Gabriel Orozco at MoMA The Museum of Modern Art on artrepublic.com

Orozco’s works are variously cerebral and spontaneous, convivial and hushed, the result of painstaking planning and fortunate accident. The exhibition highlights the diversity of Orozco’s materials and the variety of his methods while presenting an oeuvre that is unique in its formal power and intellectual rigor. 

Art and life combine in Orozco’s work. Shown for the first time outside Mexico, a new work titled Eyes Under Elephant Foot (2009) is made of a section of a Beaucarnea tree trunk into which glass eyes have been set. To create My Hands Are My Heart (1991), the artist squeezed a ball of clay between his two hands, forming a heart-shaped object that reveals the process of its making. Rather than using a fine-art material, Orozco used clay made in a brick factory in Mexico. Like many of his early works, this object proceeds from a modesty of materials and simplicity of gesture, reducing the act of sculptural creation to its bare but potent essentials. 

For many of his sculptures from the 1990s, Orozco altered ready-made objects, such as an elevator, a car, or a bicycle. Without concealing the original object’s function or transforming its principal identity, he instead heightened its defining characteristics. La DS (1993) is a streamlined version of the already sleek Citroën DS, made in Paris, where the cars were manufactured. Orozco cut a 1960s model in thirds lengthwise, removed about two feet of width from the centre, and reassembled the two remaining sections to create a version of the original that exaggerates its aerodynamic design. Photography has been an essential component of Orozco’s practice throughout his career. 

For many of his sculptures from the 1990s, Orozco altered ready-made objects, such as an elevator, a car, or a bicycle. Without concealing the original object’s function or transforming its principal identity, he instead heightened its defining characteristics. La DS (1993) is a streamlined version of the already sleek Citroën DS, made in Paris, where the cars were manufactured. Orozco cut a 1960s model in thirds lengthwise, removed about two feet of width from the centre, and reassembled the two remaining sections to create a version of the original that exaggerates its aerodynamic design. Photography has been an essential component of Orozco’s practice throughout his career. 

After excavating the bones from the Isla Arena in Baja California Sur, Orozco and a team of approximately 20 assistants used some 6,000 mechanical pencils to draw lines on the whale that relate to its structure. Dark solid circles are surrounded by numerous series of concentric rings that overlap and collide with each other. Explains Ms. Temkin, ―Orozco’s transformation of the concept of sculpture—via innumerable mediums and methods—makes him a central figure of his generation. Sixteen years after his debut in MoMA’s Projects series, this exhibition explores both the consistency and the surprising evolution of his artistic approach.

OPENING HOURS: Wed– Mon: 10.30 – 17.30, Fri: 10.30 – 20.00

Image Credits:

Gabriel Orozco. (Mexican, born 1962), Black Kites. 1997, Graphite on skull, 8 ½ x 5 x 6 ¼” (21.6 x 12.7 x 15.9 cm), Philadelphia Museum of Art. Gift (by exchange) of Mr. and Mrs. James P. Magill, 1997, ©2009 Gabriel Orozco

Gabriel Orozco. (Mexican, born 1962), Four Bicycles (There Is Always One Direction). 1994, Bicycles, 6’6” x 7’4” x 7’4” (198.1 x 223.5 x 223.5 cm), Carlos and Rosa de la Cruz Collection, ©2009 Gabriel Orozco

Gabriel Orozco. (Mexican, born 1962), Kytes Tree. 2005, Synthetic polymer paint on canvas, 6’ 6 ¾” x 6’ 6 ¾” (200 x 200 cm), The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Purchase and gift of Anna Marie and Robert F. Shapiro and Donald B. MarronPhotography: The Museum of Modern Art, New York, Department of Imaging Services, ©2009 Gabriel Orozco