ART CITIES:Rome-Prototypology
Every artwork starts as an idea in the mind of the artist and take its final form via the evolution from the first idea to finished artwork through drawings, archives, maquettes and bricolage . The studio is a liminal zone for sourcing, modifying, and testing. The “sketch” represents the initial impulse from mind to hand, the developmental process whereby form begins to emerge.
By Efi Michalarou
Photo: Gagosian Gallery Archive
The group exhibition “Prototypology: An Index of Process and Mutation” explores research and development in the work of thirty contemporary artists, tracing the evolution from the idea. In doing so the exhibition establishes a typology of diverse drafts. The exhibition reveal moments of process that lead to epiphanies. Monumental, civic, everyday, and otherworldly gestures are visible in a range of preparatory drawings and proposals. Among the other artworks are exhibited Studies for sculptures by Dan Graham, Claes Oldenburg, Tatiana Trouvé, and Rachel Whiterea that reveal moments of process that lead to epiphanies. Commenting on the exhibition, the Exhibition Programmer at Gagosian Gallery Beverly Hills Aaron Moulton says that it “Uncovers distinct incarnations of preliminary research, development, and progression within the individual artist’s practice and reveals the nature of innovation”. These varied forms represent important moments 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. Artists: 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, Rachel Whiteread
Info: Gagosian Gallery, Via Francesco Crispi 16, Rome, Duration: 14/1-5/3/16, Days & Hours: Tue-Sat 10:30-19:00, www.gagosian.com