Gordon Matta-Clark (1943 – 1978) was a Chilean – American artist whose canvas was the decaying post-modern infrastructure of the United States.
Gordon Matta-Clark loved the space in between
Gordon Clark was born in New York City on June 22, 1943. His father was Chilean Surrealist painter Roberto Matta. In sort of a Spanish-language way, Gordon took his mother’s name Matta-Clark.
Clark studied architecture at Cornell in New York State and French literature at the Sorbonne in Paris, France.
He didn’t work as an architect, but developed the idea of anarchy + architecture or “Anarchitecture.” He was interested in the space in between, especially as he found it in decaying architecture.
Matta-Clark was part of the 1970s downtown New York City art scene. He co-founded FOOD which was an artist’s restaurant. It became a focal point for the downtown art scene.
Matta-Clark is best remembered for his cutouts in decaying buildings in The Bronx, New Jersey, and Chicago.
Those buildings represented the final decay of the Victorian era. Only an artist could find beauty in those old falling down buildings, and make art out of them. Matta-Clark and The Bronx kids who created Hip-Hop did so.
Gordon Matta-Clark in New York City
Gordon Matta-Clark Anarchitect is at the Bronx Museum of the Arts from November 8, 2017 to April 8, 2018.
Gordon Matta-Clark: Anarchitect is organized by Antonio Sergio Bessa, Bronx Museum Director of Curatorial and Education Programs; and Jessamyn Fiore, independent curator and co-director of the Matta-Clark Estate.
For more information, visit www.bronxmuseum.org