Letter From London – An interview with Gloria Zein, on dancing chickens and German art – by Matthew Rose

n 1998 I met the German artist Gloria Zein in Paris.  We were on the street near my house in the 14th arrondissement.  She handed me a postcard. It was a cross between a BYOA (Bring Your Own Artwork) and dinner at her house in Paris: one had to cut a circle out of her card and insert a “sign of our existence” into it – an assignment with tape, staples or whatever was handy.  Since then I have been following Gloria’s career with wonder. (…)

This interview is not conclusive, but with the installation of Zein’s work at the Goethe-Institut on Exhibition Road in London – inside and out – it’s hard to ignore this German artist who speaks four languages and lives in an increasingly networked world.  All this in spite of the fact that she has a penchant for creating both quiet conceptual works and quite loud in-your-face monumental sculptures. The interview that follows was conducted via e mail and a bit of telephone….

Letter From London – An interview with Gloria Zein, on dancing chickens and German art