Andrea Zittel

Andrea Zittel. Photo: Sarah Lyon

 

Since the early 1990s, Andrea Zittel (*1965) has used the arena of her daily life to develop and test prototypes for living structures and situations, gleaning from them an understanding of the ways in which humans construct their values, social norms and belief systems. Based in the California Mojave Desert, near Joshua Tree and its national parklands, the artist has produced works spanning sculpture, drawing, painting, video, textiles and installation that illuminate how we attribute significance to the physical spaces we inhabit, and how qualities we may find concrete and rational are often subjective, arbitrary and invented.

 

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Zittel’s first projects developed out of her small apartment in Brooklyn, New York, and reflected the craft-based, “do it yourself” ethos of the 1990s. She lived within the carefully ordered confines of her A-Z Management and Maintenance Unit (1992)—a seven-by-nine foot “living unit” that offered space for the basic necessities of eating, sleeping, storing and cleaning—to explore how design and its accompanying ideologies could turn a seeming constraint into a liberating experience. Other early experiments involved living without running water for a year, spending extended periods without access to measured time, and sewing spare “uniforms,” of which she only wore one per season. Ongoing over twenty years later, the A-Z Uniform series has expanded into an array of designs in natural fibers that perfectly encapsulate Zittel’s impulse to simplify, but also critique, our perceived need for objects, variety and individuality.

In 2000, Zittel moved cross-country to establish A-Z West, her home and testing ground where physical works are created and lived with as an experiment in “investigative living.” Situated in the desert approximately two hours east of Los Angeles, A-Z West has come to encompass an eighty-acre site designed by the artist that includes a main house, personal and communal studios, homestead cabins, Wagon Station Encampments (small trailers with well-appointed interiors for rest), and site-specific sculptures. From this fecund compound, Zittel has produced paintings on wood featuring colorful geometric abstractions and views of A-Z West; sculptural Planar Configurations that create modest living spaces out of parallel and perpendicular panels, in muted primary tones and overlaid with weavings and textiles; and suites of precise watercolors echoing the planes of her three-dimensional structures. These and other projects continue to question our materialist impulses, while also savoring the beauty and orderliness of well-designed forms.

Outdoor sculptural installations have also long been part of Zittel’s practice. The A-Z Deserted Islands (1997) are mounded raft-like structures designed as self-contained floating spaces. Her Planar Pavilions, networks of platforms and walls that have been installed internationally over the last decade, welcome public use and interaction but similarly carve out and delineate physical space. Here again, Zittel emphasizes that limitations can often make us more creative, despite our continual desire for freedom and independence.

Across her many bodies of work, Zittel draws the viewer in with something seemingly familiar—a bed, a rug, a smock or dress, a minimalist shelving unit—but then presents challenging questions about the systems that generate these feelings of recognition and comfort. Her objects provoke us in their constant questioning of what we can live with and without, urging us to consider what truly generates value and meaning in our lives. Though she is drawn to concepts of economy, efficiency, and better living—lenses through which her work is often viewed—her ultimate goal is to understand our psychological relationships to these ideals rather than dictate a “correct” way to live.

 

Andrea Zittel: Art & Design
Art21’s Extended Play series, 2015
Video courtesy Art21, art21.org, founded 1997

 

Works
Andrea Zittel
Andrea Zittel
Untitled (To live within or without society?), 2013

Andrea Zittel
Untitled (To live within or without society?), 2013
Polyacrylic on marine grade plywood panel with steel frame
184.2 × 370.8 × 5.7 cm
72 1/2 × 146 × 2 1/4 inches

Andrea Zittel
Andrea Zittel
A-Z Corner Benches for Kunstmuseen Krefeld , 2021

Andrea Zittel
A-Z Corner Benches for Kunstmuseen Krefeld, 2021
5 parts
Steel, powder coated, wood

More views
Andrea Zittel
Andrea Zittel
A-Z Lighting for for Kunstmuseen Krefeld, 2021

Andrea Zittel
A-Z Lighting for for Kunstmuseen Krefeld, 2021
Steel, paint, LED

More views
Andrea Zittel
Andrea Zittel
Clutch, 2010

Andrea Zittel
Clutch, 2010
Color video with sound
11:22 min

Andrea Zittel
Andrea Zittel
A-Z Management and Maintenance Unit: Model 003 (large), 1992

Andrea Zittel
A-Z Management and Maintenance Unit: Model 003 (large), 1992
Steel, wood, carpet, plastic sink, glass, mirror
218.4 × 238.8 × 172.7 cm
86 × 94 × 68 inches

Andrea Zittel
Andrea Zittel
A-Z Deserted Island VI, 1997

Andrea Zittel
A-Z Deserted Island VI, 1997
Fibreglass, wood, plastic, vinyl seat, vinyl logo
91.4 × 228.6 × 228.6 cm

More views
Andrea Zittel
Andrea Zittel
Bench (after Judd) #5, 2015

Andrea Zittel
Bench (after Judd) #5, 2015
Weaving, wood, steel, paint, carpet
48 × 305 × 367 cm
19 × 120 × 144 1/2 inches

More views
Andrea Zittel
Andrea Zittel
A-Z Wagon Stations: Second Generation, 2012–Present

Andrea Zittel
A-Z Wagon Stations: Second Generation, 2012–Present
Powder coated steel, aluminum, plexiglass, wood, canvas,
futon, pillow, hand brush, straw hat
91.4 × 228.6 × 228.6 cm
36 × 90 × 90 inches

More views
Andrea Zittel
Andrea Zittel
Pattern, 2011

Andrea Zittel
Pattern, 2011 (detail)

More views
Andrea Zittel
Andrea Zittel
Grey Personal Panel on My Bedroom Floor, 1998

Andrea Zittel
Grey Personal Panel on My Bedroom Floor, 1998
Gouache on paper
25.4 × 38.1 cm
10 × 15 inches

Andrea Zittel
Andrea Zittel
A-Z Aggregated Stacks, 2010

Andrea Zittel
A-Z Aggregated Stacks, 2010
Cardboard, plaster gauze

Andrea Zittel
Andrea Zittel
The Flat Field Work
Installation view, Middelheim Museum, Antwerp, June 13–September 27, 2015

Andrea Zittel
The Flat Field Work
Installation view, Middelheim Museum, Antwerp, June 13–September 27, 2015
Photo: Simon Vogel

More views
Andrea Zittel
Andrea Zittel
Parallel Planar Panel (dark grey, light grey, white, off-white, rust, black), 2015

Andrea Zittel
Parallel Planar Panel (dark grey, light grey, white, off-white, rust, black), 2015
Weaving, aluminium, lacquer
148 × 178 cm
58 1/4 × 70 inches

More views
Andrea Zittel
Andrea Zittel
Untitled, 2019

Andrea Zittel
Untitled, 2019 (detail)

Andrea Zittel
Andrea Zittel
Planar Pavilions at A-Z West, 2017

Andrea Zittel
Planar Pavilions at A-Z West, 2017
Cement blocks, paint
Dimensions variable

More views
Details
Andrea Zittel

Andrea Zittel
Untitled (To live within or without society?), 2013
Polyacrylic on marine grade plywood panel with steel frame
184.2 × 370.8 × 5.7 cm
72 1/2 × 146 × 2 1/4 inches

Andrea Zittel
Untitled (To live within or without society?), 2013
Andrea Zittel

Andrea Zittel
A-Z Corner Benches for Kunstmuseen Krefeld, 2021
5 parts
Steel, powder coated, wood

Andrea Zittel
A-Z Corner Benches for Kunstmuseen Krefeld , 2021
Andrea Zittel
Andrea Zittel

Andrea Zittel
A-Z Corner Benches for Kunstmuseen Krefeld, 2021 (detail)

Andrea Zittel
A-Z Corner Benches for Kunstmuseen Krefeld , 2021
Andrea Zittel
Andrea Zittel

Andrea Zittel
A-Z Corner Benches for Kunstmuseen Krefeld, 2021

Andrea Zittel
A-Z Corner Benches for Kunstmuseen Krefeld , 2021
Andrea Zittel
Andrea Zittel

Andrea Zittel
A-Z Corner Benches for Kunstmuseen Krefeld, 2021 (detail)

Andrea Zittel
A-Z Corner Benches for Kunstmuseen Krefeld , 2021
Andrea Zittel
Andrea Zittel

Andrea Zittel
A-Z Corner Benches for Kunstmuseen Krefeld, 2021 (detail)

Andrea Zittel
A-Z Corner Benches for Kunstmuseen Krefeld , 2021
Andrea Zittel
Andrea Zittel

Andrea Zittel
A-Z Corner Benches for Kunstmuseen Krefeld, 2021

Andrea Zittel
A-Z Corner Benches for Kunstmuseen Krefeld, 2021
Andrea Zittel

Andrea Zittel
A-Z Lighting for for Kunstmuseen Krefeld, 2021
Steel, paint, LED

Andrea Zittel
A-Z Lighting for for Kunstmuseen Krefeld, 2021
Andrea Zittel
Andrea Zittel

Andrea Zittel
A-Z Lighting for Kunstmuseen Krefeld, 2021

Andrea Zittel
A-Z Lighting for for Kunstmuseen Krefeld , 2021
Andrea Zittel
Andrea Zittel

Andrea Zittel
A-Z Lighting for Kunstmuseen Krefeld, 2021

Andrea Zittel
A-Z Lighting for for Kunstmuseen Krefeld , 2021
Andrea Zittel

Andrea Zittel
Clutch, 2010
Color video with sound
11:22 min

Andrea Zittel
Clutch, 2010
Andrea Zittel

Andrea Zittel
A-Z Management and Maintenance Unit: Model 003 (large), 1992
Steel, wood, carpet, plastic sink, glass, mirror
218.4 × 238.8 × 172.7 cm
86 × 94 × 68 inches

Andrea Zittel
A-Z Management and Maintenance Unit: Model 003 (large), 1992
Andrea Zittel

Andrea Zittel
A-Z Deserted Island VI, 1997
Fibreglass, wood, plastic, vinyl seat, vinyl logo
91.4 × 228.6 × 228.6 cm

Andrea Zittel
A-Z Deserted Island VI, 1997
Andrea Zittel
Andrea Zittel

Andrea Zittel
A-Z Deserted Island VI, 1997

Andrea Zittel
A-Z Deserted Island VI, 1997
Andrea Zittel
Andrea Zittel

Andrea Zittel
A-Z Deserted Island VI, 1997

Andrea Zittel
A-Z Deserted Island VI, 1997
Andrea Zittel

Andrea Zittel
Bench (after Judd) #5, 2015
Weaving, wood, steel, paint, carpet
48 × 305 × 367 cm
19 × 120 × 144 1/2 inches

Andrea Zittel
Bench (after Judd) #5, 2015
Andrea Zittel
Andrea Zittel

Andrea Zittel
Bench (after Judd) #5, 2015 (detail)

Andrea Zittel
Bench (after Judd) #5, 2015
Andrea Zittel
Andrea Zittel

Andrea Zittel
Bench (after Judd) #5, 2015 (detail)

Andrea Zittel
Bench (after Judd) #5, 2015
Andrea Zittel

Andrea Zittel
A-Z Wagon Stations: Second Generation, 2012–Present
Powder coated steel, aluminum, plexiglass, wood, canvas,
futon, pillow, hand brush, straw hat
91.4 × 228.6 × 228.6 cm
36 × 90 × 90 inches

Andrea Zittel
A-Z Wagon Stations: Second Generation, 2012–Present
Andrea Zittel
Andrea Zittel

Andrea Zittel
A-Z West (detail)

Andrea Zittel
A-Z West
Andrea Zittel
Andrea Zittel

Andrea Zittel
A-Z West (detail)

Andrea Zittel
A-Z West
Andrea Zittel
Andrea Zittel

Andrea Zittel
A-Z Wagon Stations: Second Generation, 2012–Present (detail)

Andrea Zittel
A-Z Wagon Stations: Second Generation, 2012–Present
Andrea Zittel

Andrea Zittel
Pattern, 2011 (detail)

Andrea Zittel
Pattern, 2011
Andrea Zittel
Andrea Zittel

Andrea Zittel
Pattern, 2011 (detail)

Andrea Zittel
Pattern, 2011
Andrea Zittel
Andrea Zittel

Andrea Zittel
Pattern, 2011 (detail)

Andrea Zittel
Pattern, 2011
Andrea Zittel
Andrea Zittel

Andrea Zittel
Pattern, 2011 (detail)

Andrea Zittel
Pattern, 2011
Andrea Zittel
Andrea Zittel

Andrea Zittel
Pattern, 2011 (detail)

Andrea Zittel
Pattern, 2011
Andrea Zittel

Andrea Zittel
Grey Personal Panel on My Bedroom Floor, 1998
Gouache on paper
25.4 × 38.1 cm
10 × 15 inches

Andrea Zittel
Grey Personal Panel on My Bedroom Floor, 1998
Andrea Zittel

Andrea Zittel
A-Z Aggregated Stacks, 2010
Cardboard, plaster gauze

Andrea Zittel
A-Z Aggregated Stacks, 2010
Andrea Zittel

Andrea Zittel
The Flat Field Work
Installation view, Middelheim Museum, Antwerp, June 13–September 27, 2015
Photo: Simon Vogel

Andrea Zittel
The Flat Field Work
Installation view, Middelheim Museum, Antwerp, June 13–September 27, 2015
Andrea Zittel
Andrea Zittel

Andrea Zittel
The Flat Field Work
Installation view, Middelheim Museum, Antwerp, June 13–September 27, 2015
Photo: Simon Vogel

Andrea Zittel
The Flat Field Work
Installation view, Middelheim Museum, Antwerp, June 13–September 27, 2015
Andrea Zittel
Andrea Zittel

Andrea Zittel
The Flat Field Work
Installation view, Middelheim Museum, Antwerp, June 13–September 27, 2015
Photo: Simon Vogel

Andrea Zittel
The Flat Field Work
Installation view, Middelheim Museum, Antwerp, June 13–September 27, 2015
Andrea Zittel

Andrea Zittel
Parallel Planar Panel (dark grey, light grey, white, off-white, rust, black), 2015
Weaving, aluminium, lacquer
148 × 178 cm
58 1/4 × 70 inches

Andrea Zittel
Parallel Planar Panel (dark grey, light grey, white, off-white, rust, black), 2015
Andrea Zittel
Andrea Zittel

Andrea Zittel
Parallel Planar Panel (dark grey, light grey, white, off-white, rust, black), 2015 (detail)

Andrea Zittel
Parallel Planar Panel (dark grey, light grey, white, off-white, rust, black), 2015
Andrea Zittel
Andrea Zittel

Andrea Zittel
Parallel Planar Panel (dark grey, light grey, white, off-white, rust, black), 2015 (detail)

Andrea Zittel
Parallel Planar Panel (dark grey, light grey, white, off-white, rust, black), 2015
Andrea Zittel

Andrea Zittel
Untitled, 2019 (detail)

Andrea Zittel
Untitled, 2019
Andrea Zittel

Andrea Zittel
Planar Pavilions at A-Z West, 2017
Cement blocks, paint
Dimensions variable

Andrea Zittel
Planar Pavilions at A-Z West, 2017
Andrea Zittel
Andrea Zittel

Andrea Zittel

Planar Pavilions at A-Z West, 2017 (detail)

Andrea Zittel


Planar Pavilions at A-Z West, 2017
Andrea Zittel
Andrea Zittel

Andrea Zittel
Planar Pavilions at A-Z West, 2017 (detail)

Andrea Zittel
Planar Pavilions at A-Z West, 2017
Andrea Zittel
Andrea Zittel

Andrea Zittel

Planar Pavilions at A-Z West, 2017 (detail)

Andrea Zittel


Planar Pavilions at A-Z West, 2017
Andrea Zittel
Andrea Zittel

Andrea Zittel

Planar Pavilions at A-Z West, 2017 (detail)

Andrea Zittel


Planar Pavilions at A-Z West, 2017
Details
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Exhibitions at Sprüth Magers
Andrea Zittel

Mondi Possibili
Henni Alftan, John Baldessari, Cao Fei, Thomas Demand, Thea Djordjadze, Lucy Dodd, Robert Elfgen, Peter Fischli David Weiss, Sylvie Fleury, Jenny Holzer, Donald Judd, Karen Kilimnik, Barbara Kruger, Louise Lawler, David Ostrowski, Michail Pirgelis, Sterling Ruby, Thomas Scheibitz, Andreas Schulze, Hyun-Sook Song, Robert Therrien, Rosemarie Trockel, Kaari Upson, Andrea Zittel
August 31–September 14, 2023
Seoul

Mondi Possibili highlights the interplay between art and design and explores the many ways in which experimentation with material, technique and scale can reveal the hidden narratives, quiet drama and humor in the everyday items that furnish our lives as well as our imaginations. Connected through a paradigm of the possible, all artworks on show examine familiar objects – citing, celebrating, adapting or appropriating them – offering surprising, playful or unsettling approaches that open up a range of “possible worlds.” This will be the fourth edition of Sprüth Magers’ Mondi Possibili – first titled by Pasquale Leccese – showcasing significant themes in the selected artists’ works as well as the gallery’s longstanding heritage. Its three previous iterations were presented in 1989, 2006 and 2007 in Cologne, where the gallery’s history is firmly rooted, and art and design have intersected for many decades.

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Andrea Zittel
Andrea Zittel: A-Z West Works
Pop-up Store
November 6–December 18, 2021
Berlin

Sprüth Magers is delighted to announce Andrea Zittel: A-Z West Works, a pop-up store at Sprüth Magers Window in Berlin, presenting handmade ceramic bowls and hand-woven textiles produced by her studio A-Z West in the Californian desert next to Joshua Tree National Park. Each object is one of a kind. Since 2000, A-Z West has functioned as the artist’s home and testing ground where physical works are created and lived with as an experiment in “investigative living.”

Dates and opening times:
November 27th, 11:00–6:00pm
December 4th, 11:00–6:00pm
December 11th, 11:00–6:00pm

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Andrea Zittel
Andrea Zittel

Andrea Zittel
Works on Paper
November 27, 2020–February 13, 2021
Berlin

Monika Sprüth and Philomene Magers are pleased to announce the Berlin exhibition Works on Paper by American artist Andrea Zittel, presenting 26 new drawings that all hinge, in one way or another, on planar structures. Planar panels are flat rectangular elements that form the building blocks of so much of the reality that we construct around ourselves, from benches to bed frames to walkways. Zittel's artistic work regularly traverses the boundaries between art and architecture, and here reflects upon the planes and panels that exist in both our literal and psychological fields of reality.

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Andrea Zittel
Parallel Planar Panels
November 3, 2015–January 16, 2016
Berlin

Over the last 25 years I have developed a practice in which spaces, objects, and acts of living all intertwine within a single ongoing investigation into what it means to exist and participate in our culture today. 'How to live?' and 'what gives life meaning?' are core issues in both my personal life and my artistic practice. Answering these questions has often entailed the examination of social norms, values, hierarchies and categories, which are all highly articulated human constructions that are oddly meaningful and somewhat arbitrary at the same time.

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Andrea Zittel
Andrea Zittel

Andrea Zittel
Pattern of Habit
June 8–September 10, 2011
Berlin

’For the last twenty years my work in one way or another has examined how psychological structures, thought systems and beliefs are manifested as physical objects in the world that we create around ourselves. Most recently this research has focused on the patterns and systems that are bound to habits, schedules and rules. For instance, I live in the desert where there all of my day to day necessities are ordered on-line, and delivered to my doorstep – a never ending stream of products, each carefully packed in its own cardboard box. After I unpack it’s contents I eye the box thinking that it is a shame to throw out such a perfect vehicle – especially if it has special proportions or clearly crisp edges and corners. Soon I found myself stacking the boxes up along an empty wall, eventually devising a way to cement this irregular structure together into an integrated unit that reflects a pattern of my own life through consumption.’ Andrea Zittel, May 2011

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Andrea Zittel
Smockshop London
September 19–October 3, 2009
London

The Smockshop is a continuation of Andrea Zittel’s long-standing aesthetic investigation into the daily routines and functional experiences of everyday life. Founded in Los Angeles in 2007, this artistic and economic ‘pop up’ experiment appeared in galleries, stores, and non-profit venues across North American before making its European debut at Sprüth Magers Berlin in February of 2009. A profit-making enterprise with social awareness, the Smockshop generates income for non-commercial artists who are not yet self-sustaining.

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Andrea Zittel
Andrea Zittel

Andrea Zittel
Smockshop Berlin
February 18–April 18, 2009
Berlin

This is the first time the Smockshop (www.smockshop.org) has set up its stall outside North America, and it is also scheduled to be the last time it opens for business at all, making this a unique opportunity to experience Zittel’s artistic and economic experiment. Two artisans will work in the gallery for the first four days of the exhibition making the smocks that are available for purchase right after their production. The works will be then on view in the gallery throughout the whole exhibition period. The double wrap-around garments designed by Zittel collectively represent an aesthetically diverse yet functionally uniform body of work. Extending Zittel’s longstanding interest in the form and function of everyday life, the smocks develop a modernist tradition of clothing design and manufacture, extending back to the Russian avant-garde, which emphasises utility and economy, and inclines towards an alternative experience of clothing to the prevailing discourse of fashion.

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Andrea Zittel
A-Z Uniform Series 1991–2002
May 15–June 28, 2003
Munich

"Most of us to own a favorite garment that makes us look and feel good, but social etiquette dictates that we wear a different change of clothes every day. Sometimes this multitude of options can actually feel more restrictive that a self-imposed constant. Because I was tired of the tyranny of constant variety, I began a six-month uniform project. Starting in 1991, I would design and made one perfect dress for each season, and would then to wear that dress every day for six months. Although utilitarian in principle, I often found that there was often a strong element of fantasy or emotional need invested in each season's design. The experiment as a whole worked quite well, especially since dreaming up the next season's design helped relieve any monotony that might have occurred from wearing the same dress every day." –Andrea Zittel

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Andrea Zittel
Andrea Zittel

20th Anniversary Show
John Baldessari, Alighiero Boetti, George Condo, Walter Dahn, Thomas Demand, Thea Djordjadze, Peter Fischli David Weiss, Sylvie Fleury, Andreas Gursky, Jenny Holzer, Gary Hume, Axel Kasseböhmer, Karen Kilimnik, Astrid Klein, Barbara Kruger, Louise Lawler, Jean-Luc Mylayne, Nina Pohl, Richard Prince, Ed Ruscha, Frances Scholz, Andreas Schulze, Cindy Sherman, Rosemarie Trockel, Andrea Zittel, Philip-Lorca diCorcia
April 25–October 18, 2003
Cologne

In 1983, Monika Sprüth opened her Cologne based gallery with a solo show by Andreas Schulze. Starting from the idea to establish a forum for young and unknown artists, the central focus of the gallery concept was developed in the discourse of the 80s. The gallery program was completed by recourses to artistic attitudes of the last 40 years. This research, motivated by reflection on contemporary art history, was more and more realized in cooperation with Philomene Magers who directed her Bonn gallery since 1992. After a few years of loose cooperation, Monika Sprüth Gallery and Philomene Magers Gallery aligned with each other after, and together the Monika Sprüth / Philomene Magers Gallery opened up in Munich in 1999.

Press

Wie Wollen Wir Leben?
Architectural Digest, no 217, article by Gesine Borcherdt, March 2021

Starkes Doppel
taz Die Tageszeitung, review by Sabine Weier, December 8, 2020

Andrea Zittel
Tique, Artist feature, August 2020

What Do You Really Need? In the California Desert, Artist Andrea Zittel Reconsiders How We Live
Vogue, article by Nich Mcelroy, April 10, 2020

Wie leben?
Süddeutsche Zeitung, article by Catrin Lorch, March 15, 2019

Invitation at Desert’s Edge
Openhouse, article by Forde Visser, 2019

Artist Andrea Zittel in Her Element
Cultured, article by Jonathan Griffin, July 7, 2017

Sight and Insight in the California Desert
T Magazine, The New York Times, article by Kate Bolick, October 30, 2017

Andrea Zittel
Apartamento, interview by Alix Browne, Autumn/Winter  2016/2017

Portfolio: Andrea Zittel
Modern Painters, article by Thea Ballard, January 2016

The Flat Field Works
Domus, article by Simon Vogel, July 25, 2015

Dreambuilding in the American West
The Gentlewoman, article by Cristina Ruiz, 2015

Biography

Andrea Zittel (*1965, Escondido, CA), lives and works in the Californian Mojave Desert near Joshua Tree. Her work has been presented in numerous solo exhibitions internationally, including Kunstmuseum Krefeld (2022), Miller ICA Carnegie Mellon University, Purnell Center for the Arts, Pittsburgh (2020), Kunsthall Stavanger (2018), Palm Springs Art Museum, Architecture and Design Center, Palm Springs, CA (2017), Middelheim Museum, Antwerp (2015), Nevada Museum of Art, Reno, NV (2014), Baltic Center for Contemporary Art, Gateshead (2012), Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, IN (2010), Schaulager Basel (2008), Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, TX; New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York; The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; Vancouver Art Gallery (all 2005), Deichtorhallen, Hamburg (1999), Neue Galerie am Landesmuseum Johanneum, Graz (1997), Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebaek (1996), and San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (1995). Major group exhibitions include Ludwig Múzeum, Budapest (2022), National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul (2021), Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich (2020), 16th Istanbul Biennial (2019), Museum of Art and Design, New York (2015), Kunsthalle Bielefeld (2013), San Francisco Museum of Craft and Design (2010), the Whitney Biennial, New York (2004, 1995), Documenta X in Kassel (1997), Skulptur Projekte Münster, Muenster (1997), and 45th Venice Biennale (1993), among many others.

Education
1990 MFA Sculpture, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI
1988 BFA Painting/Sculpture (Honors), San Diego State University, San Diego, CA
Awards, Grants and Fellowships
2016 GSA Design Awards, Citation in Art
2012 Frederick Kiesler Prize for Architecture and the Arts
2007 AICA Award Best Architecture or Design Show
2006 College Art Association Distinguished Body of Work Award
2005 Lucelia Artist Award (Smithsonian American Art Museum)
1999 Alfried Krupp von Bohlen and Halbach Foundation catalogue support prize, Zurich
1997 Oribe Award
1996 Coutts Contemporary Art Foundation Award, Zurich
1995 Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD Grant), Berlin
1990 Award of Excellence, Rhode Island School of Design
1989 Award of Excellence, Rhode Island School of Design
1988 Distinction in Art, San Diego State University
Paricia Clapp Scholarship in Fine Art
1986 Elizabeth Kraft Scholarship in Sculpture
Curatorial Projects (selected)
2020 High Desert Test Sites 2020 (HDTS 2020), The Guests of the Hotel Palenque, Joshua Tree, CA, April 18–May 10, 2020 (interrupted by COVID-19)
2013 High Desert Test Sites 2013 (HDTS 2013), Joshua Tree, CA, October 12–19, 2013
2011 High Desert Test Sites 2011 (HDTS 2011), Joshua Tree, CA, October 15–16, 2011
Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York, NY, Gallery 2: Lior Shvil, Operation OZ Belev-Yam, May 5–June 11, 2011
2008 High Desert Test Sites CB08 (HDTS CB08), Joshua Tree, CA, November 7–9, 2008
2007 High Desert Test Sites 2007 (HDTS 2007), Joshua Tree, CA, May 12–13, 2007
2006 High Desert Test Sites 5 (HDTS 5), Joshua Tree, CA, May 6–7, 2006
2004 High Desert Test Sites 4 (HDTS4), Joshua Tree, CA, October 23–24, 2004
2003 High Desert Test Sites 3 (HDTS3), Joshua Tree, CA, October 25–26, 2003
High Desert Test Sites 2 (HDTS2), Joshua Tree, CA, May 23–24, 2003
2002 High Desert Test Sites, Joshua Tree, CA, November 23–24, 2002
1993 Artist Select: Part I, Artist Space, New York, NY, November 20, 1993–January 15, 1994
Public Collections
Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, MA
Albright Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY
Amorepacific Museum of Art, Seoul, KOR
CAPC musée d’art contemporain de Bordeaux
Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College, Annandale-On-Hudson, NY
Cincinatti Art Museum, OH
Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, New York
Daimler Contemporary, Stuttgart
Fondazione Prada, Milan
FRAC Nord – Pas de Calais, Dunkerque
Grazer Kunstverein, Graz
Hammer Museum, Los Angeles
Israel Museum, Jerusalem
Jumex Collection, Mexico City
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles
Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebæk
Magasin 3, Stockholm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Milwaukee Art Museum
Moderna Museet, Stockholm
Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago
Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego
Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
Museum of Modern Art, New York
National Gallery of Australia, Parkes Australian Capital Territory
Nevada Museum of Art, Reno
Palm Springs Art Museum
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
Sammlung Goetz, Munich
Schaulager, Münchenstein
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
Tate Modern, London
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York