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

Opening Reception, Thursday, April 3, 6–8pm
Public Programming, Saturday, April 5, 10:30–11:30am

Kasmin announces its second solo exhibition of sculptures by artist vanessa german (b. 1976), which will debut related bodies of work across two of the gallery’s exhibition spaces in New York. vanessa german: GUMBALL—there is absolutely no space between body and soul will deepen german’s singular approach to sculpture as a spiritual practice with the power to transform the lived experiences of all those who encounter it. Drawing from precolonial and African diasporic traditions, german’s sculptural technique involves assembling an expansive vocabulary of objects to create expressive figures undergirded by painted and drawn elements. The artist’s newest works for GUMBALL—there is absolutely no space between body and soul foreground german’s engagement in haptic communication, interpreting the energy and vibrations of her gemstone materials through physical touch.

In the gallery’s flagship 509 West 27th Street location, german will unveil a series of monumental heads adorned with mineral crystals, beads, and objects retaining the energy of the earth in which they originated. Each sculpture sparks reflective shimmers of rose quartz, blue lapis, chalcedony and other gemstones, which german uses to impart healing properties. Incorporating stars, words, and human and animal forms across the surfaces, german conceives of these sculptures as cosmic maps, proposing a cartography of consciousness charted through the works’ colossal presence. At 514 West 28th Street, german will present a new series of figures who are each caught in a dip, a move performed by vogue dancers and originating in ballroom culture. Capturing the drama of the pose, the figures balance on one leg as the other bends in the air. Described by the artist as an allusion to the fall of empire, the works foreground the resilient quality of the figures, inevitably poised to bounce back upward.

On Saturday, April 5, from 10:30–11:30am, german will lead an interactive conversation in the exhibition, consciously exploring the works through the lenses of prayer, process, and curiosity. This event is free and open to all.

Request a Preview

Press Request
About the Artist

vanessa german

vanessa german’s artistic practice incorporates sculpture, drawing, performance, and communal ritual to embrace spiritual models for transforming human experience. After joining Kasmin’s roster in 2021, german presented a solo exhibition at the gallery (2022) and solo presentations at Frieze Los Angeles (2024) and the Independent Art Fair (2022), all of which earned critical acclaim. Her work has since been acquired by over 10 museums, and she has staged major exhibitions at the NSU Art Museum, Ft. Lauderdale, FL (2024-25); Logan Center for the Arts at the University of Chicago (2024); Montclair Art Museum, Montclair, NJ (2023); Mt. Holyoke Art Museum, South Hadley, MA (2022-23); The National Mall, Washington, DC (2023), and other museums across the country. She received a Heinz Award in 2022, and her practice has been hailed in The New York Times, Forbes, Hyperallergic, The Brooklyn Rail and elsewhere. Her work was included in the publications Great Women Sculptors (Phaidon) and Project A Black Planet: The Art and Culture of Panafrica (Art Institute of Chicago) in 2024.

Learn More
Join our Newsletter

First name *

Last name *

Email *

Signup

* denotes required fields

We will process the personal data you have supplied in accordance with our privacy policy (available on request). You can unsubscribe or change your preferences at any time by clicking the link in our emails.
Explore
- Exhibitions
  Robert Indiana:
  The Source, 1959–1969
  February 27 – March 29, 2025 509 West 27th Street, New York
  Kasmin presents Robert Indiana: The Source, 1959–1969, a focused survey of the transformative decade in which Indiana established his unique artistic language, achieving wide recognition and cementing his place as an icon of American art. Featuring 20 works drawn exclusively from the artist’s personal collection as endowed by Indiana to the Star of Hope Foundation, the exhibition includes an example from the artist’s first edition of LOVE sculptures, conceived in 1966 and executed between 1966—1968, and a vitrine display of archival materials including some of the artist’s journals. This exhibition marks Kasmin’s first collaboration with the Star of Hope Foundation, which was established by the artist in his lifetime, and the gallery’s eighth solo exhibition of work by Indiana since 2003.
- Exhibitions
  Pablo Dávila:
  Why Did You Take My Watch?
  February 27 – March 29, 2025 297 Tenth Avenue, New York
  The first solo exhibition of Mexico City-based artist Pablo Dávila (b. 1983), Why Did You Take My Watch? features new works that iterate Dávila’s research-based process in various media. Employing a visual language to encapsulate complex systems, theories and ideas, Dávila’s works offer poetic reflections on the perception of time and space.
Explore