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Email PageDetails 1965 /1-∞
May 11, 2007- June 23, 2007
Reception: May 11, 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Roman Opalka
Cueto Project
551 W 21st StCueto Project is pleased to present the solo exhibition of Polish artist Roman Opalka.
Since 1965 the artist has exclusively dedicated himself to recording the progression of time. Opalka has painted over two hundred canvases displaying a never-ending sequence of numbers moving towards infinity. Each canvas he paints he entitles “Details 1965/ 1-∞,” commenting on the infinite expansion of his painting process and his forty-two year mission of expressing the irreversibility of human existence. While Roman Opalka’s years of painting have produced many finished canvases, in the end, the interconnected work will only be completed when he dies.
Even though over the years Opalka has not changed his canvas size or the height and style of the digits he paints, he has made amendments to his creative practice. A few years after he began, Opalka started speaking each number he painted into a microphone in his native tongue, Polish. Then in 1968 he started photographing his face at the end of each day, providing a way for him to personally mark the moments that have passed. In order to objectively account for time, Opalka has also ritually lightened his backgrounds after each finished “Detail”, meaning at this point he virtually paints white on white. These rigorous, consistent aspects of his work, combined with his decision to conflate his life and his art, all contribute to what makes Roman Opalka’s pieces so enigmatic and engaging.
Curated by Lorand Hegyi, the project is comprised of ten different “Details,” (accompanied by his auditory documentation), his portrait photographs, and a video capturing his painting process.
Roman Opalka (born in 1931) has lived in France, Poland, and Berlin, and now currently resides and works in the French countryside. Places his work can be seen include the MOMA and The Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Centre G. Pompidou in Paris and The National Gallery in Berlin. Opalka’s retrospective exhibitions and his participation in the XIX Biennial of São Paolo, and Venice Biennale (1995, 2003) have brought him worldwide recognition. He will be in New York City, in the gallery, from May 6th to May 15th if journalists would like to meet with him.
Books and DVDs related to artists in this show
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