Please note that the below exhibition is closed until further notice due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We are continuing to publish artist news to support the work of the artists on our platform, many of whom have lost work and need support and publicity during this time. Please check the gallery website for updates.
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A solo exhibition by Lawrence Weiner at Regen Projects in Los Angeles celebrates the artist’s tenth show at the gallery. On View, which opened on 27 February, is a continuation of Weiner’s acclaimed exploration of language and space.
In 1968, Weiner changed the focus of his sculptural practice from working with objects to working with language, adopting a set of guiding concepts to inform his practice:
1. THE ARTIST MAY CONSTRUCT THE WORK
2. THE WORK MAY BE FABRICATED
3. THE WORK NEED NOT BE BUILT
EACH BEING EQUAL AND CONSISTENT WITH THE INTENT OF THE ARTIST
THE DECISION AS TO CONDITION RESTS WITH THE RECEIVER UPON THE OCCASION OF RECEIVERSHIP
The works in On View explore the effects of these guiding principles and examine the relationship between instruction and gesture, encompassing language systems, marks, intent, action and power. A word is full of suspense, poised between intent and action; depending on its usage, a word could be a set of lines on a page or a wall, or the catalyst of global change. The way a word is interpreted changes depending on who uses it and in what context - there is a fluidity and instability inherent to language.
“IT’S ALL ABOUT THE THING ITSELF & HOW IT IS FIRST PERCEIVED & HOW IT IS USED” - Lawrence Weiner.
The use and arrangement of language in On View takes the visitor on a journey through potential meanings and messages relating to visibility and invisibility, meaning and its obfuscation. The way the exhibition is interpreted and takes on meaning shifts with the passage of time, with changing events and from person to person. The work has a timeless, placeless quality, and is also on the threshold of multiple materialities.