Tracing the Grid

The art historian Rosalind E. Krauss was the first to designate the grid as emblematic of modern and contemporary art at the end of the 1970s. The Kunstmuseum Stuttgart hosted an exhibition which presented a wide variety of artistic positions related to grids for the first time.
The grid itself became a pictorial motif in the wake of 20th-century avant-garde art. Its influence is evident in both minimal art and pop art. Since the 1950s, numerous artists have critically or ironically alluded to its great pioneers like Piet Mondrian and Carl Andre. The grid technique in printing and mechanical reproduction processes became the “subject” itself and allowed the viewer to reflect on the world of media-disseminated images.
The Kunstmuseum Stuttgart examined grids from various perspectives, such as envisioning space, time and knowledge through grids, media-based grids, grids in space and the narrative aspects of grids, as well as possibilities of using grids for measuring and monitoring individuals. The exhibition also explored their interaction with other art forms, in particular dance and music.

Artistic director: Simone Schimpf; Artists: Sigmar Polke, Chuck Close (US), Roy Lichtenstein (US), Gerhard Richter, Katharina Hinsberg, Mona Hatoum (GB), Katharina Gaenssler, Esther Stocker (IT), Agnes Martin (CA), Carsten Nicolai

Kunstmuseum Stuttgart, 5 May - 7 Oct. 2012