Tracing the full evolution over five decades of the work of Carl Andre, a crucial figure in the redefinition of contemporary sculpture, MOCA presents Carl Andre: Sculpture as Place, 1958–2010.

The retrospective, which premiered at Dia:Beacon in 2014, includes sculptures; poems and works on paper; a selection of rarely exhibited assemblages; and an unprecedented selection of photographs and ephemera. This is the first museum survey of Andre’s entire oeuvre, and the first retrospective in North America since 1978–80.

The exhibition represents all major historical and aesthetic shifts in Andre’s career, from his early exercises to his most recent work. The main stages of Andre’s mature oeuvre will be represented by a large selection of sculptures, including the artist’s defining sculptures made out of modular arrangements of unaltered building and industrial materials such as brick stacks, metal squares, slabs, and timber blocks. An unparalleled display of Andre’s poems and typewriter works will examine the pivotal role of language in his practice, providing a strikingly intimate perspective on his visionary approach to concrete poetry. The exhibition offers a rare opportunity to view a selection of Andre’s Dada Forgeries—a legendary series of assemblages and readymade-like pieces produced sporadically, but consistently, between the late 1950s and the early 2000s—as well as ephemera and photographic documentation.

The retrospective was co-curated by MOCA’s Director Philippe Vergne and Yasmil Raymond, Associate Curator at The Museum of Modern Art, New York, in close collaboration with the artist. The presentation at MOCA follows an extensive European tour including Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid; Hamburger Bahnhof, Museum für Gegenwart, Berlin; and Musée d'Art moderne de la Ville de Paris. A comprehensive catalog accompanies the exhibition.