Menu

Critical Dictionary

In homage to G. Bataille

June 1–July 28, 2018
rue de Ponthieu, Paris

Installation video Play Button

Installation video

Installation view Artwork © 2018 Judd Foundation/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo: Thomas Lannes

Installation view

Artwork © 2018 Judd Foundation/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo: Thomas Lannes

Installation view Artwork, left to right: © 2018 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/ADAGP, Paris, © 2018 C. Herscovici, Brussels/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York, © Estate of Duane Hanson/Licensed by VAGA, New York. Photo: Thomas Lannes

Installation view

Artwork, left to right: © 2018 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/ADAGP, Paris, © 2018 C. Herscovici, Brussels/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York, © Estate of Duane Hanson/Licensed by VAGA, New York. Photo: Thomas Lannes

Installation view Artwork © Joe Bradley. Photo: Thomas Lannes

Installation view

Artwork © Joe Bradley. Photo: Thomas Lannes

Installation view with Anish Kapoor, Chamber 3 (2016) Artwork © Anish Kapoor/DACS, London 2018. Photo: Thomas Lannes

Installation view with Anish Kapoor, Chamber 3 (2016)

Artwork © Anish Kapoor/DACS, London 2018. Photo: Thomas Lannes

Installation view Artwork © ADAGP, Paris 2018. Photo: Thomas Lannes

Installation view

Artwork © ADAGP, Paris 2018. Photo: Thomas Lannes

Works Exhibited

Donald Judd, untitled, 1991 Oil on plywood and aluminum, 19 ½ × 45 × 30 inches (49.5 × 114.3 × 76.2 cm)© 2018 Judd Foundation/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Donald Judd, untitled, 1991

Oil on plywood and aluminum, 19 ½ × 45 × 30 inches (49.5 × 114.3 × 76.2 cm)
© 2018 Judd Foundation/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Guido Reni, Saint Jérôme, c. 1605–10 Oil on canvas, 26 ¼ × 21 ⅛ inches (66.7 × 53.7 cm)

Guido Reni, Saint Jérôme, c. 1605–10

Oil on canvas, 26 ¼ × 21 ⅛ inches (66.7 × 53.7 cm)

Wassily Kandinsky, Dicht, 1929 Oil on canvasboard, 12 ⅝ × 16 inches (32 × 41 cm)© 2018 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/ADAGP, Paris

Wassily Kandinsky, Dicht, 1929

Oil on canvasboard, 12 ⅝ × 16 inches (32 × 41 cm)
© 2018 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/ADAGP, Paris

René Magritte, Le Démon de la Perversité (ou L’Ombre Monumentale), 1929 Oil on cardboard, 10 ⅝ × 13 ¾ inches (27 × 35 cm)© 2018 C. Herscovici, Brussels/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

René Magritte, Le Démon de la Perversité (ou L’Ombre Monumentale), 1929

Oil on cardboard, 10 ⅝ × 13 ¾ inches (27 × 35 cm)
© 2018 C. Herscovici, Brussels/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Duane Hanson, High School Student, 1990 Autobody filler polychromed in oil and mixed media with accessories, 72 × 24 × 17 inches (182.9 × 61 × 43.2 cm)© Estate of Duane Hanson/Licensed by VAGA, New York

Duane Hanson, High School Student, 1990

Autobody filler polychromed in oil and mixed media with accessories, 72 × 24 × 17 inches (182.9 × 61 × 43.2 cm)
© Estate of Duane Hanson/Licensed by VAGA, New York

Unknown artist, clan shrine figure, Tchitcheri Sakwa (Togo), c. 1900 Wood, 53 × 8 × 8 inches (134.6 × 20.3 × 20.3 cm)

Unknown artist, clan shrine figure, Tchitcheri Sakwa (Togo), c. 1900

Wood, 53 × 8 × 8 inches (134.6 × 20.3 × 20.3 cm)

Joe Bradley, Real Goon, 2017 Oil on canvas, 62 ¼ × 66 ⅛ inches (158.1 × 168 cm)© Joe Bradley

Joe Bradley, Real Goon, 2017

Oil on canvas, 62 ¼ × 66 ⅛ inches (158.1 × 168 cm)
© Joe Bradley

Anish Kapoor, Chamber 3, 2016 Alabaster, gold leaf, and pencil, 37 ⅜ × 24 × 22 ⅞ inches (95 × 61 × 58 cm)© Anish Kapoor/DACS, London 2018

Anish Kapoor, Chamber 3, 2016

Alabaster, gold leaf, and pencil, 37 ⅜ × 24 × 22 ⅞ inches (95 × 61 × 58 cm)
© Anish Kapoor/DACS, London 2018

Paolo Schiavo, Madonna con Bambino in Trono, c. 1440–45 Oil on panel, 41 × 27 ¼ inches (104.5 × 69 cm)

Paolo Schiavo, Madonna con Bambino in Trono, c. 1440–45

Oil on panel, 41 × 27 ¼ inches (104.5 × 69 cm)

Frank Stella, D. Scramble: Ascending Green Values/Ascending Spectrum, 1978 Acrylic on canvas, 69 × 69 inches (175.3 × 175.3 cm)© ADAGP, Paris 2018

Frank Stella, D. Scramble: Ascending Green Values/Ascending Spectrum, 1978

Acrylic on canvas, 69 × 69 inches (175.3 × 175.3 cm)
© ADAGP, Paris 2018

Unknown artist, statue depicting a young man, probably the god Apollo, 2nd century AD White marble, 28 ½ × 9 ⅞ × 9 ⅞ inches (72.3 × 24 × 21 cm)

Unknown artist, statue depicting a young man, probably the god Apollo, 2nd century AD

White marble, 28 ½ × 9 ⅞ × 9 ⅞ inches (72.3 × 24 × 21 cm)

About

A dictionary should begin from the point when it is no longer concerned with the meaning but only with the use of words. Thus “formless” is not only an adjective with a certain meaning, but a term serving to deprecate, implying the general demand that everything should have a form.
—Georges Bataille, 1929

Gagosian is pleased to present Critical Dictionary: In homage to G. Bataille, a group exhibition that takes its title from Georges Bataille’s deconstructive text and juxtaposes artworks of different time periods and styles.

For Bataille, words and images were subject to infinite conflicts and variations, transforming according to their use and context. While his Critical Dictionary (1929–30) explicates terms ranging from “materialism” to “spittle” through circuitous, free-associating paragraphs, the exhibition puts into question the hierarchies and chronologies of art history by grouping classical sculpture, postwar avant-garde painting, and key contemporary works. Focused primarily on the dialogue between sculpture and painting, the combinations reveal the ways in which proximity can confer new meaning on objects.

The exhibition includes works by Louise Bourgeois, Joe Bradley, Alberto Burri, Dan Flavin, Helen Frankenthaler, Duane Hanson, Donald Judd, Wassily Kandinsky, Anish Kapoor, René Magritte, Guido Reni, Paolo Schiavo, Frank Stella, and Mary Weatherford, as well as a tchitcheri sakwa, a clan shrine figure made in Togo circa 1900, and a Roman sculpture from the second century.

Un dictionnaire commencerait à partir du moment où il ne donnerait plus le sens mais les besognes des mots. Ainsi ‘informe’ n’est pas seulement un adjectif ayant tel sens mais un terme servant à déclasser, exigeant généralement que chaque chose ait sa forme.
—Georges Bataille, 1929

Gagosian est heureuse de présenter Critical Dictionary: In homage to G. Bataille, une exposition collective qui tire son titre du texte déconstruit de Georges Bataille et qui juxtapose des oeuvres d’époques et de styles différents.

Pour Bataille, les mots et les images sont sujets à d’infinis conflits et variations, se transformant selon leur usage et le contexte. Dans le Dictionnaire Critique (1929 – 1930), des termes allant de «matérialisme» à «crachat» sont analysés dans des paragraphes tortueux, caractérisés par la libre association. L’exposition interroge les hiérarchies et chronologies de l’histoire de l’art en mettant en relation sculpture classique, peinture d’avant-garde et oeuvres d’art contemporain fondamentales. Principalement focalisées sur le dialogue entre sculpture et peinture, les combinaisons révèlent la manière dont la proximité peut conférer une nouvelle signification aux objets.

L’exposition comprend des oeuvres de Louise Bourgeois, Joe Bradley, Alberto Burri, Dan Flavin, Helen Frankenthaler, Duane Hanson, Donald Judd, Wassily Kandinsky, Anish Kapoor, René Magritte, Guido Reni, Paolo Schiavo, Frank Stella, et Mary Weatherford, ainsi qu’un tchitcheri sakwa, une statue de culte clanique fabriquée au Togo vers 1900, et une sculpture romaine du deuxième siècle.

Image of artist Mary Weatherford in front of her artwork

Mary Weatherford: The Flaying of Marsyas

In conjunction with her exhibition The Flaying of Marsyas at Museo di Palazzo Grimani, Venice, Mary Weatherford discusses the featured paintings, which are directly inspired by Titian’s late, eponymous masterpiece of circa 1570–76 and reflect her enduring fascination with the painting.

Carol Armstrong and John Elderfield seated in front of a painting by Helen Frankenthaler

In Conversation
Carol Armstrong and John Elderfield

In conjunction with the exhibition Drawing within Nature: Paintings from the 1990s at Gagosian in New York, Carol Armstrong and John Elderfield discuss Helen Frankenthaler’s paintings and large-scale works on paper dating from 1990 to 1995.

Installation view, Jubiläumsausstellung—Special Guest Duane Hanson, Fondation Beyeler, Riehen/Basel, Switzerland, October 30, 2022–January 8, 2023. Artwork, front to back: © 2023 Estate of Duane Hanson/Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York; Henri Rousseau. Photo: Lucia Hunziker/LL Productions

Duane Hanson at Fondation Beyeler

To celebrate their twenty-fifth anniversary, Fondation Beyeler, Riehen/Basel, Switzerland, staged an exhibition entitled Jubiläumsausstellung—Special Guest Duane Hanson. The presentation featured several sculptures by Duane Hanson alongside more than one hundred works from the foundation’s collection. Alice Godwin considers the fertile dialogues produced by these juxtapositions.

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.

Image of Donald Judd with Jeff Kopie, Architecture Office, Marfa, Texas, 1993

There is No Neutral Space: The Architecture of Donald Judd, Part 2

In this second installment of a two-part essay, Julian Rose continues his exploration of Donald Judd’s engagement with architecture. Here, he examines the artist’s proposals for projects in Bregenz, Austria, and in Basel, arguing that Judd’s approach to shaping space provides a model for contemporary architectural production.

Helen Frankenthaler, Madame Butterfly, 102 color woodcut from 46 woodblocks

The Romance of a New Medium: Helen Frankenthaler and the Art of Collaboration

Inspired by the recent retrospective of Helen Frankenthaler’s woodcuts at the Dulwich Picture Gallery, London, William Davie writes about the artist’s innovative journey with printmaking. Davie illuminates Frankenthaler’s formative collaborations with master printers Tatyana Grosman and Kenneth Tyler.