Gordon Matta-Clark: The Space Between

Testi: Attlee James, Le Feuvre Lisa., pagg. 112; 18 COL; rileg. rigida.
Editore: Nazraeli Press, Tucson, 2003.

This beautifully produced book is published to coincide with a ground-breaking exhibiti on that opened at the CCA in Glasgow on 24 January 2003, and travels to the Architectural Association, London on 1 May. Curated by Lisa Le Feuvre, The Space Between will surely confirm Matta-Clark as one of the most important artists of the second half of the 20th century.
Despite his tragically short career, the influence of Gordon Matta-Clark (1943-1978) is ever more pervasive. Central to the explosion of creativity in New York’s SoHo in the 1970s, Matta-Clark turned his focus on the city itself, slicing through abandoned buildings to create works that were at once large-scale sculptural environments, social commentary and urban performance pieces. His stated aim was to unravel the grammar of architecture and “turn a building into a state of mind”.
The ‘building cuts’ remain the best-known of the artist’ s work s, despite the fact that they exist today only through film and photographic documentation. However, Matta-Clark’s engagement with the urban landscape and challenge to conventional art practice also led him to set up an artist-run restaurant, Food. Armed with a movie camera, he embarked on journeys of discovery inside the hidden spaces beneath Paris and L ondon. He handed out free food and ‘fresh air’ on the streets, created architecture from refuse, and planned visionary architectural projects that would transform the City.

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