“According to Plan” Exhibition
Barbara Mathes Gallery
This event has ended.
Barbara Mathes Gallery presents According to Plan, a group exhibition that explores the concept of the artist’s plan and its role in the creative process. From architectural models, to project proposals, to conceptually derived objects, the show casts a wide net, illuminating the myriad ways in which planning informs practice in contemporary art.
For Conceptual artists, the concept or plan behind a work was more important than the act of making it, an attitude Sol LeWitt aptly summarized when he said, “The idea becomes a machine that makes the art.” A LeWitt structure in this exhibition illustrates this notion, giving physical expression to a conceptual premise. A multi-part stripe piece by Daniel Buren operates according to related principles, with a variable configuration that responds to the dimensions of its supporting wall. A predetermined schema generates Mel Bochner’s number paintings, obviating the role of individual choice in the act of composition. The exhibition will pair a yarn sculpture by Fred Sandback with one of his drawings, which takes the form of a precisely rendered axonometric plan of the gallery space.
The exhibition also includes works that function as proposals for public works or schematic renderings of imaginary structures. In Claes Oldenburg’s Proposed Colossal Monuments, the artist designed fantastical public sculptures that humorously riffed on their intended site. Christo’s drawings similarly illustrate the planning stages of the artist’s renowned public art projects. The drawings of Los Carpinteros imagine whimsically anthropomorphic architectural structures. Guillermo Kuitca’s paintings and drawings frequently include building plans, seating charts, maps, and genealogical charts, densely layering the organizational mechanisms that structure everyday life.
Things that go “according to plan” are typically rational and predictable in nature. These artists defy that expectation, treating plans as the key to unlocking the mysteries of the imagination.
Media
Schedule
from October 10, 2013 to December 21, 2013
Artist(s)
Sol LeWitt, Daniel Buren, Mel Bochner, Fred Sandback, Claes Oldenburg, Christo et al.