Gabriel Orozco at MoMa

Considered one of the most prominent conceptual artists of the last two decades, Gabriel Orozco defies any sort of classification. His career and collection of site-specific works have taken him all over the world, where he has concocted some of the most iconic and memorable installations in recent memory.

It is surprising then that it is only now, at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, that we see the first major museum retrospective of his influential career.

Emerging in the early 1990’s he never confined himself to a specific medium. He is comfortable working with and switching between painting, installation, drawing, photography, and even sculpture.

Orozco immediately made his mark on the art scene with the modern classic La DS in 1993. Everyone will recognize the intriguing way in which Orozco removed the middle third of a Citroen DS, before seamlessly fusing the outer two thirds back together to create an almost impossibly slim one-seat car.

The Black Kites human skull with graphite checkers is another inescapable piece of worldwide intrigue. By painstakingly adding a black and white grid to the skull, having it flow according to its shape, Orozco adds to the symbol by adding an element of human design in the face of death.

Orozco’s jaw-dropping whale skeleton into which he carved concentric circles is another highlight in the all-encompassing retrospective.

Never scared of being playful as well as thought provoking, Oroszco has approached art in a manner unique from his contemporaries. He wants people to come away from his works changed, still thinking about the pieces once they return to their daily lives.

By creating art that keeps tugging away at the edges of your mind and senses, he has undeniably achieved his goal in touching people’s perception of reality. The intrigue continues at the MoMA until March 1st before the retrospective moves on a worldwide tour: Kunst Museum Basel, April 18–August 10, 2010; Musée national d’art moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, September 15, 2010–January 3, 2011; and Tate Modern, London, January 19–April 25, 2011.

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by Henry Guyer
Gloobbi Art

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