Spring Group Exhibition
4 May - 17 June 2017
In our Spring Group exhibition, two works are conceptual gems.
Carl Andre' Artist's Proof is, precisely, that. It is a unique work by the artist, created on the spot when he visited Gimpel Fils on a day in 1991, the day and date appearing on the work. Andre asked for a sheet of paper and a pad of red ink, whereupon he took out a printer's tool, inked it and pressed it carefully onto the paper. This 'stamp' is the one he affixes to the certificates he issues for his artwork except that, in this case, the certificate is self-referential. That is to say, the artist has 'proofed' a work which refers entirely to itself and is not the annotation of a work created elsewhere, in other materials. Andre has added a copyright symbol to his name, which leads the viewer to question which part, or whole, of the artist's proof is being copyrighted.
Carl Andre' Artist's Proof is, precisely, that. It is a unique work by the artist, created on the spot when he visited Gimpel Fils on a day in 1991, the day and date appearing on the work. Andre asked for a sheet of paper and a pad of red ink, whereupon he took out a printer's tool, inked it and pressed it carefully onto the paper. This 'stamp' is the one he affixes to the certificates he issues for his artwork except that, in this case, the certificate is self-referential. That is to say, the artist has 'proofed' a work which refers entirely to itself and is not the annotation of a work created elsewhere, in other materials. Andre has added a copyright symbol to his name, which leads the viewer to question which part, or whole, of the artist's proof is being copyrighted.
Susan Hiller's Strive to be your own hero, Study for Monument No.4 1991 is another commemorative piece. Inspired by a set of wall-mounted ceramic plates in an east London cemetery, each inscribed with the name of an otherwise unknown person who lost their lives in an act of civilian bravery, Hiller reproduced them in a gallery installation first shown at Gimpel Fils. Like Andre, Hiller created this small version specifically for us. It commemorates the exhibition, even as it echoes the commemoration of the gallant men and women whose names feature on the originals. In an echo of Marcel Duchamp's miniature box-set of his Dada pieces, Hiller's miniature is a compact summation of the artist's principal concerns at the time of its production: memory, lives leaving traces, artists leaving their own traces as deposited in the creative result of their labour.
