OSCAR TUAZON: "Building"

OSCAR TUAZON

"BUILDING"

04.02.-30.04.2023 / KUNST MUSEUM WINTERTHUR

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The mid-career retrospective of the American artist Oscar Tuazon (*1975) covers the years from 2000 to the present. The focus is on his «architectural sculptures». Instead of placing objects in exhibition spaces and thereby occupying them, Tuazon effectively reconstructs the rooms. He oftentimes constructs his own, whether in museums, galleries, or public spaces. He explores the functional aspects of sculpture and its practical value. For him, it is not the external form which is decisive, but the possibilities that arise when dealing with art. This is at odds with the history of modernism, especially Minimal Art. «Turning away from the idea of an original, discrete work of art is the necessary first step in a liberating process in which people can actually participate in the creation of a work of art, rather than being drawn in as an audience» (Oscar Tuazon).

The artist sees his works as platforms for social interaction. Cooperative processes and versatile do-it-yourself strategies are already crucial in the realization of his installations, as are coincidences, which he not only accepts but continuously integrates. Together with craftsmen and technicians, he erects temporary constructions that upset the normative power of institutional architecture. «Roughly speaking, my approach is always: get into a space, fill it up, and increase the pressure until something goes wrong», Tuazon says.

For the exhibition in Winterthur, the artist is realizing an expansive wooden structure that is a sculpture, model house, meeting place and event forum all in one. By going beyond the limits of the room, it creates a new, incomparably more informal space for encounter and art.

The exhibition is produced in collaboration with Bergen Kunsthall and Kunsthalle Bielefeld. A comprehensive monograph on the artist's work will be jointly published by DoPe Press.

Curator: Lynn Kost

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Installation photography: Reto Kaufmann