MONTREAL.- The Canadian Centre for Architecture launched Material Thinking: Gordon Matta-Clark selected by Yann Chateigné, its latest Out of the Box project, which in 2019-2020 examines the collection of trained architect and conceptual artist, Gordon Matta-Clark.

The Gordon Matta-Clark collection—comprised of writings, photographs, films, correspondence, and select artworks donated to the CCA by the Estate of Gordon Matta-Clark—is a fundamental repository of documents and materials connected to finished projects and unrealized pieces. While Matta-Clark’s works were a clear product of his time and environment, the themes he addresses in relation to architecture and urbanism—neglect and speculation, questions of access, corporatization and gentrification, history and memory—are as relevant now as ever.

In the first exhibition, Material Thinking, which opened 6 June and runs through 8 September 2019, curator and art historian Yann Chateigné reflects on the North-American artist’s work through the lens of his highly diverse personal library and sheds light on lesser-known aspects of his practice.

Matta-Clark’s material thinking, stemming from a constellation of unexpected sources, brings together divergent areas of interest while still following particular lines of thought. Criss-crossing the histories of architecture, magic, cognitive science, network theory, anthropology, and ecology, the artist’s library invites an exploration of the hidden aspects of a continuous research process that is reflected in his considerable writing practice and the constant flux of visual investigations through photographs and drawings, as well as in sketches and drafts of concepts for proposed projects.