Coinciding with ARCOMadrid 2017, the weeklong celebration that will focus on Argentina as its guest country this year, Galería Cayón is pleased to present the first ever joint exhibit of two influential artists of the 20th century: Lucio Fontana (Rosario, Argentina, 1899 – Comabbio, Italy, 1968) and Fred Sandback (Bronxville, New York, 1943 – New York, 2003).

FFontana and Sandback, each in his own discipline, painting and sculpture, respectively, took the concept of space and its perception to uncharted limits, in one instance by literally stripping the traditional support provided by a canvas, and in the other by transforming space with a simple strand of yarn, as Sandback did to create his sculptures.

The exhibit will explore the research done by Fontana and Sandback on the concept of space and will focus, for the first time, on the compelling dialogue between their works. Indeed, these works introduced a new definition of space for painting and sculpture. Through their research, both artists contributed to this new approach, considering space as capable of provoking a radically different experience in the viewer. While Fontana would do so through the use of monochromatic canvas strips, Sandback would rely exclusively on lengths of yarn to highlight planes in space.

In order to draw even greater attention to Fontana’s desire to exceed the limits imposed by canvas, the exhibit will include several tagli (cuts) created by the Italian artist. This series of canvases appeared in 1958 and was central to Fontana’s work until his death in 1968.