In the decade since Sol LeWitt’s death, the artist’s legacy as a master of conceptual and Minimal art has continued to endure, and perhaps grew stronger: his work is housed in the world’s top collections, where exhibitions surrounding his practice are still regularly mounted; his estate is handled by the powerhouse Pace Gallery; and, as a rule of his work, other people are still able to execute LeWitt’s wall drawings today.
In a new show opening on November 17 at the Fondazione Carriero in Milan, titled “Sol LeWitt: Between the Lines,” co-curators Francesco Stocchi and Rem Koolhaas—taking on the role of curator here for the first time ever—are approaching LeWitt’s oeuvre from a different angle, exploring the relationship of the artist’s work specifically to architecture.
“Sol LeWitt: Between the Lines,” Installation view at Fondazione Carriero, Milan.
Photo: Agostino Osio. Image Courtesy Fondazione Carriero.
The curatorial involvement of Koolhaas marks a specifically unique perspective on LeWitt’s practice, as the artist is arguably best known for his architectural interventions with his career-long series of Wall Drawings.
On the challenge of curating, Koolhaas mused: “After the death of an artist their work continues to evolve. But, obviously, not literally in his work but in our perception of the work: so, I think that for me it’s really an effort to generate a kind of afterlife for Sol LeWitt that looks at his all work with fresh eyes and, in that way, creates a kind of new life.”
“To create a three-way dialogue (work of art, architect, curator) seemed like the right thing to do,” said co-curator Francesco Stocchi in a statement. “While the work of Sol LeWitt is sensitive to the characteristics of the space that hosts it, in this context it becomes interesting to think of it as the adhesive of the architecture, rather than as a response to it.”
“Sol LeWitt: Between the Lines,” Installation view at Fondazione Carriero, Milan.
Photo: Agostino Osio. Image Courtesy Fondazione Carriero.
The exhibition will present a significant body of LeWitt’s work, including, in addition to the ever-famous Wall Drawings, sculptures such as Complex Form and Inverted Spiraling Tower, as well as his series of photographs, Autobiography 1980.
“When I observe Sol LeWitt’s work I tend to pay attention to the method applied rather than the object; the same thing happens when I observe a building designed by Koolhaas: I understand both as voices of a lively ‘irrational logic,'” Stocchi concluded.
“Sol LeWitt. Between the Lines” is on view at Fondazione Carriero from November 17–June 23, 2018. Admission is free.