Gordon Matta-Clark Sold at Auction Prices

b. 1945 - d. 1978

(born 1945 New York City; died 1978) American artist. A student of architecture and son of Surrealist artist Roberto Matta, Gordon Matta-Clark disapproved of architecture’s loftiness and disconnect with the everyday world. He became part of a movement of artists that used atypical techniques and untraditional mediums in their artwork. Dubbed “anarchitecture”, Matta-Clark would remove sections of rundown buildings, exposing the interior and displaying those cut pieces in the gallery 112 Greene Street. These “building cuts” were temporary, the derelict buildings often being torn down a few weeks after being used; his work living on as architectural fragments, photographs and film. Some of Matta-Clark’s most famous works include Splitting, in which he made a one inch wide cut straight through the middle of a suburban house in New Jersey, and Office Baroque, in which he cut an oval that travels from street level to the attic of a decrepit building in Antwerp. His work provided insight into the 1970s; a period of crumbling cities and suburban life that was less than ideal. Despite the pessimistic connotations, Matta-Clark was still able to find beauty in the least likely places. While he had a very productive career it was cut short when Matta-Clark died of cancer at only 35 years old.