ZAHA HADID AT SONNABEND AND 169 10TH AVENUE (AT 21st STREET) NOVEMBER 2008
ORGANIZED BY KENNY SCHACHTER/ROVE
Sonnabend and Kenny Schachter/ROVE announce an exciting new exhibition opening on November 1st, 2008, a two-venue New York show of Zaha Hadid’s new installations.
There is a long and well-established history of art galleries showcasing the drawings, models, industrial designs and artworks of architects, not least Peggy Guggenheim’s Art of This Century. However the exhibits at Sonnabend and at the 10th Avenue space will reinvent the relationship between architect and art. A series of large scale installations use architecture as the conceptual origin for sculptures, reliefs, hybrid design objects and paintings that have a remove from the initial utilitarian derivation and meaning of the works.
Though these projects begin as architectural commissions, the works on view inform an international discourse on processes, technologies of manufacture, and on form itself. They develop spatial representations that redefine the notion of physical space by warping, pulling and pushing the boundaries of the galleries until we are left with architectonic interpretations that create new and unfamiliar interior landscapes.
In one instance, a wall is transformed into a life sized relief from which flows, as if in motion, an elegant, futuristic desk. In another piece, “Masterplan”, originating from Hadid’s citywide plan for the Asian side of Istanbul, the scheme is inverted to create a grotto of forms that defy gravity to morph from the ceiling. “Kloris” is a cluster of seating elements and sculptures inspired by the shapes of flower petals.
This show reflects Hadid’s vision of a new twenty-first century urbanism; part of a revolutionary body of works based on organic systems of organization. Each piece explores a new living environment using a formal language of fluidity. They seamlessly integrate art, design and architecture into our lives.
These pieces provide a basis to live with architecture in ways previously impossible. Each installation offers elements of Hadid’s 30 year explorations into an architecture of fluidity at all scales.
This show is not solely art, design or architecture, but rather a hybrid quoting from all three. Though some objects are imbued with functionality and ergonomic considerations, that is not the point. This is an organic sculptural installation about manipulating space and formal integration. Each piece describes movement in a static material using state-of-the-art methods of design and fabrication.
The Sonnabend and 10th Avenue exhibits build on the excitement of the Mobile Art: Chanel Contemporary Art Container being installed in Central Park, presenting a far-reaching opportunity to view the myriad of art and architectural processes of Zaha Hadid. She has transformed our vision of the future with new spatial concepts and bold, visionary forms . These exhibits herald the launch of a new category of collecting—Architecture Art, akin to the recent advent of the contemporary design market.
In November 2008, there will be a unique and unprecedented chance to see Mobile Art: Chanel alongside two major galleries exhibiting ambitious new, large-scale, sculptural installations, the likes of which New York has never before seen.
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