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Extended through April 2, 2016

Prototypology

An Index of Process and Mutation

January 14–April 2, 2016
Rome

Installation view Photo: Matteo D’Eletto

Installation view

Photo: Matteo D’Eletto

Installation view Photo: Matteo D’Eletto

Installation view

Photo: Matteo D’Eletto

Installation view Photo: Matteo D’Eletto

Installation view

Photo: Matteo D’Eletto

Installation view Photo: Matteo D’Eletto

Installation view

Photo: Matteo D’Eletto

Installation view Photo: Matteo D’Eletto

Installation view

Photo: Matteo D’Eletto

Installation view Photo: Matteo D’Eletto

Installation view

Photo: Matteo D’Eletto

Installation view Photo: Matteo D’Eletto

Installation view

Photo: Matteo D’Eletto

Installation view Photo: Matteo D’Eletto

Installation view

Photo: Matteo D’Eletto

Installation view Photo: Matteo D’Eletto

Installation view

Photo: Matteo D’Eletto

Installation view Photo: Matteo D’Eletto

Installation view

Photo: Matteo D’Eletto

Works Exhibited

Rudolf Stingel, Untitled (Instructions), 1990 Photograph, 59 ⅛ × 78 ¾ inches (150 × 200 cm)© Rudolf Stingel

Rudolf Stingel, Untitled (Instructions), 1990

Photograph, 59 ⅛ × 78 ¾ inches (150 × 200 cm)
© Rudolf Stingel

Tatiana Trouvé, Studies for Desire Lines, 2012–15 Pencil on paper, watercolor, and copper, 45 ¼ × 66 ⅞ inches (115 × 170 cm)© Tatiana Trouvé

Tatiana Trouvé, Studies for Desire Lines, 2012–15

Pencil on paper, watercolor, and copper, 45 ¼ × 66 ⅞ inches (115 × 170 cm)
© Tatiana Trouvé

About

Prototypology explores research and development in the work of thirty contemporary artists, tracing the evolution from idea to finished artwork through drawings, archives, maquettes, and bricolage. In doing so the exhibition establishes a typology of diverse drafts.

The studio is a liminal zone for sourcing, modifying, and testing. Derived from the Italian word schizzare (to splash), a “sketch” represents the initial impulse from mind to hand, the developmental process whereby form begins to emerge. In the laboratory of the studio, bricolage is often used as an instinctual method in the construction of prototypes.

The exhibition includes new works and archival material from Michael Heizer, Takashi Murakami, Albert Oehlen, and Robert Therrien, among other artists. Studies for sculptures by Dan Graham, Claes Oldenburg, Tatiana Trouvé, and Rachel Whiteread reveal moments of process that lead to epiphanies. Monumental, civic, everyday, and otherworldly gestures are visible in a range of preparatory drawings and proposals.

These varied forms represent important instants of mutation via trial and error—in essence, the risk of experimentation that typifies the artist’s quest. Through sketches both graphic and sculptural, the process behind each artist’s production finds form.

Featuring works by Vladimir Arkhipov, Richard Artschwager, Nina Beier, Will Boone, Mike Bouchet, Chris Burden, Jason Dodge, Aleksandra Domanović, Dan Graham, Loris Gréaud, Michael Heizer, Carsten Höller, Thomas Houseago, Allan McCollum, Takashi Murakami, Albert Oehlen, Claes Oldenburg, Steven Parrino, Giuseppe Penone, Kirsten Pieroth, Ry Rocklen, Nancy Rubins, Arcangelo Sassolino, David Smith, Rudolf Stingel, Robert Therrien, Mungo Thomson, Tatiana Trouvé, Cy Twombly, and Rachel Whiteread.

Prototypology esplora e svela la fase di ricerca e sviluppo nel lavoro di trenta artisti contemporanei, affermati ed emergenti, raccontando, attraverso il disegno, l’archivio, la maquette e il bricolage l’evolversi dell’opera dall’idea alla realizzazione finale.

Lo studio è una zona “di confine” dove trarre ispirazione, trasformare e sperimentare. Lo sketch, che prende origine dalla parola italiana “schizzare”, rappresenta l’impulso iniziale dalla mente alla mano, il processo di sviluppo dal quale la forma inizia ad emergere. L’artista, nel suo studio-laboratorio, usa spesso istintivamente il bricolage per la costruzione dei prototipi.

La mostra include nuovi lavori e materiale d’archivio di artisti quali Michael Heizer, Takashi Murakami, Albert Oehlen, e Robert Therrien, solo per citarne alcuni. Dan Graham, Claes Oldenburg, Tatiana Trouvé, e Rachel Whiteread sono presenti con studi di scultura che rivelano istanti del processo creativo altrimenti nascosti. Gesti monumentali, quotidiani, e mistici sono visibili nella selezione di schizzi preparatori e progetti.

La diversità di queste forme suggerisce importanti momenti di trasformazione: l’avventura della sperimentazione che caratterizza la migliore ricerca artistica.

Gli artisti includono Vladimir Arkhipov, Richard Artschwager, Nina Beier, Will Boone, Mike Bouchet, Chris Burden, Jason Dodge, Aleksandra Domanović, Dan Graham, Loris Gréaud, Michael Heizer, Carsten Höller, Thomas Houseago, Allan McCollum, Takashi Murakami, Albert Oehlen, Claes Oldenburg, Steven Parrino, Giuseppe Penone, Kirsten Pieroth, Ry Rocklen, Nancy Rubins, Arcangelo Sassolino, David Smith, Rudolf Stingel, Robert Therrien, Mungo Thomson, Tatiana Trouvé, Cy Twombly, e Rachel Whiteread.

Installation view of Rachel Whiteread's ...And the Animals Were Sold exhibition in Italy

Rachel Whiteread: … And the Animals Were Sold

An installation by Rachel Whiteread in the Palazzo della Ragione, Bergamo, Italy, commissioned by Galleria d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Bergamo and cocurated by Lorenzo Giusti and Sara Fumagalli, opened in June of 2023 and ran into the fall. Conceived in relation to the city, the architecture of the site, and the history of the region, it comprised sixty sculptures made with local types of stone. Fumagalli writes on the exhibition and architect Luca Cipelletti speaks with Whiteread.

Carsten Höller, Decimal Clock (Blue and Orange), 2023

Around and Around and Around: Federico Campagna and Carsten Höller

Philosopher Federico Campagna and artist Carsten Höller came together, on the heels of Höller’s exhibition Clocks in Paris, to consider the measurement of time, the problem with fun, and the fine line between mysticism and nihilism.

Anna Weyant’s Two Eileens (2022) on the cover of Gagosian Quarterly, Winter 2022

Now available
Gagosian Quarterly Winter 2022

The Winter 2022 issue of Gagosian Quarterly is now available, featuring Anna Weyant’s Two Eileens (2022) on its cover.

Rachel Whiteread, Kunisaki House, 2021–22, concrete, 102 ½ × 305 ⅛ × 191 ⅜ inches (260 × 775 × 486 cm)

Rachel Whiteread: Shy Sculpture

On the occasion of the unveiling of her latest Shy Sculpture, in Kunisaki, Japan, Rachel Whiteread joined curator and art historian Fumio Nanjo for a conversation about this ongoing series.They address the origins of these sculptures and the details of each project.

Jordan Wolfson’s House with Face (2017) on the cover of Gagosian Quarterly, Fall 2022

Now available
Gagosian Quarterly Fall 2022

The Fall 2022 issue of Gagosian Quarterly is now available, featuring Jordan Wolfson’s House with Face (2017) on its cover.

Installation view, Tatiana Trouvé: The Great Atlas of Disorientation, Centre Pompidou, Paris

Tatiana Trouvé: Le grand atlas de la désorientation

In this video, Tatiana Trouvé provides an overview of her latest installation, presented at the Centre Pompidou, Paris. The exhibition, whose title translates to The Great Atlas of Disorientation, includes a selection of drawings and sculptures that create fantastical landscapes where reality engages in infinite exchanges with its doubles.