Exhibition: Gordon Matta-Clark — Museum in Motion
M HKA, Antwerp
23 August 2022 - 30 April 2023
©Gordon Matta Clark, video still 'Splitting', 1974
Gordon Matta-Clark (1943–1978) described his activities as 'anarchitecture' – a synthesis of the concepts of anarchy and architecture. Anarchitecture fuses a critique of the institutionalisation of culture, a direct engagement with one’s environment, and a preference for physical action. His rather irreverent site-specific interventions combined the formal language of minimalism with the large scale of land art. By making incisions into buildings, the interior and structure of a building were exposed, becoming readable in a new way. His art broke with traditional spatial perspective – there no longer being a centre, no top and bottom, and no inside and outside. The radicality of Matta-Clark’s interventions can be seen as a comment not only on architecture, but also on property speculation, exclusivity, and the commercialisation of the art world. A conceptual idealist, he was at the same time concerned with conviviality, creating working and meeting spaces in the urban environment.
The history of M HKA begins with the ICC, the International Cultural Centre in Antwerp. In 1977, Matta-Clark was invited by the ICC to realise the the magisterial project Office Baroque at the site of a former office block on Ernest Van Dijckkaai. After Matta-Clarke’s death the following year, and the establishment of the Gordon Matta-Clark Foundation, a major new museum project was developed around Office Baroque that, although failed, the fallout nevertheless laid the foundation for the M HKA collection.
WorksShow artists
> Gordon Matta-Clark, Chinatown Voyeur, 1971. Video, 00:60:00.
> Gordon Matta-Clark, Tree Dance, 1971. Video, 16 mm film on video, 00:09:32.
> Gordon Matta-Clark, Clockshower, 1971-1976. Video, 00:13:50.
> Gordon Matta-Clark, Automation House, 1972. Video, 16 mm film on video, 00:32:00.
> Gordon Matta-Clark, Food, 1972. Video, 16 mm film on video, 00:43:00.
> Gordon Matta-Clark, Fresh Kill, 1972. Video, 16 mm film on video, 00:12:56 .
> Gordon Matta-Clark, Bingo/Ninths, 1974. Video, super 8mm film on video, 00:09:40.
> Gordon Matta-Clark, Splitting, 1974. Video, super 8mm film on video, 00:09:40.
> Gordon Matta-Clark, Conical Intersect, 1975. Video, 16 mm film on video, 00:18:40.
> Gordon Matta-Clark, Day's End, 1975. Video, super 8mm film on video, 00:23:10 .
> Gordon Matta-Clark, The Wall, 1976-2007. Video, 16 mm film on video, 00:15:04.
> Gordon Matta-Clark, City Slivers, 1976. Video, super 8mm film on video, 00:15:00.
> Gordon Matta-Clark, Substrait (Underground Dailies), 1976. Video, 16 mm film on video, 00:30:00.
> Gordon Matta-Clark, Cherica Convents , A Jacob's Ladder. Remembering Gordon Matta Clark., 1977-2013. Video, hard disc with digital “hd pro res quick time” , 00:35:00.
> Gordon Matta-Clark, Sous-Sols de Paris [Paris Underground], 1977-2005. Video, super 8mm film on video, 00:25:20.
> Gordon Matta-Clark, Office Baroque, 1977. Print, paper, 89 x 62 cm/ 91,5 x 64,5 cm.
> Gordon Matta-Clark, Office Baroque, 1977-2005. Video, 16 mm film on video, 00:44:00.
> Gordon Matta-Clark, Office Baroque (Doors Crossing), 1977. Installation, wood, 198 x 77 x 4 cm.
> Gordon Matta-Clark, Office Baroque # 669, 1977. Photography, cibachrome, tape, hard board, plexi, 175 x 105 cm.