The Drawing Center presents the first solo museum exhibition in North America of work by Berlin-based artist, Ignacio Uriarte. Uriarte’s practice takes its inspiration from his former career in business administration, employing standard office supplies such as ballpoint pens,highlighters, and jotters, to create geometrically patterned line drawings, paper constructions,animations. Moving from strict to whimsical, these works clarify his relationship to the early Conceptualists and demonstrate how he has been influenced by the seriality and self-sufficiency of their formalism. Preceded by a long history of artists whose creative practice existed in parallel with other jobs, Uriarte’s art similarly looks at the ways in which the information, skills, working conditions, and materials encountered in the workplace can become a source of influence and artistic inspiration.
This exhibition will also include a new dolby-surround recording of the twelve main letters of a German typewriter (ASDFGHJKLÖ) read in a prayer-like mumble by Blixa Bargeld, the front man for the indie rock band, Einstürzende Neubauten. The vocal recitation of fricative letterhammering grants the obsolete typing machine a prominent place within an era of technological innovation. Shown together, Uriarte’s optically mesmeric compositions and audio works present the prescient dialogue between sound and image.
This exhibition will also include a new dolby-surround recording of the twelve main letters of a German typewriter (ASDFGHJKLÖ) read in a prayer-like mumble by Blixa Bargeld, the front man for the indie rock band, Einstürzende Neubauten. The vocal recitation of fricative letterhammering grants the obsolete typing machine a prominent place within an era of technological innovation. Shown together, Uriarte’s optically mesmeric compositions and audio works present the prescient dialogue between sound and image.