Andrea Zittel: Critical Space

Andrea Zittel: Critical Space, the first comprehensive solo exhibition in North America of one of the most influential American artists to emerge since the 1990s, opens at The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, this spring. Zittel investigates contemporary life in Western societies through her sculptures and installations, which draw on architecture and geography to explore the psychological, biological, and economic aspects of domestic and urban existence. "We are delighted to bring the works in this exhibition back to Los Angeles-in close proximity to Zittel's studio and the natural environment where the artist lives and works," said MOCA Director Jeremy Strick, "This exhibition fulfills the common mission of the artist and MOCA: the integration of the visual arts with contemporary culture." Co-organized by the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston and the New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York, and co-curated by Contemporary Arts Museum Houston Senior Curator Paola Morsiani and Trevor Smith for the New Museum of Contemporary Art, Andrea Zittel: Critical Space will be on view at MOCA's critically acclaimed exhibition space in Little Tokyo, The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA March 4-May 14, 2007. MOCA's presentation will be coordinated by MOCA Curator of Architecture and Design Brooke Hodge. This follows showings at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston (October 6, 2005-January 1, 2006), the New Museum of Contemporary Art (January 26-May 27, 2006), Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo (October 6, 2006-January 7, 2007), and precedes a presentation at the Vancouver Art Gallery in British Columbia, Canada (June 9-September 30, 2007).

Andrea Zittel has inextricably linked her personal and professional life in her artistic endeavors by focusing her investigations on herself and beginning every project from conundrums she encounters in her everyday existence. Early in her career, Zittel lived in urban environments where space is at a premium, inspiring her to create more efficient living retreats that pare down the clutter and chaos of life to the essentials-such as a bed or dresser-and explore the multiple functions these utilitarian items could execute. In the early '90s, she formalized her experimentations, utilizing her initials to create an artistic corporate identity "A-Z Administrative Services." Under this corporate pseudonym, Zittel researches, designs, and constructs handcrafted "uniforms" and domestic settings, such as A-Z Management and Maintenance Unit. Model 003 (1992). These objects and installations emphasize the ways in which personal needs such as security, self-empowerment, intimacy, and comfort are fulfilled. Super-efficiency has become the mantra of Zittel's life and work since these early investigations.

Andrea Zittel: Critical Space brings together approximately 21 of Zittel's living units and environments from 1991 to the present, including A-Z Living Units, A-Z Escape Vehicles, A-Z Desert Islands, and A-Z Raugh Systems, as well as the complete series of handmade clothing she has created to date and a selection of her drawings. The exhibition will also feature recent work developed at A-Z West, the name Zittel has given to her desert studio in Joshua Tree, California. Through her experimentations in the desert, she combats cultural preconceptions about that environment and makes populated spaces more organized-culturally, politically, and economically.

The Artist: Andrea Zittel was born in Escondido, California, in 1965 and currently lives and works in Los Angeles and Joshua Tree, California. She received her BFA from San Diego State University and her MFA from Rhode Island School of Design in 1990. Her work has appeared in numerous solo exhibitions including Andrea Zittel: New Work, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (1995); A-Z Deserted Islands, The Public Art Fund, Central Park, New York (1999); and Andrea Zittel-Personal Programs, Deichtorhallen, Hamburg (2000). Zittel's work has been included in several major group exhibitions, including Aperto '93: Emergency, XLV Biennale di Venezia, Italy (1993); Sense and Sensibility: Women Artists and Minimalism in the Nineties (1994) and Tempo (2002), The Museum of Modern Art, New York; and the 1995 and 2004 Biennial exhibitions at The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York.

Publication: A major catalogue, the most comprehensive publication on Zittel's work to date, co-published by the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, the New Museum of Contemporary Art, and Prestel Verlag accompanies the exhibition. The catalogue contains more than 300 color reproductions-including all the works in the exhibition-and essays by co-curators Paola Morsiani and Trevor Smith; Cornelia H. Butler, Chief Curator of Drawings at The Museum of Modern Art, New York; and Robert Cook, Associate Curator of Contemporary Art, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth; an interview with Zittel by Beatriz Colomina, Professor of Architecture at Princeton University, and Mark Wigley, Professor of Architecture and Dean of the Graduate School of Architecture, Columbia University; and texts by the artist.

MOCA : Museum Of Contemporary Art: http://www.dexigner.com/directory/detail/146.html

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