Gordon Matta-Clark: Anarchitect

Best known for his monumental cuts, holes, apertures, and excisions to the facades of derelict homes and historic buildings in New York, New Jersey, Chicago, and abroad, Gordon Matta-Clark’s work conveys a potent critique of architecture's role in relation to the capitalist system. Taking his 1970s series of Bronx “cuts” as a point of departure and entry into his engaged exploration of the city as a field of action, Gordon Matta-Clark: Anarchitect examines the artist’s pioneering social, relational, and activist approach. The exhibition highlights the political dialogue inherent in Matta-Clark’s artistic interventions, from his concern for the extreme plight of the homeless, his interest in direct community engagement, his belief that we should expand our lived experience of a city into its underground and inaccessible spaces, and his commentary on development and socioeconomic stratification.

In addition to Matta-Clark’s photographs, prints, drawings, and sculptures, Gordon Matta-Clark: Anarchitect includes rarely seen materials from the artist’s archive, as well as immersive film projections of his urban architectural interventions. 

Gordon Matta-Clark: Anarchitect is organized by The Bronx Museum of the Arts. The exhibition is co-curatored by Antonio Sergio Bessa, Bronx Museum Director of Curatorial Programs; and Jessamyn Fiore, independent curator and co-director of the Matta-Clark Estate. The Rose Art Museum presentation is organized by Ruth Estevez, Senior Curator-at-Large, with Caitlin Julia Rubin, Assistant Curator.

Gordon Matta-Clark: Anarchitect and the exhibition's catalogue are made possible by the Henry Luce Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts, Blue Rider Group at Morgan Stanley, David Zwirner, Estate of Gordon Matta-Clark, and Furthermore: a program of the J. M. Kaplan Fund.

The Rose Art Museum presentation is made possible and supported by the Lois Foster Exhibition Fund.