Rudolf Stingel

Rudolf Stingel works in various media to explore and demystify both the process of creating art and the idea of art. Employing a palette that includes rubber, carpet, painted aluminum, Styrofoam, and paint, Stingel’s work often questions and disrupts the viewer’s perception and physical encounter with the art object. Asking the viewer to participate in the work, Stingel’s work examines this act of collaboration – the making of an art work and the perception of the artwork – which is based on the materials, the placement of the work, and the way the work is created. For Universal Experience: Art, Life, and the Tourist’s Eye, at the MCA in 2005, Stingel created a carpet in the museum’s interior which, like a painting, transformed the viewer’s perception of the space. While referencing minimalism, the vibrant carpet seemed like an orange abstract painting, yet unlike minimalist work, because of its placement on the floor it encouraged physical interaction. The artist expected footprints and dirt from the outside world to become a part of the work as an exploration of the connection between the world within and outside the museum. While not often employing paint upon canvas, Stingel’s work is a constant reflection upon the fundamental questions concerning painting today – authenticity, meaning, hierarchy, and context.

In his engagement with these questions, Stingel aims to demystify the artist, the artistic process, and the art object. While Stingel has created major installations for the MCA, the Venice Biennale, the Guggenheim, the Hayward Gallery, the Walker Arts Center, and Grand Central Station, NY, among others, this will be his first solo museum exhibition in the United States. It will survey his career to date and will include a new site-specific work.

This exhibition will be curated by Francesco Bonami, Manilow Senior Curator at large.

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Rudolf Stingel
Kurator: Francesco Bonami