Lot 26: GOSHKA MACUGA

GOSHKA MACUGA B.1967 DRAWING NO 4. 'PATH OF MOVEMENT OF A POINT' AFTER K. MALEVICH (1922) sandblasted mirror 121 by 183cm.; 47¾ by 72in. Conceived in 2003, the present work was executed in 2007 and is number 2 from an edition of 3.

Coventry, Mead Gallery, Expo 21: Strategies of Display, 2004 (another from the same edition).

Kate MacGarry, London, where acquired by the present owner in July 2008

Nominated for the 2008 Turner Prize, Macuga is well known for her distinctive process of incorporating narratives, concepts and materials from the art historical past into her own present day compositions and installations. She thus engages the viewer in an intriguing dialogue between the aesthetics and politics of today and those from the time of her source material. In the present work, a Malevich-shaped form has been sand-blasted onto the mirror. The initial 'reading' of Malevich's influence on the work is then contradicted by Macuga's entirely individual exploration of the relationship between the viewer and the artwork, which she achieves in her disorientating choice of mirror as medium. Looking at the work head-on, it is impossible for the viewer to see the work without also seeing a reflection of themselves and their own contemporary environment.