SUR UN CÔTÉ DE LA MÊME EAU
MASSIMODECARLO is pleased to announce its milestone exhibition in Piece Unique’s program, inaugurating the 100th exhibition since opening in February 2021. On this occasion, the gallery is very pleased to present an artwork by conceptual art pioneer Lawrence Weiner (1942 – 2021), ON ONE SIDE OF THE SAME WATER / SUR UN CÔTÉ DE LA MÊME EAU (1990/2025). It will be on view until February first.
Recognized for his founding role in the Conceptual Art movement in the 1960’s, Weiner is best described as a sculptor who redefined the artist-viewer relationship using language as his primary medium. His art challenges the cultural status quo by exploring propositions about our relationship to objects and places. His work is subjective, accessible, and functional, and provokes the viewer to contemplate and reconsider the relationship between language and materiality.
Visible through the window, ON ONE SIDE OF THE SAME WATER / SUR UN CÔTÉ DE LA MÊME EAU converge to meet on the gallery walls facing onto Rue de Turenne. A quote by Weiner on his exhibition at Blenheim Palace in 2015 summarizes his aspiration for his work in general, and has relevance to Piece Unique’s installation here in Paris:
CONFRONTED WITH A SUPPORT STRUCTURE FOR ART SO LADEN WITH OBJECTS OF DESIRE SO LADEN WITH MARKINGS OF A PASSAGE OF TIME IN FACT AN OCCUPIED SITE THE EXHIBITION BUILDS ANOTHER REALITY OF OBJECTS A SIMULTANEOUS REALITY NOT A PARALLEL REALITY ONE IS NOT MORE PRESENT THAN THE OTHER IT IS A GENITIVE PRESENT THERE IS NO NEED TO KNOW WHENSOEVER & HOWSOEVER IT GOT THERE IT WAS WHAT IT IS
The Artist
Lawrence Weiner (1942 – 2021) was born in the Bronx, NY, and lived and worked in New York City and Amsterdam. In the late1960s he turned from painting to adopt language as his primary material. His subsequent work has altered the ways we think about artistic production, the mode of presentation, and an artwork’s ultimate reception. Weiner explored these possibilities for over fifty years. His work is widely accessible, as reflected in the posters, books, films, editions, and public installations he produced during his lifetime.
In 1969 Weiner issued a Declaration of Intent:
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
In this collaborative synthesis of the work, whether the work is physically manifested or not, Weiner’s artworks can be presented in a specific site but are not created as such. His materials and their formal presentation in museums, galleries, homes and public spaces vary. Works appear on a multitude of surfaces, from walls to matchbooks to manhole covers, pins and t-shirts, spoken or sung. The same work can appear in different formats as to placement, color, typeface, format, and scale and with texts, for example, painted, printed, stenciled, or in vinyl. Weiner’s work continues to disrupt our notion of art’s use, authorship, display, and material.