Guillermo Kuitca at the Albright-Knox

Guillermo Kuitca: Everything, Paintings and Works on Paper, 1980-2008 will open on February 19th, at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery.

This major exhibition that traces the evolution of the Argentinian artist's work is composed of more than fifty paintings and twenty-five works on paper, spanning 28 years of the artist's career.  Organized by Douglas Dreishpoon, Chief Curator at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, the exhibition traces Kuitca's investigations of physical and social systems, public and private arenas, emotional drama, and the poetic exploration of space.  Its opening in Western New York provides a rare opportunity for audiences in this region and Canada to experience of the achievements of this extraordinary artist.

Kuitca began to garner international acclaim in the 1980s, while still in his early twenties.  Today, the artist commands an international status, and his works have been collected and exhibited by major art institutions including The Museum of Modern Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, and The Tate in Great Britain. 

Conceived in the early and mid-1980s, the earliest works in the exhibition were inspired by Kuitca's experiences in the theatre, with titles often drawn from plays, literature, and popular music.  Works from the late 1980s and early 1990s explore architecture and topography, as well as domestic and communal spaces, and in the late 1990's Kuitca explored organizational systems and spaces.  

Visitors to the Albright-Knox Art Gallery will have their first opportunity to view 32 Seating Plans, 2007, a major suite of works on paper recently acquired by the Gallery for its Permanent Collection.  A second major work from the Albright-Knox's Permanent Collection, The Tablada Suite VI, 1992, a painting based on a prison plan, is also included in the exhibition.

The exhibition will be accompanied by a significant publication. Guillermo Kuitca, Everything, Paintings and Works on Paper, 1980-2008 is published by the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, and Miami Art Museum in association with Scala Publishers Ltd. and distributed by Distributed Art Publishers.  The catalogue includes essays by Douglas Dreishpoon, Chief Curator, Albright-Knox Art Gallery; Andreas Huyssen, Villard Professor of German and Comparative Literature at Columbia University; Terence Riley; and Olga Viso, Director, Walker Art Center.  The book also features a series of interviews with the artist, recorded between 1997 and 2008, by noted Argentine author Graciela Speranza.

Guillermo Kuitca: Everything, Paintings and Works on Paper, 1980-2008 is organized by the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC; and Miami Art Museum, Florida.  Major funding is provided by the Bruce T. Halle Family Foundation, AXA Art Insurance Corporation, and the Leadership and Honorary Patrons Committees for the exhibition, with additional catalogue support from Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros.  The exhibition is made possible in Western New York through the generous support of M&T Bank and the late Judge John T. Elfvin and Peggy Pierce Elfvin.

A special Members' Preview of the exhibition will be held from 5-7PM at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery on Thursday, February 18th, and will remain on view until May 30th.  

The exhibition tour just ended at the Miami Art Museum (October 9, 2009-January 17, 2010), and will resume as follows: Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo (February 19-May 30, 2010); Walker Art Center, Minneapolis (June 26-September 19, 2010); and Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC (October 21, 2010-January 9, 2011).

Image: Guillermo Kuitca 

32 Seating Plans, 2007 

Mixed media on paper 

32 parts, each 11 x 8 1/2 inches (27.9 x 21.6 cm) 

Collection Albright-Knox Art Gallery (detail view)