The 2019–2020 Out of the Box exhibition series is dedicated to the works of trained architect and conceptual artist Gordon Matta-Clark, whose writings, photographs, films, correspondence, and select artworks were produced between 1969 and 1978, and donated to the CCA by the Estate of Gordon Matta-Clark in 2011.

Curated by Yann Chateigné, the first exhibition in this series will reflect on Gordon Matta-Clark’s material thinking through the lens of his highly diverse personal library, in order to reveal lesser-known references, singular conceptual articulations, and visual investigations that lie behind the radical critique of architecture the artist briefly unfolded during his decade of artistic practice.

Structured as a study in three acts, this series of exhibitions invites three guest curators from different curatorial backgrounds ranging from contemporary art, film and archival research, to social practice studies, to explore Gordon Matta-Clark’s critical practice within the architectural scene of the time. 

Yann Chateigné (Brussels/Geneva), Hila Peleg (Berlin), and Kitty Scott (Toronto) will offer a close reading of a range of archival materials such as personal correspondence, sketchbooks, unseen footage, private photos, and project drafts, to present predominantly unpublished works and materials. While Matta-Clark’s works were a clear product of his time and environment, the themes he addresses in relation to architecture and urbanism—neglect and speculation, distinctions between public and private spaces, questions of access, corporatization and gentrification, history and, memory—are as relevant as ever.