Lawrence Weiner Catalogue 936, Nestled within Some Stones Covered with Whatever is at Hand; Used For & Used in a Manner Not Quid Pro Quo...

dimensione ambiente/dimensions variable

A phrase in the title, preceded by the catalogue number that the artist usually assigns to his work, is the main element of the work itself, and is presented as a typeset composition, using the formal language of graphic design. His works often have a strong political or social connotation, which is also manifested in the choice and use of the font. "Catalogue 936" also highlights how the cultural context in which he works is fundamental for Weiner: in fact, it was the reality of Rome, its history, its ruins, that inspired the artist. The words in the sentence, composed of industrial letters in gray vinyl, are contained in rectangular forms oriented in various ways and that run horizontally across the wall space, like those of the Italian translation “ACCOCCOLATO – TRA ALCUNE PIETRE – COPERTO CON – QUELLO CHE C’È INTORNO – USATO PER – & – USATO IN – UNA MANIERA NON – QUID PRO QUO – …”. A Latin quotation from Virgil’s Georgics, “SI PARVA LICET COMPONERE MAGNIS” (“If I may compare small things to great”), completes the composition, in purple black-edged characters. The work is part of a series of drawings, considered by Weiner himself as prologue and epilogue of the work and dedicated to Rome’s seven hills, a map of which is also included in the preparatory drawing.

Yes

A. Alberro, A. Zimmerman, B.H.D. Bucholoh, D. Batchelor (eds.), Lawrence Weiner, New York- London 1998. D. De Salvo, A. Goldstein (eds.), Lawrence Weiner: as far as the eye can see 1960-2007, exhibition catalogue (New York, Whitney Museum of American Art; Los Angeles, MOCA-Museum of Contemporary Art), New Haven 2007. K. Van Lil, Stones of Rome, in Lawrence Weiner. Quid Pro Quo, exhibition catalogue (Rome, Gagosian Gallery), Rome 2008.

Foto M3Studio

Purchased from Gagosian Gallery, Rome

Installation