Gordon Matta-Clark

In 1973, Matta-Clark traveled to Europe. In Italy he was able to carry out a series of cuttings on buildings, Infraform in Milan and A W-Hole House: Roof Top Atrium and Datum Cut in Genoa. The way in which Italian walls were constructed offered him a new approach. He was able to first “predraw” the cuts as “lines” on the walls before the wall section was extracted. Matta-Clark drew inspiration for his first cut drawings from the graphic quality of the walls. For the exhibition at the Galleriaforma in Genoa, the artist made four cut drawings in stacks of cardboard that had been pasted together. The “drawings” refer to previous building cuts in Milan and Genoa. Later, the “cut drawings” became increasingly complex, intersecting circular shapes with left out areas between the lines. (Sabine Breitwieser)