Gordon Matta-Clark: “You Are The Measure”
Acclaimed choreographer Trisha Brown first became known in the 1960s when she presented her work with the Judson Dance Theater. In 1970, she founded the Trisha Brown Dance Company among SoHo’s burgeoning alternative-space scene, and began exploring site-specific choreography (such as Walking on the Wall, performed in 1971 at the Whitney). From work based on everyday actions and repetitive gestures to dance cycles, choreography for opera, and most recently, ballet, Brown continues to find new possibilities for movement, collaboration, and postmodern dance.
Since its inception in the late 1960s, Seminars with Artists has provided a forum for intimate engagements with the most notable artists working in America. Taking its cue from the exhibtition Gordon Matta-Clark: You Are the Measure, this season’s speakers explore art practices born from critical intersections with New York City.
Thomas Crow has discussed Gordon Matta-Clark’s South American lineage, travels, and interests—particularly in relation to the concept of “anthropophagy,” or cultural cannibalism, a means to “devour” a colonizing culture. Carlos Basualdo, curator of contemporary art at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and curator of Tropicália: A Revolution in Brazilian Culture, will take up an exemplar of this concept—Hélio Oiticica—and discuss the Brazilian artist’s parallel investigations into social dimensions for art and its publics.
As an essential member of Gordon Matta-Clark’s community and a key figure in the New York art world, Richard Nonas discusses artistic life in 1970s SoHo as well as Matta-Clark’s legacy today. His sculptural practice proves a unique lens through which to view the innovative gestures of artists in his circle.
Art historian and curator RoseLee Goldberg, former Whitney curator-at-large Joan Simon, and architect and theorist Lebbeus Woods contribute to a roundtable discussion of Gordon Matta-Clark’s physical and social practice. Matta-Clark called this practice “the confrontational nature of the work. . . every bit as brutal physically as it is socially—as strenuous an action as any dance or team sport.” Moderated by exhibition curator Elisabeth Sussman.
Mary Heilmann moved to New York in 1968 and began exploring and experimenting with abstract painting’s history and materiality, infusing her compositions with both pop and personal references. Her first retrospective, organized by the Orange County Museum of Art, opened in May 2007 and included her work in ceramics, decorative arts, film, and music. Listen to Heilmann discuss her work and her career.
Since its inception in the late 1960s, Seminars with Artists has provided a forum for intimate engagements with the most notable artists working in America. Taking its cue from the exhibition Gordon Matta-Clark: You Are the Measure, this season’s speakers explore art practices born from critical intersections with New York City.
Take a listen to selections from Heilmann’s iPod, played before and during her Seminar.
Since its inception in the late 1960s, Seminars with Artists has provided a forum for intimate engagements with the most notable artists working in America. Taking its cue from the exhibition Gordon Matta-Clark: You Are the Measure, this season’s speakers explore art practices born from critical intersections with New York City.
