Fred Sandback / Corner Constructions

February 21 to April 28, 2012

Fred Sandback (Bronxville, New York 1943-2003)
built his sculptures in spaces that had come to him through the circumstances of his artistic work, spaces that had been put at his disposal. For a period of years, the Fred Sandback Museum in Winchendon offered a unique constellation of possibilities. This was a peculiar and remarkable institution, supported and financed by the Dia Art Foundation and housed in a building whose many different rooms had previously been dedicated to other purposes.

Sometimes the studio was the place for testing and defining simple works. In most cases, however, the architectural conditions and exhibition situations in galleries, museums and other arts venues – anything but perfect “White Cubes” – constituted the fixed parameters for the temporary installation of his works. Occasionally private home interiors prompted the artist to incorporate personal motives and references associated with the collectors. The normal proved to be the exceptional and Fred Sandback liked and collected these exceptionalities.

From the 1970s onwards, black, white and colored acrylic yarn in one or several strands was his preferred working material. It enabled subtle differentiation in the visibility of the sculptures, which appropriate the found locations or, at times, merely partial aspects of spaces.

The fact that Fred Sandback saw himself as a “sculptor” and his works as “sculptures” might be disconcerting but this assignation is highly elucidatory. Against the background of such terminology, it becomes clear what is present as a material and what is absent, along with the fact that emptiness and intermediary space possess a distinct capacity to be formed and shaped.

Despite its extreme economy, the acrylic yarn never disowns its physical properties and origins, with its slightly frayed texture recalling lines drawn with a soft pencil. It is compelling in its mode of appearance, its utilitarianism and its suitability.

In early works by Fred Sandback, the material-specific restrictions are sometimes outwitted and bypassed. Soon, however, the limited formal possibilities become a welcome and by no means peripheral condition in the development of the formal vocabulary. While the chosen definition of form characterizes a work, it only plays a supporting role and not the main role. Many aspects are situation-specific and situation-dependent. The sculpture is an intervention in a found architectonic space that thus becomes part of a whole. It does not seek to displace space with material, to degrade it into peripheral or presentational space. Marking a consistent and coherent presence, sometimes visible, sometimes practically invisible, the lines give rise to a specific place capable of revealing properties that were previously beyond perception, beyond experience.

Does this function to make the abstract potential of spatiality visible or concrete? Do these concise and precisely defined formulations mean the introduction of a perceptually conditioned level of aesthetic reflection leading to new differentiations and distinctions and probing the interconnections in a new way? Or does this experience result from the projection of the viewer, supplementing and constructing, continually shifting his viewpoint in the literal sense of the term and incorporating it in the perception of the work? In any event, the viewer cannot remove himself to the perspective of an external outpost, for he is involved through his physical presence as part of the action. The work’s form and reception are interrelated and mutually dependent.

Since 1971 the gallery has accompanied the work of Fred Sandback with twelve exhibitions.

Amy Baker Sandback has curated the current show with works from the estate.

Installation views

Fred Sandback / Corner Constructions

Installation view room 4

Fred Sandback / Corner Constructions

Installation view room 1

Fred Sandback / Corner Constructions

Installation view room 1

Fred Sandback / Corner Constructions

Installation view room 2

Fred Sandback / Corner Constructions

Installation view room 2

Fred Sandback / Corner Constructions

Installation view room 2

Fred Sandback / Corner Constructions

Installation view room 3

Fred Sandback / Corner Constructions

Installation view room 3

Fred Sandback / Corner Constructions

Installation view room 4

Fred Sandback / Corner Constructions

Installation view room 4

Fred Sandback / Corner Constructions

Installation view office room

Fred Sandback / Corner Constructions

Installation view office room

Fred Sandback / Corner Constructions

Installation view office room

Works

Fred Sandback / Untitled  1990 56.5 x 76.2 cm  /  9.5 x 10.25 " Pastel on paper FLS 0079

Untitled
1990
56.5 x 76.2 cm  /  9.5 x 10.25 "
Pastel on paper
FLS 0079

Fred Sandback / Untitled  1980 57.1 x 76.2 cm  /  9.5 x 10.25 " Ink and pencil on paper FLS 0086

Untitled
1980
57.1 x 76.2 cm  /  9.5 x 10.25 "
Ink and pencil on paper
FLS 0086

Fred Sandback / Untitled  1974 20.6 x 30.5 cm  /  8 1/8 x 12 " Felt tip pen on sketchbook paper FLS 0852

Untitled
1974
20.6 x 30.5 cm  /  8 1/8 x 12 "
Felt tip pen on sketchbook paper
FLS 0852

Fred Sandback / Untitled  1991  25.4 x 221 x 221 cm Light blue acrylic yarn FLS#2278

Untitled
1991
25.4 x 221 x 221 cm
Light blue acrylic yarn
FLS#2278

Fred Sandback / Untitled  1974  88.9 x 58.7 cm  /  35 x 23.125 " pastel and pencil on paper FLS 0386

Untitled
1974
88.9 x 58.7 cm  /  35 x 23.125 "
pastel and pencil on paper
FLS 0386

Fred Sandback / Untitled  1976 Situational Black acrylic yarn FLS#2490.1

Untitled
1976
Situational
Black acrylic yarn
FLS#2490.1

Fred Sandback / Untitled  1976 Situational Black acrylic yarn FLS#2490.1

Untitled
1976
Situational
Black acrylic yarn
FLS#2490.1

Fred Sandback / Untitled  1968 (RRR) 3-parts  Steel and elastic cord Fluorescent orange FLS#2026

Untitled
1968 (RRR)
3-parts
Steel and elastic cord
Fluorescent orange
FLS#2026

Fred Sandback / Untitled  1968 (RRR) 3-parts  Steel and elastic cord Fluorescent orange FLS#2026

Untitled
1968 (RRR)
3-parts
Steel and elastic cord
Fluorescent orange
FLS#2026

Fred Sandback / Untitled (Study for Annemarie Verna Gallery, Zürich) 1990 21.6 x 27.9 cm  /  8.5 x 11 " Pastel pencil and pencil on vellum FLS 0207

Untitled (Study for Annemarie Verna Gallery, Zürich)
1990
21.6 x 27.9 cm  /  8.5 x 11 "
Pastel pencil and pencil on vellum
FLS 0207

Fred Sandback / Untitled  (Corner Studies) 1971  20.3 x 23.5 cm  /  9.5 x 10.25 " Pencil on paper FLS 0947

Untitled (Corner Studies)
1971
20.3 x 23.5 cm  /  9.5 x 10.25 "
Pencil on paper
FLS 0947

Fred Sandback / Untitled  1971  21.6 x 27.9 cm  /  9.5 x 10.25 " Pencil on heavy white paper FLS 0937

Untitled
1971
21.6 x 27.9 cm  /  9.5 x 10.25 "
Pencil on heavy white paper
FLS 0937

Fred Sandback / Untitled  1974  21.6 x 27.9 cm Pencil on paper FLS 0170

Untitled
1974
21.6 x 27.9 cm
Pencil on paper
FLS 0170

Fred Sandback / Untitled  1972  22.9 x 30.5 cm Red and yellow pencil on Strathmore Shelburne FLS 201

Untitled
1972
22.9 x 30.5 cm
Red and yellow pencil on Strathmore Shelburne
FLS 201

Fred Sandback / Untitled  1972  22.9 x 30.5 cm  /  9.5 x 10.25 " Red and yellow pencil on Strathmore Shelburne FLS 351

Untitled
1972
22.9 x 30.5 cm  /  9.5 x 10.25 "
Red and yellow pencil on Strathmore Shelburne
FLS 351

Fred Sandback / Untitled  1972  22.9 x 30.5 cm Yellow ink on notebook paper FLS 677

Untitled
1972
22.9 x 30.5 cm
Yellow ink on notebook paper
FLS 677

Fred Sandback / Untitled  1972 22.9 x 30.5 cm  /  9.5 x 10.25 " Beige and ochre on sketchbook paper FLS 878

Untitled
1972
22.9 x 30.5 cm  /  9.5 x 10.25 "
Beige and ochre on sketchbook paper
FLS 878

Fred Sandback / Untitled (Study for Rindge Studio) 1980 13 x 15.5 cm  /  9.5 x 10.25 " Felt tip pen on printed isometric paper FLS 0891

Untitled (Study for Rindge Studio)
1980
13 x 15.5 cm  /  9.5 x 10.25 "
Felt tip pen on printed isometric paper
FLS 0891

Fred Sandback / Untitled  1976 20.3 x 27.9 cm  /  9.5 x 10.25 " Felt tip pen on tracing paper FLS 164

Untitled
1976
20.3 x 27.9 cm  /  9.5 x 10.25 "
Felt tip pen on tracing paper
FLS 164

Fred Sandback / Untitled (Long Blue Piece) 1969 Situational Blue elastic cord FLS#2049

Untitled (Long Blue Piece)
1969
Situational
Blue elastic cord
FLS#2049

Fred Sandback / Untitled (Long Blue Piece) 1969 Situational Blue elastic cord FLS#2049

Untitled (Long Blue Piece)
1969
Situational
Blue elastic cord
FLS#2049

Fred Sandback / Untitled  1990 3-part corner construction  Height: 228.6 cm Red, yellow and blue acrylic yarn FLS#2488.2

Untitled
1990
3-part corner construction
Height: 228.6 cm
Red, yellow and blue acrylic yarn
FLS#2488.2

Fred Sandback / Untitled  1990 3-part corner construction  Height: 228.6 cm Red, yellow and blue acrylic yarn FLS#2488.2

Untitled
1990
3-part corner construction
Height: 228.6 cm
Red, yellow and blue acrylic yarn
FLS#2488.2

Fred Sandback / Untitled  1972/96 Diagonal 79.4 x 141 x 143.5 cm White acrylic yarn FLS#2182

Untitled
1972/96
Diagonal
79.4 x 141 x 143.5 cm
White acrylic yarn
FLS#2182

Fred Sandback / Untitled  1974  58.7 x 88.9 cm  /  23.125 x 35 " Pastel and pencil on paper FLS 0384

Untitled
1974
58.7 x 88.9 cm  /  23.125 x 35 "
Pastel and pencil on paper
FLS 0384

Fred Sandback / Untitled  1967  45.7 x 172.4 x 45.7 cm Grey elastic cord FLS#2000

Untitled
1967
45.7 x 172.4 x 45.7 cm
Grey elastic cord
FLS#2000

Fred Sandback / Untitled  1967  45.7 x 172.4 x 45.7 cm Grey elastic cord FLS#2000

Untitled
1967
45.7 x 172.4 x 45.7 cm
Grey elastic cord
FLS#2000

Fred Sandback / Untitled  1999  Dimensions variable Ochre acrylic yarn FLS#2157

Untitled
1999
Dimensions variable
Ochre acrylic yarn
FLS#2157