Zarka. Posenenske (1930-1985), a student of Willi Baumeister at the Kunstakademie Stuttgart, is now recognized as a historical figure of minimalism. She created modular sculptures in cardboard or metal inspired by industrial forms like ventilation ducts, allowing free combination and adaptation to different spaces. Her series D and DW were intended to empower the "consumer"—a term she used for curators, gallerists, and sometimes viewers—to combine and manipulate modules. However, at Palais de Tokyo, only curators Julien Fronsacq and Burkhard Brunn selected pieces for reconstruction, limiting public participation. The exhibition includes works like "Vierkantrohe, Serie D" (galvanized aluminum duct), "Reliefs, Serie C" (twenty reliefs), "Plis" (painted or lacquered aluminum wall sculptures), "Diagonale Faltung" (1966), "Blue Faltung" (1965), and the experimental film "Monotonie Ist Schön" (1968), made the year she abandoned art for sociology. Critic Carole Boulbès notes that the installation lacks surprise and reduces the architectural character of the works, with most reconstructions aligned repetitively.