Video production: Carolin Röckelein/Soundtrack and voiceover: Erin Lang
Andrea Zittel’s artistic work regularly traverses the boundaries between art and architecture. This exhibition of Works on Paper draws our attention to the planes and panels that exist in both our literal and psychological fields of reality.
Andrea Zittel
Works on Paper
Installation view, Sprüth Magers, Berlin, November 27, 2020–February 13, 2021
Photo: Timo Ohler
Andrea Zittel
Works on Paper
Installation view, Sprüth Magers, Berlin, November 27, 2020–February 13, 2021
Photo: Timo Ohler
Andrea Zittel
Works on Paper
Installation view, Sprüth Magers, Berlin, November 27, 2020–February 13, 2021
Photo: Timo Ohler
Andrea Zittel
Works on Paper
Installation view, Sprüth Magers, Berlin, November 27, 2020–February 13, 2021
Photo: Timo Ohler
Andrea Zittel
Works on Paper
Installation view, Sprüth Magers, Berlin, November 27, 2020–February 13, 2021
Photo: Timo Ohler
Andrea Zittel
Works on Paper
Installation view, Sprüth Magers, Berlin, November 27, 2020–February 13, 2021
Photo: Timo Ohler
Andrea Zittel
Works on Paper
Installation view, Sprüth Magers, Berlin, November 27, 2020–February 13, 2021
Photo: Timo Ohler
Andrea Zittel
Works on Paper
Installation view, Sprüth Magers, Berlin, November 27, 2020–February 13, 2021
Photo: Timo Ohler
Andrea Zittel
Works on Paper
Installation view, Sprüth Magers, Berlin, November 27, 2020–February 13, 2021
Photo: Timo Ohler
Andrea Zittel
Works on Paper
Installation view, Sprüth Magers, Berlin, November 27, 2020–February 13, 2021
Photo: Timo Ohler
Andrea Zittel
Works on Paper
Installation view, Sprüth Magers, Berlin, November 27, 2020–February 13, 2021
Photo: Timo Ohler
Andrea Zittel
Works on Paper
Installation view, Sprüth Magers, Berlin, November 27, 2020–February 13, 2021
Photo: Timo Ohler
Andrea Zittel
Works on Paper
Installation view, Sprüth Magers, Berlin, November 27, 2020–February 13, 2021
Photo: Timo Ohler
Andrea Zittel
Works on Paper
Installation view, Sprüth Magers, Berlin, November 27, 2020–February 13, 2021
Photo: Timo Ohler
Andrea Zittel
Works on Paper
Installation view, Sprüth Magers, Berlin, November 27, 2020–February 13, 2021
Photo: Timo Ohler
Andrea Zittel
Works on Paper
Installation view, Sprüth Magers, Berlin, November 27, 2020–February 13, 2021
Photo: Timo Ohler
Andrea Zittel
Works on Paper
Installation view, Sprüth Magers, Berlin, November 27, 2020–February 13, 2021
Photo: Timo Ohler
Andrea Zittel
Works on Paper
Installation view, Sprüth Magers, Berlin, November 27, 2020–February 13, 2021
Photo: Timo Ohler
Andrea Zittel
Works on Paper
Installation view, Sprüth Magers, Berlin, November 27, 2020–February 13, 2021
Photo: Timo Ohler
Andrea Zittel
Works on Paper
Installation view, Sprüth Magers, Berlin, November 27, 2020–February 13, 2021
Photo: Timo Ohler
Andrea Zittel
Works on Paper
Installation view, Sprüth Magers, Berlin, November 27, 2020–February 13, 2021
Photo: Timo Ohler
Andrea Zittel
Works on Paper
Installation view, Sprüth Magers, Berlin, November 27, 2020–February 13, 2021
Photo: Timo Ohler
Andrea Zittel
Works on Paper
Installation view, Sprüth Magers, Berlin, November 27, 2020–February 13, 2021
Photo: Timo Ohler
Andrea Zittel
Works on Paper
Installation view, Sprüth Magers, Berlin, November 27, 2020–February 13, 2021
Photo: Timo Ohler
Andrea Zittel
Works on Paper
Installation view, Sprüth Magers, Berlin, November 27, 2020–February 13, 2021
Photo: Timo Ohler
Andrea Zittel
Works on Paper
Installation view, Sprüth Magers, Berlin, November 27, 2020–February 13, 2021
Photo: Timo Ohler
Andrea Zittel
Works on Paper
Installation view, Sprüth Magers, Berlin, November 27, 2020–February 13, 2021
Photo: Timo Ohler
Works on Paper presents 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. It is part of Zittel's working method to organize her work into groups. As the titles of the drawing series suggest: these works are very closely related to the (eponymous) three-dimensional group. In previous exhibitions and publications, these planar drawings were used as explanations for Zittel’s sculptural work, as background material rather than stand apart works. In the early years of her work in the 1990s, these studies served as drafts which would later illustrate the applications or presentation of sculptures and objects.
“Although my primary practice is integrated with sculpture and with life itself, crafting an image of an idea is something that has a history within my life as well as my repertoire— these images are evidence of the importance of this parallel aspect of my practice.” –Andrea Zittel
This new series represents a medium of reflection, a subtext by means of which Zittel advances her artistic practice. Such a function for drawings is by no means unusual in the work of an artist, especially a sculptor. In Zittel's case, however, it is not a matter of drawings, sketches, or notes in which an idea is developed or a project drafted but evolved images in which the ideas and projects are presented as already realized and can be imagined as such.
Andrea Zittel
Study for Planar Configuration Variant #10, 2019
Watercolor and gouache on paper
57.5 × 76.2 cm
22 5/8 × 30 inches
74 × 94.3 cm (framed)
29 1/8 × 37 1/8 inches (framed)
Andrea Zittel
Study for Planar Configuration Variant #10, 2019
Watercolor and gouache on paper
57.5 × 76.2 cm
22 5/8 × 30 inches
74 × 94.3 cm (framed)
29 1/8 × 37 1/8 inches (framed)
Andrea Zittel
Study for Planar Configuration Variant #10, 2019
Watercolor and gouache on paper
57.5 × 76.2 cm
22 5/8 × 30 inches
74 × 94.3 cm (framed)
29 1/8 × 37 1/8 inches (framed)
This new series represents a medium of reflection, a subtext by means of which Zittel advances her artistic practice. Such a function for drawings is by no means unusual in the work of an artist, especially a sculptor. In Zittel's case, however, it is not a matter of drawings, sketches, or notes in which an idea is developed or a project drafted but evolved images in which the ideas and projects are presented as already realized and can be imagined as such.
Horizontal panels naturally function as platforms for actions and behaviour. They create sites where life happens (e.g. floors, tables, benches, fields, streets). Vertical panels, in turn, privilege the eye and are the carriers of messages and ideologies (e.g. walls, screens, paintings, billboards). Rigid or flexible, these panels can provide shelter or divide space into particular zones of purpose or meaning; their function is assigned rather than inherent.
Andrea Zittel
Study for Cellular Grid #6, 2019
Watercolor and gouache on paper
57.5 × 76.2 cm
22 5/8 × 30 inches
74 × 94.3 cm (framed)
29 1/8 × 37 1/8 inches (framed)
Andrea Zittel
Study for Cellular Grid #4, 2019
Watercolor and gouache on paper
57.5 × 76.2 cm
22 5/8 × 30 inches
74 × 94.3 cm (framed)
29 1/8 × 37 1/8 inches (framed)
Study for Cellular Grid #6, 2019 shows low planar walls used to create a gridwork of compartments that demarcate human-sized, cell-like spaces evoking an office cubicle, private bedroom, or even a cemetery plot. The work points to the way in which space, and its delineation, can be used as a medium for control and alienation while simultaneously a source of security, privacy and individualism.
Andrea Zittel
Study for Cellular Grid #6, 2019
Watercolor and gouache on paper
57.5 × 76.2 cm
22 5/8 × 30 inches
74 × 94.3 cm (framed)
29 1/8 × 37 1/8 inches (framed)
Andrea Zittel
Study for Cellular Grid #6, 2019
Watercolor and gouache on paper
57.5 × 76.2 cm
22 5/8 × 30 inches
74 × 94.3 cm (framed)
29 1/8 × 37 1/8 inches (framed)
Andrea Zittel
Study for Cellular Grid #4, 2019
Watercolor and gouache on paper
57.5 × 76.2 cm
22 5/8 × 30 inches
74 × 94.3 cm (framed)
29 1/8 × 37 1/8 inches (framed)
Andrea Zittel
Study for Cellular Grid #4, 2019
Watercolor and gouache on paper
57.5 × 76.2 cm
22 5/8 × 30 inches
74 × 94.3 cm (framed)
29 1/8 × 37 1/8 inches (framed)
Study for Cellular Grid #6, 2019 shows low planar walls used to create a gridwork of compartments that demarcate human-sized, cell-like spaces evoking an office cubicle, private bedroom, or even a cemetery plot. The work points to the way in which space, and its delineation, can be used as a medium for control and alienation while simultaneously a source of security, privacy and individualism.
The structure underlying the work Study for Cellular Grid #6 can be found in the three-dimensional work Personal Plots, 2019, an outdoor sculpture Zittel created for the Istanbul Biennial 2019. This horizontal sculpture whose concrete grid of roughly grave-size rectangles is filled with black, gray, and yellow pebbles, and was presented in a public square near the harbour.
Andrea Zittel
Personal Plots, 2019
Concrete block, plaster, paint and gravel
1610.4 × 1099.8 × 45.7 cm
634 × 433 × 18 inches
Photo: Buyukada Onur Dogman
Andrea Zittel
Personal Plots, 2019
Concrete block, plaster, paint and gravel
1610.4 × 1099.8 × 45.7 cm
634 × 433 × 18 inches
Photo: Buyukada Onur Dogman
Andrea Zittel
Personal Plots, 2019
Concrete block, plaster, paint and gravel
1610.4 × 1099.8 × 45.7 cm
634 × 433 × 18 inches
Photo: Buyukada Onur Dogman
Andrea Zittel
Personal Plots, 2019
Concrete block, plaster, paint and gravel
1610.4 × 1099.8 × 45.7 cm
634 × 433 × 18 inches
Photo: Buyukada Onur Dogman
Andrea Zittel
Personal Plots, 2019
Concrete block, plaster, paint and gravel
1610.4 × 1099.8 × 45.7 cm
634 × 433 × 18 inches
Photo: Buyukada Onur Dogman
Andrea Zittel
Personal Plots, 2019
Concrete block, plaster, paint and gravel
1610.4 × 1099.8 × 45.7 cm
634 × 433 × 18 inches
Photo: Buyukada Onur Dogman
Andrea Zittel
Personal Plots, 2019
Concrete block, plaster, paint and gravel
1610.4 × 1099.8 × 45.7 cm
634 × 433 × 18 inches
Photo: Buyukada Onur Dogman
Andrea Zittel
Personal Plots, 2019
Concrete block, plaster, paint and gravel
1610.4 × 1099.8 × 45.7 cm
634 × 433 × 18 inches
Photo: Buyukada Onur Dogman
Andrea Zittel
Personal Plots, 2019
Concrete block, plaster, paint and gravel
1610.4 × 1099.8 × 45.7 cm
634 × 433 × 18 inches
Photo: Buyukada Onur Dogman
Andrea Zittel
Personal Plots, 2019
Concrete block, plaster, paint and gravel
1610.4 × 1099.8 × 45.7 cm
634 × 433 × 18 inches
Photo: Buyukada Onur Dogman
Andrea Zittel
Personal Plots, 2019
Concrete block, plaster, paint and gravel
1610.4 × 1099.8 × 45.7 cm
634 × 433 × 18 inches
Photo: Buyukada Onur Dogman
Andrea Zittel
Personal Plots, 2019
Concrete block, plaster, paint and gravel
1610.4 × 1099.8 × 45.7 cm
634 × 433 × 18 inches
Photo: Buyukada Onur Dogman
The structure underlying the work Study for Cellular Grid #6 can be found in the three-dimensional work Personal Plots, 2019, an outdoor sculpture Zittel created for the Istanbul Biennial 2019. This horizontal sculpture whose concrete grid of roughly grave-size rectangles is filled with black, gray, and yellow pebbles, and was presented in a public square near the harbour.
Andrea Zittel
Planar Studies: Vast and Specific #3, 2020
Watercolor and gouache on paper
58.4 × 76.2 cm
23 × 30 inches
74 × 94.3 cm (framed)
29 1/8 × 37 1/8 inches (framed)
Andrea Zittel
Planar Studies: Vast and Specific #4, 2020
Watercolor and gouache on paper
58.4 × 76.2 cm
23 × 30 inches
74 × 94.3 cm (framed)
29 1/8 × 37 1/8 inches (framed)
Andrea Zittel
Planar Studies: Vast and Specific #6, 2020
Watercolor and gouache on paper
58.4 × 76.2 cm
23 × 30 inches
74 × 94.3 cm (framed)
29 1/8 × 37 1/8 inches (framed)
Andrea Zittel
Planar Studies: Vast and Specific #7, 2020
Watercolor and gouache on paper
58.4 × 76.2 cm
23 × 30 inches
74 × 94.3 cm (framed)
29 1/8 × 37 1/8 inches (framed)
Andrea Zittel
Planar Studies: Vast and Specific #8, 2020
Watercolor and gouache on paper
58.4 × 76.2 cm
23 × 30 inches
74 × 94.3 cm (framed)
29 1/8 × 37 1/8 inches (framed)
Another recent series Planar Panel Studies: Vast and Specific, 2020 depicts planar shapes which are lifted from print design, architecture, and outdoor signage and then superimposed on loosely painted watercolor landscapes. The rectangle, while almost totally absent in nature, has become the most ubiquitous shape not only within human manufacturing and standardization, but also for human organization and imagination.
Andrea Zittel
Planar Studies: Vast and Specific #3, 2020
Watercolor and gouache on paper
58.4 × 76.2 cm
23 × 30 inches
74 × 94.3 cm (framed)
29 1/8 × 37 1/8 inches (framed)
Andrea Zittel
Planar Studies: Vast and Specific #3, 2020
Watercolor and gouache on paper
58.4 × 76.2 cm
23 × 30 inches
74 × 94.3 cm (framed)
29 1/8 × 37 1/8 inches (framed)
Andrea Zittel
Planar Studies: Vast and Specific #4, 2020
Watercolor and gouache on paper
58.4 × 76.2 cm
23 × 30 inches
74 × 94.3 cm (framed)
29 1/8 × 37 1/8 inches (framed)
Andrea Zittel
Planar Studies: Vast and Specific #4, 2020
Watercolor and gouache on paper
58.4 × 76.2 cm
23 × 30 inches
74 × 94.3 cm (framed)
29 1/8 × 37 1/8 inches (framed)
Andrea Zittel
Planar Studies: Vast and Specific #6, 2020
Watercolor and gouache on paper
58.4 × 76.2 cm
23 × 30 inches
74 × 94.3 cm (framed)
29 1/8 × 37 1/8 inches (framed)
Andrea Zittel
Planar Studies: Vast and Specific #6, 2020
Watercolor and gouache on paper
58.4 × 76.2 cm
23 × 30 inches
74 × 94.3 cm (framed)
29 1/8 × 37 1/8 inches (framed)
Andrea Zittel
Planar Studies: Vast and Specific #7, 2020
Watercolor and gouache on paper
58.4 × 76.2 cm
23 × 30 inches
74 × 94.3 cm (framed)
29 1/8 × 37 1/8 inches (framed)
Andrea Zittel
Planar Studies: Vast and Specific #7, 2020
Watercolor and gouache on paper
58.4 × 76.2 cm
23 × 30 inches
74 × 94.3 cm (framed)
29 1/8 × 37 1/8 inches (framed)
Andrea Zittel
Planar Studies: Vast and Specific #8, 2020
Watercolor and gouache on paper
58.4 × 76.2 cm
23 × 30 inches
74 × 94.3 cm (framed)
29 1/8 × 37 1/8 inches (framed)
Andrea Zittel
Planar Studies: Vast and Specific #8, 2020
Watercolor and gouache on paper
58.4 × 76.2 cm
23 × 30 inches
74 × 94.3 cm (framed)
29 1/8 × 37 1/8 inches (framed)
Another recent series Planar Panel Studies: Vast and Specific, 2020 depicts planar shapes which are lifted from print design, architecture, and outdoor signage and then superimposed on loosely painted watercolor landscapes. The rectangle, while almost totally absent in nature, has become the most ubiquitous shape not only within human manufacturing and standardization, but also for human organization and imagination.
By imagining a flat floor plan like the gouache silhouettes, one can visualise a form like the Planar Pavilions at A-Z West, 2017. Once obscurely depicted in the gouaches, one can see the black one-dimensional rectangular form placed horizontally and transposed into the natural landscape.
Andrea Zittel
Planar Pavilions at A-Z West, 2017
Cement blocks, paint
Dimensions variable
Photo: Sarah Lyon
Andrea Zittel
Planar Pavilions at A-Z West, 2017
Cement blocks, paint
Dimensions variable
Photo: Sarah Lyon
Andrea Zittel
Planar Pavilions at A-Z West, 2017
Cement blocks, paint
Dimensions variable
Photo: Sarah Lyon
Andrea Zittel
Planar Pavilions at A-Z West, 2017
Cement blocks, paint
Dimensions variable
Photo: Sarah Lyon
Andrea Zittel
Planar Pavilions at A-Z West, 2017
Cement blocks, paint
Dimensions variable
Photo: Sarah Lyon
Andrea Zittel
Planar Pavilions at A-Z West, 2017
Cement blocks, paint
Dimensions variable
Photo: Sarah Lyon
Andrea Zittel
Planar Pavilions at A-Z West, 2017
Cement blocks, paint
Dimensions variable
Photo: Sarah Lyon
Andrea Zittel
Planar Pavilions at A-Z West, 2017
Cement blocks, paint
Dimensions variable
Photo: Sarah Lyon
Andrea Zittel
Planar Pavilions at A-Z West, 2017
Cement blocks, paint
Dimensions variable
Photo: Sarah Lyon
Andrea Zittel
Planar Pavilions at A-Z West, 2017
Cement blocks, paint
Dimensions variable
Photo: Sarah Lyon
Andrea Zittel
Planar Pavilions at A-Z West, 2017
Cement blocks, paint
Dimensions variable
Photo: Sarah Lyon
Andrea Zittel
Planar Pavilions at A-Z West, 2017
Cement blocks, paint
Dimensions variable
Photo: Sarah Lyon
Andrea Zittel
Planar Pavilions at A-Z West, 2017
Cement blocks, paint
Dimensions variable
Photo: Sarah Lyon
Andrea Zittel
Planar Pavilions at A-Z West, 2017
Cement blocks, paint
Dimensions variable
Photo: Sarah Lyon
Andrea Zittel
Planar Pavilions at A-Z West, 2017
Cement blocks, paint
Dimensions variable
Photo: Sarah Lyon
Planar Pavilions at A-Z West is a permanent public work installed on the land between Zittel’s residence and the adjacent highway. Ten Planar Pavilions are scattered across an area of about eleven acres. Each pavilion consists of a series of vertical planes that function as walls, boundaries, and divisions. These planes frame the surrounding landscape, isolate the inside from outside, and provide physical and psychological forms of shelter. As the desert becomes increasingly developed, the pavilions function similarly to ruins, or structures still in a state of construction, as an interstitial zone that is neither fully domesticated nor completely wild. In this instance the structures function both as architecture and as an extension of the landscape itself.
The series Study for Planar Configuration Variant consists of working drawings for Planar Configurations. Planar Configurations are sculptural works that are both functional living environments and psychological spaces of separation, privacy and retreat.
Andrea Zittel
Study for Planar Configuration Variant #8, 2019
Watercolor and gouache on paper
76.2 × 57.5 cm
30 × 22 5/8 inches
94.3 × 74 cm (framed)
37 1/8 × 29 1/8 inches (framed)
Andrea Zittel
Study for Planar Configuration Variant #7, 2019
Watercolor and gouache on paper
57.5 × 76.2 cm
22 5/8 × 30 inches
74 × 94.3 cm (framed)
29 1/8 × 37 1/8 inches (framed)
Andrea Zittel
Study for Planar Configuration Variant #10, 2019
Watercolor and gouache on paper
76.2 × 57.5 cm
30 × 22 5/8 inches
94.3 × 74 cm (framed)
37 1/8 × 29 1/8 inches (framed)
Andrea Zittel
Study for Planar Configuration Variant #8, 2019
Watercolor and gouache on paper
76.2 × 57.5 cm
30 × 22 5/8 inches
94.3 × 74 cm (framed)
37 1/8 × 29 1/8 inches (framed)
Andrea Zittel
Study for Planar Configuration Variant #8, 2019
Watercolor and gouache on paper
76.2 × 57.5 cm
30 × 22 5/8 inches
94.3 × 74 cm (framed)
37 1/8 × 29 1/8 inches (framed)
Andrea Zittel
Study for Planar Configuration Variant #7, 2019
Watercolor and gouache on paper
57.5 × 76.2 cm
22 5/8 × 30 inches
74 × 94.3 cm (framed)
29 1/8 × 37 1/8 inches (framed)
Andrea Zittel
Study for Planar Configuration Variant #7, 2019
Watercolor and gouache on paper
57.5 × 76.2 cm
22 5/8 × 30 inches
74 × 94.3 cm (framed)
29 1/8 × 37 1/8 inches (framed)
Andrea Zittel
Study for Planar Configuration Variant #10, 2019
Watercolor and gouache on paper
76.2 × 57.5 cm
30 × 22 5/8 inches
94.3 × 74 cm (framed)
37 1/8 × 29 1/8 inches (framed)
Andrea Zittel
Study for Planar Configuration Variant #10, 2019
Watercolor and gouache on paper
76.2 × 57.5 cm
30 × 22 5/8 inches
94.3 × 74 cm (framed)
37 1/8 × 29 1/8 inches (framed)
The series Study for Planar Configuration Variant consists of working drawings for Planar Configurations. Planar Configurations are sculptural works that are both functional living environments and psychological spaces of separation, privacy and retreat.
Planar Pavilions, 2014
Permanent installation at Denver Federal Center
Photo: David Lauer
Planar Pavilions, 2014
Permanent installation at Denver Federal Center
Photo: David Lauer
Planar Pavilions, 2014
Permanent installation at Denver Federal Center
Photo: David Lauer
Planar Pavilions, 2014
Permanent installation at Denver Federal Center
Photo: David Lauer
Planar Pavilions, 2014
Permanent installation at Denver Federal Center
Photo: David Lauer
Planar Pavilions, 2014
Permanent installation at Denver Federal Center
Photo: David Lauer
Planar Pavilions, 2014
Permanent installation at Denver Federal Center
Photo: David Lauer
Planar Pavilions, 2014
Permanent installation at Denver Federal Center
Photo: David Lauer
Planar Pavilions, 2014
Permanent installation at Denver Federal Center
Photo: David Lauer
Planar Pavilions, 2014
Permanent installation at Denver Federal Center
Photo: David Lauer
Planar Pavilions, 2014
Permanent installation at Denver Federal Center
Photo: David Lauer
Planar Pavilions, 2014
Permanent installation at Denver Federal Center
Photo: David Lauer
Planar Pavilions for the Denver Federal Center consists of a series of ten identical platform stations— each station composed of both vertical and horizontal rectangular panels. The stations are installed in an alternating grid across an undulating landscape each facing a different direction so that they generate different spatial and social relationships.
Variegated in texture and color, the pavilions' surfaces function like proverbial "blank canvases" or open-ended and amorphous sites. While interlocking physically, they slip between myriad associations and resonances. As a three- dimensional matrix, the structures echo early 20th-century Constructivist sculpture, interior set design and contemporary construction techniques.
Andrea Zittel
The Flat Field Works
Installation view, Middelheim Museum, Antwerpen, June 13–September 27, 2015
Photo: Simon Vogel
Andrea Zittel
The Flat Field Works
Installation view, Middelheim Museum, Antwerpen, June 13–September 27, 2015
Photo: Simon Vogel
Flat Field Works #2 and #3, created for the Hortiflora area at the Middelheim Museum in Antwerp, exemplifies Zittel's traverse between art and architecture. These works examine the roles and potential of flat "panels", or "fields" in reference to the horizontal and vertical panels that comprise the most basic elements of our domestic and urban environments.
Andrea Zittel
The Flat Field Works
Installation view, Middelheim Museum, Antwerpen, June 13–September 27, 2015
Photo: Simon Vogel
Andrea Zittel
The Flat Field Works
Installation view, Middelheim Museum, Antwerpen, June 13–September 27, 2015
Photo: Simon Vogel
Andrea Zittel
The Flat Field Works
Installation view, Middelheim Museum, Antwerpen, June 13–September 27, 2015
Photo: Simon Vogel
Andrea Zittel
The Flat Field Works
Installation view, Middelheim Museum, Antwerpen, June 13–September 27, 2015
Photo: Simon Vogel
Flat Field Works #2 and #3, created for the Hortiflora area at the Middelheim Museum in Antwerp, exemplifies Zittel's traverse between art and architecture. These works examine the roles and potential of flat "panels", or "fields" in reference to the horizontal and vertical panels that comprise the most basic elements of our domestic and urban environments.
Horizontal and vertical panels made from different materials and colors form units that have both an industrial and a domestic feel. Some parts are in aluminium, while others are in concrete, wood or gravel. One can enter the units and stay there to read a book, study, dream or simply gaze around. Zittel’s interest lies not so much in the architecture of the structures themselves so much as in how they are experienced both physically and psychologically. Why do we attribute the role of ‘seat’ to a horizontal plane at a height of 45 cm, and the role of ‘table’ to a horizontal plane at a height of 75 cm? Does every vertical plane function as a separator or boundary? Why shouldn’t we be allowed to stand on these ‘table planes’ or eat on the ‘seating surface’?
Andrea Zittel
The Flat Field Works
Installation view, Middelheim Museum, Antwerpen, June 13–September 27, 2015
Photo: Simon Vogel
Andrea Zittel
The Flat Field Works
Installation view, Middelheim Museum, Antwerpen, June 13–September 27, 2015
Photo: Simon Vogel
Andrea Zittel
The Flat Field Works
Installation view, Middelheim Museum, Antwerpen, June 13–September 27, 2015
Photo: Simon Vogel
Andrea Zittel
The Flat Field Works
Installation view, Middelheim Museum, Antwerpen, June 13–September 27, 2015
Photo: Simon Vogel
Andrea Zittel
The Flat Field Works
Installation view, Middelheim Museum, Antwerpen, June 13–September 27, 2015
Photo: Simon Vogel
Andrea Zittel
The Flat Field Works
Installation view, Middelheim Museum, Antwerpen, June 13–September 27, 2015
Photo: Simon Vogel
Horizontal and vertical panels made from different materials and colors form units that have both an industrial and a domestic feel. Some parts are in aluminium, while others are in concrete, wood or gravel. One can enter the units and stay there to read a book, study, dream or simply gaze around. Zittel’s interest lies not so much in the architecture of the structures themselves so much as in how they are experienced both physically and psychologically. Why do we attribute the role of ‘seat’ to a horizontal plane at a height of 45 cm, and the role of ‘table’ to a horizontal plane at a height of 75 cm? Does every vertical plane function as a separator or boundary? Why shouldn’t we be allowed to stand on these ‘table planes’ or eat on the ‘seating surface’?
“The minute you put a horizontal surface out in the world, for example, it can’t help but suck life down onto it. This is a big part of my interest in the idea of the panel or plane, which is the crux of the work I’m developing for the Middelheim Museum.” –Andrea Zittel
Andrea Zittel
Panels and Portals #2, 2020
Watercolor and gouache on paper
58.4 × 76.2 cm
23 × 30 inches
74 × 94.3 cm (framed)
29 1/8 × 37 1/8 inches (framed)
Andrea Zittel
Panels and Portals #4, 2020
Watercolor and gouache on paper
58.4 × 76.2 cm
23 × 30 inches
74 × 94.3 cm (framed)
29 1/8 × 37 1/8 inches (framed)
Andrea Zittel
Panels and Portals #5, 2020
Watercolor and gouache on paper
58.4 × 76.2 cm
23 × 30 inches
74 × 94.3 cm (framed)
29 1/8 × 37 1/8 inches (framed)
Andrea Zittel
Panels and Portals #7, 2020
Watercolor and gouache on paper
29.2 × 38.1 cm
11.5 × 15 inches
45.7 × 54.6 cm (framed)
18 × 21 1/2 inches (framed)
Andrea Zittel
Panels and Portals #11, 2020
Watercolor and gouache on paper
29.2 × 38.1 cm
11.5 × 15 inches
45.7 × 54.6 cm (framed)
18 × 21 1/2 inches (framed)
Andrea Zittel
Panels and Portals #2, 2020
Watercolor and gouache on paper
58.4 × 76.2 cm
23 × 30 inches
74 × 94.3 cm (framed)
29 1/8 × 37 1/8 inches (framed)
Andrea Zittel
Panels and Portals #2, 2020
Watercolor and gouache on paper
58.4 × 76.2 cm
23 × 30 inches
74 × 94.3 cm (framed)
29 1/8 × 37 1/8 inches (framed)
Andrea Zittel
Panels and Portals #4, 2020
Watercolor and gouache on paper
58.4 × 76.2 cm
23 × 30 inches
74 × 94.3 cm (framed)
29 1/8 × 37 1/8 inches (framed)
Andrea Zittel
Panels and Portals #4, 2020
Watercolor and gouache on paper
58.4 × 76.2 cm
23 × 30 inches
74 × 94.3 cm (framed)
29 1/8 × 37 1/8 inches (framed)
Andrea Zittel
Panels and Portals #5, 2020
Watercolor and gouache on paper
58.4 × 76.2 cm
23 × 30 inches
74 × 94.3 cm (framed)
29 1/8 × 37 1/8 inches (framed)
Andrea Zittel
Panels and Portals #5, 2020
Watercolor and gouache on paper
58.4 × 76.2 cm
23 × 30 inches
74 × 94.3 cm (framed)
29 1/8 × 37 1/8 inches (framed)
Andrea Zittel
Panels and Portals #7, 2020
Watercolor and gouache on paper
29.2 × 38.1 cm
11.5 × 15 inches
45.7 × 54.6 cm (framed)
18 × 21 1/2 inches (framed)
Andrea Zittel
Panels and Portals #7, 2020
Watercolor and gouache on paper
29.2 × 38.1 cm
11.5 × 15 inches
45.7 × 54.6 cm (framed)
18 × 21 1/2 inches (framed)
Andrea Zittel
Panels and Portals #11, 2020
Watercolor and gouache on paper
29.2 × 38.1 cm
11.5 × 15 inches
45.7 × 54.6 cm (framed)
18 × 21 1/2 inches (framed)
Andrea Zittel
Panels and Portals #11, 2020
Watercolor and gouache on paper
29.2 × 38.1 cm
11.5 × 15 inches
45.7 × 54.6 cm (framed)
18 × 21 1/2 inches (framed)
In Panels and Portals, 2020 compositions of planes create hard edged interior spaces that are perforated with a rectangular opening or “portal" that then offers a glimpse beyond the encapsulating reality of the interior space into a landscape devoid of flat surfaces or rectangular formats of any kind.
Anders Wohnen 2 – Entwürfe für Haus Lange Haus Esters
Installation view, Museen Haus Lange und Haus Esters, Krefeld, July 7, 2019–January 26, 2020
Photo: Dirk Rose
Anders Wohnen 2 – Entwürfe für Haus Lange Haus Esters
Installation view, Museen Haus Lange und Haus Esters, Krefeld, July 7, 2019–January 26, 2020
Photo: Dirk Rose
Andrea Zittel, Experimental Living Cabins, 2017
Andrea Zittel, Experimental Living Cabins, 2017
Andrea Zittel, Experimental Living Cabins, 2017
A three-dimensional work to which these drawings may refer, for example, would be Esther’s summer house or the Living Cabins of Zittel’s residence in the desert.
In the different versions of these series, the modalities of our spatial environments become clearly visible. In our current moment where we are forced to pay more attention to our living spaces, questions may arise about how we can meet our daily needs and what we can do—particularly on a spatial level—for our well-being and for a life in harmony with society. These are questions that Andrea Zittel has been investigating throughout her entire oeuvre. From the very beginning the boundaries between her practices of living and working have been incredibly fluid, each informing the other— interrupting the domains of private and the public, of the natural and the planar.
Anders Wohnen 2 – Entwürfe für Haus Lange Haus Esters
Installation view, Museen Haus Lange und Haus Esters, Krefeld, July 7, 2019–January 26, 2020
Photo: Dirk Rose
Anders Wohnen 2 – Entwürfe für Haus Lange Haus Esters
Installation view, Museen Haus Lange und Haus Esters, Krefeld, July 7, 2019–January 26, 2020
Photo: Dirk Rose
Andrea Zittel, Experimental Living Cabins, 2017
Andrea Zittel, Experimental Living Cabins, 2017
Andrea Zittel, Experimental Living Cabins, 2017
A three-dimensional work to which these drawings may refer, for example, would be Esther’s summer house or the Living Cabins of Zittel’s residence in the desert.
In the different versions of these series, the modalities of our spatial environments become clearly visible. In our current moment where we are forced to pay more attention to our living spaces, questions may arise about how we can meet our daily needs and what we can do—particularly on a spatial level—for our well-being and for a life in harmony with society. These are questions that Andrea Zittel has been investigating throughout her entire oeuvre. From the very beginning the boundaries between her practices of living and working have been incredibly fluid, each informing the other— interrupting the domains of private and the public, of the natural and the planar.
Andrea Zittel
Works on Paper
November 27, 2020–February 13, 2021
Be the first to know!
Subscribe to receive newsletters on our artists, exhibitions, fairs, events, and more.
I am interested in:
You can withdraw your consent at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link in the newsletter. The newsletter is sent in accordance with our Privacy Policy, which outlines how we process your data.
This site uses cookies to improve user experience. By clicking “Accept” you consent to our use of cookies. Further information can be found in our Cookie Policy.
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
