Gordon Matta-Clark: An Archival SourcebookAn essential reference that provides new understanding of the thought processes of one of the most radical artists of the late twentieth century. Gordon Matta-Clark (1943–1978) has never been an easy artist to categorize or to explain. Although trained as an architect, he has been described as a sculptor, a photographer, an organizer of performances, and a writer of manifestos, but he is best known for un-building abandoned structures. In the brief span of his career, from 1968 to his early death in 1978, he created an oeuvre that has made him an enduring cult figure. In 2002, when Gordon Matta-Clark’s widow, Jane Crawford, put his archive on deposit at the Canadian Centre for Architecture in Montreal, it revealed a new voice in the ongoing discussion of artist/architect Matta-Clark’s work: his own. Gwendolyn Owens and Philip Ursprung’s careful selection and ordering of letters, interviews, statements, and the now-famous art cards from the CCA as well as other sources deepens our understanding of one of the most original thinkers of his generation. Gordon Matta-Clark: An Archival Sourcebook creates a multidimensional portrait that provides an opportunity for readers to explore and enjoy the complexity and contradiction that was Gordon Matta-Clark. |
Contents
Writings by Gordon MattaClark | 1 |
A Brief Biography of Gordon MattaClark | 9 |
A Note to the Reader | 19 |
Transcription of Audiotaped Interview with Art Critic Cindy Nemser Seeing | 31 |
1971 | 51 |
Cherry TreePublished Version | 58 |
1972 | 69 |
Anarchitecture Letter Part 2 to Carol Goodden in New York from Amsterdam | 77 |
Letter to Paula Hutchings at UCLA from New York January 23 1976 | 197 |
Letter to UCLA Professor Bill Mitchell in Venice California from New York n d1976 | 202 |
Donald Wall Gordon MattaClarks Building Dissections Arts Magazine | 208 |
Letter to Wieslaw Borowski at Galeria Foksai in Warsaw Poland from New York | 218 |
Letter to James McCarthy at the New York Metropolitan Transit Authority from | 225 |
If We Follow the Wall 1976 | 231 |
1977 | 237 |
Letter to Jane Crawford in New York from Antwerp Belgium May 3 1977 | 238 |
1973 | 79 |
Letter to Artist Carol Goodden in New York from Amsterdam n d December 1973 | 90 |
1974 | 104 |
1975 | 115 |
Letter to New York State Council on the Arts from New York January 17 1975 | 121 |
Letter to Gallerist Claire Copley in Los Angeles from New York January 26 1975 | 127 |
Letter to Gallerist Wolfgang Becker in Aachen West Germany from New York | 129 |
Interview with Art Critic and Architect Donald Wall n d 1975 | 135 |
Letter to Steve Rother Revenue Collection Newark New Jersey from New York | 153 |
Letter to Walter Hopps at the National Collection of Fine Arts in Washington DC from | 159 |
Anarchitecture Letter Part 1 to Carol Goodden in New York from Amsterdam | 163 |
Letter to Architect Will Alsop in London England from New York July 2 1975 | 165 |
Letter to Frederica Hunter and Ian at Texas Gallery from New York August 12 1975 | 169 |
Letter to Artist Susan Ensley in New York from Paris October 9 1975 | 175 |
Letter to Helga Retzer at Amerika Haus in Berlin West Germany from Milan | 181 |
Biography 1975 | 188 |
Gordon MattaClark Office Baroque 1977 film excerpt | 252 |
Letter to Piccard Balloons in Newport Beach California from New York | 258 |
March 3 1976 | 277 |
Letter to Judith Kirshner from New York State n d 1978 | 284 |
Published Interview with Judith Russi Kirshner February 13 1978 | 292 |
Letter to Curator Alanna Heiss 1978 | 309 |
REMEMBERING GORDON MATTACLARK | 351 |
Alice Aycock Sculptor | 357 |
Tina Girouard Artist | 363 |
Jene Highstein Sculptor | 369 |
Andrew MacNair Architect Publisher of Express and Director of the International Network | 375 |
Willoughby Sharp Artist Writer Publisher CEO of Machine Language and Formerly | 381 |
Lawrence Weiner Artist | 387 |
| 393 | |
| 399 | |
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Common terms and phrases
112 Greene Street abandoned buildings activity Alan Saret alternative Antwerp architect Artists Rights Society Batan Beaubourg Berlin Biennale Bingo Canadian Centre Carol Goodden Center Centre for Architecture completely Conical Intersect Contemporary Art create deal Dear demolition Documenta documentation drawing Earth Art environment Estate of Gordon exhibition film floor gallery Genoa Germany gesture Gordon Matta Gordon Matta-Clark Gordon Matta-Clark Letter hope Houston Humphrey Street idea interested interview involved Jane Crawford Kassel Keith Sonnier kind KIRSHNER living loft Mark Wigley material mean Milan Museum NEMSER Niagara Falls Office Baroque Paris performance photographs piece Pier 52 plans possible problem removed Roberto Matta sculpture sense situation social sort space spatial Splitting structure surface talking there's things tree underground urban wall Walter Hopps whole Wolfgang Becker write York January Yvon Lambert