Splitting, Cutting, Writing, Drawing, Eating...Gordon Matta-Clark

Gordon Matta-Clark's (1943-1978) exhibition at the Serralves Museum will be on view until September 3, 2017. This show surveys the constructive and destructive verbs that defined his relation to art and architecture, featuring correspondence, drawings, photographs, notebooks, and films related to the artist's key projects, drawn from the archive of the Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montréal. During the 1970s, Matta-Clark laboriously cut into floors and walls of abandoned or disused buildings to create A W-Hole House (1973), Conical Intersect (1975), Day's End (1975) and Splitting (1974). Along with these works, the exhibition also explores his interest in metabolic and cooking processes, including his restaurant Food (1971); his play with language and the syntax of architecture; and his use of drawing. The exhibition also presents a selection of works by other artists, including Alvin Baltrop and Emily Roysdon, that set the context for Matta-Clark's interventions in urban spaces. Splitting, Cutting, Writing, Drawing, Eating… Gordon Matta-Clark is organized by the Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art, Porto, and Culturgest, Lisbon. The exhibition is curated by João Ribas, Deputy Director and Senior Curator at Serralves Museum, and Delfim Sardo, Visual Arts Curator at Culturgest, and is accompanied by a publication with scholarly texts by the exhibition curators and extensive documentation of the works and archival materials on view. The Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art is the foremost museum for contemporary art in Portugal, and one of Europe's most renowned institutions for contemporary art and culture. Uniquely sited on the grounds of the Serralves Foundation in Porto (which also comprises an 18-hectare Park and the Serralves Villa, a landmark art deco building), the Museum designed by Álvaro Siza opened in 1999. Through its exhibitions, collection, publications, performing arts and public programs, Serralves fosters the understanding and appreciation of contemporary art and culture in Portugal and around the world.