During the next two months, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac will present a comprehensive solo exhibition by internationally renowned artist Wolfgang Laib. Titled “Where are you going,” Laib’s new exhibition continues much of the artist’s exploration into the materials of pollen, milk, rice, wax and marble within the forms of cones, rectangles and stairs. Laib is less concerned with innovation and new discoveries within his practice and more interested in the continuation of his methodology. It was in the late ’70s that the artist first began to use these materials, because Laib has approached his work with a consistent contemplative and ephemeral aesthetic, carefully balancing the work between many dualities. Laib was born in Germany and initially studied medicine at the University of Tubingen. After becoming a doctor in 1975, Laib decided to leave medicine and work exclusively as an artist. During his time studying medicine, the artist also studied art history, philosophy, psychology and Oriental philology, learning Sanskrit, Hindi and Tamil. The artist has exhibited globally, including recent exhibitions “Still Points of the Turning World” at the SITE Santa Fe in New Mexico and “Le Mouvement des Images” in the Centre Pompidou in Paris. Among many publications, Laib was featured on ARTINFO for an exhibition at the Auckland Art Gallery in New Zealand.

The massive, low-tech sculptures of New York-based artist Phoebe Washburn are composed of thousands of individual recycled units that are constructed together to create a unified, room-sized structure. The artist draws inspirations from signs of progress often found in construction sites, such as stacks of bricks and bags of concrete or sand. Of particular interest to Washburn are found elements of improvised architecture on construction sites such as a make-shift ramp or rigged-up workbench. However ambitious the attempt at construction is for the artist, the viewer is always left with clues as to how the structure is engineered. Many of the site specific works such as “True, False, and Slightly Better” weigh more than 7,000 pounds and are held together by more than 70,000 screws, supported by a mix of miscellaneous materials like two-by-fours and other scrap wood. In 2005 and 2006, Washburn filled the lobby of the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles with thousands of pieces of constructed cardboard and plywood in a piece titled “It Has No Secret Surprise.” The artist received her degree from Tulane University in New Orleans and her MFA from the School of the Visual Arts in New York City. Washburn exhibited at the P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center and Zach Feuer (LFL) in New York and has been featured in an article in Art in America and in a recent article titled “Burgeoning Geometries” in The New York Times.

The work of Thomas Zipp explores a wide range of cultural references that suggest playful inventions and contemporary experimentation. The artist’s aesthetic underscores the potential for maliciousness within new technology while employing a playful humor that aids to offset the weight of his images. Often stemming from the subconscious landscape of the artist’s dreams, the images and ideas of Zipp reinforce the illogical pursuit of technological advancement and the idea of a utopian society. Using wit and dark metaphors, the artist creates a labyrinth of images that the viewer must navigate and uncover to reveal new meaning. Zipp was born in Heppenheim, Germany, and currently lives and works in Berlin. The artist exhibited “Nuevo Tychonico” with the Galeria Heinrich Ehrhardt (2005) and has also exhibited with Alison Jacques Gallery and Baronian Francey Gallery in Brussels, Belgium. The artist studied at the Freien Kunst Stadelschule in Frankfurt, Germany, and the Slade School in London and is currently represented by Galerie Guido W. Baudach in Berlin and the Patrick Painter Gallery in California.

The paintings of New York-based artist Lisa Sanditz explore the dynamic relationship between natural and artificial landscapes, focusing on how individuals experience these spaces. Sanditz travels throughout the U.S. documenting and reconstructing images from commercial environments such as malls, parking lots and suburbs. The artist often combines formal modernist painting techniques with new and innovative approaches to the medium, infusing realism with abstraction. Sanditz is an MFA graduate from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York (2001), and she received her degree in studio art from the Macalester College in St. Paul, Minn. (1995). In winter, the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art in Kansas City presented “Fly Over,” Sanditz’s first solo museum exhibition. Other recent exhibitions include “The New Frontier” in ACME Los Angeles and “Organized Living” at the CRG Gallery in New York City. The artist has been included in numerous publications, such as The New York Times‘ Art in Review section and on absolutearts.com.

Canadian artist, writer and filmmaker Scott Treleaven initially became well known for his 2002 short cult film “The Salivation Army,” depicting the activities of a gang of radical sub-culture youth. Since, the artist has gained much notoriety for a range of other artistic endeavors, including his college and photographic works, which have been exhibited across the U.S. Treleaven appeared in the recent issue “S” of art and design magazine Beautiful/Decay, alongside other notable contemporary artists such as Banks Violette. Treleaven’s collages and photographs use the same montage quality as his films, continuing to reference punk motifs and fringe cultures through heavy symbolism in a documentary style. The graphic black and white collaged approach found in all of Treleaven’s work has been influenced by his personal experience of publishing a zine titled the same as his popular short film, “The Salivation Army.” Currently, the artist is represented by the Kavi Gupta Gallery in Chicago, John Connelly Presents in New York and Marc Selwyn Fine Art in Los Angles. This month, the three galleries are releasing a co-published, 100-plus-page catalog of the artist’s work, titled “Some Boys Wander By Mistake.”

Bay-area photographer Heidi Zumbrun’s work emphasizes form and scale through a lack of information in the image. Her work has many associations with no clear explanation, perplexing the viewer through texture, scale and color. Zumbrun creates mysterious scenes that explore visceral, skin-like textures, yet resemble strangely placed pods in otherworldly landscapes. Her previous work has dealt with the complexities of medical ambiguity, and this interest is carried over into her new anthropomorphic work that continues to challenge the need for a clarified meaning. Zumbrun is a graduate of the San Francisco Art Institute (1994) and the University of California, Santa Barbara (1987). Her work is currently exhibited with the Stephen Wirtz Gallery in San Francisco. Zumbrun’s recent solo shows include the Edward Mitterrand Gallery in Geneva, Switzerland (2004), the Ariel Meyerowitz Gallery in New York (2002) and the Fay Gold Gallery in Atlanta (2002).

The work of artist Rachel Owens acts as a metaphor to examine contemporary societal and governmental issues within the United States and its activities abroad. Last year, for an exhibition with ZieherSmith in New York City, the artist recreated a mythical fox-hunt in sculpture, complete with dogs, a rider, trophy heads and drawings made directly on The New York Times‘ articles. The fox-hunt is a metaphor for current situations in the U.S., the dogs being the soldiers or victims of the “fight against terrorism.” Other works include a giant squirrel crafted out of cardboard, characterized by biologists as a “scatter-hoarder,” that the artist created as a metaphor for U.S. aggression and the “resilience and potential for the advancements of human conditions.” Owens was born in Atlanta and now lives in Brooklyn, New York. The artist is an MFA graduate of The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and received her degree from the University of Kansas after attending the Tyler School of Art program in Rome, Italy. This year, the artist will present “Ground Swell,” a fellowship project with the Socrates Sculpture Park, in Long Island City, New York. Other recent exhibitions included “Empathetic,” curated by Elizabeth Thomas at the Temple Gallery in Philadelphia, and “Ionesco’s Friends,” curated by Irina Zucca, at Francosoffiantino Artecontemporanea in Turin, Italy.