Peter Downsbrough

Mostra personale.

Comunicato stampa

The exhibition Peter Downsbrough - curated by Nicola Mafessoni - is conceived to occupy the entire gallery with wall pieces, sound and video pieces. It was thought of since the very early stages of settantaventidue’s project, and is dedicated to an artist particularly dear to the gallery.

Peter Downsbrough (1940, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA—2024, Brussels, Belgium) is known for a body of work that spans various media including

sculpture, photography, urban interventions, and books as well as audio works, films, maquettes, and a wide range of work on paper including collages and prints.

“Peter Downsbrough’s works ask viewers to resituate themselves in order to make sense of them, and his minimalist approach explores the relationship between language and space, defining the intersections between construction and perception.

His classic Two Pipes exemplify his conceptual approach. Consisting of two simple

metal pipes, one of standard length, the other one cut shorter. Positioned outdoors, vertically, parallel to one another, they emphasize the relationship between the objects, their spatial arrangement, and the viewer's perception. The work invites contemplation on how form, space, and the absence of overt narrative can create meaning.

These parallel linear elements appear in other formats, too: Two Poles (placed indoors) or Two Lines, on paper, or in the books.

Downsbrough’s work frequently incorporates text and geometric forms, inviting viewers to engage with the context and meaning of words in relation to physical space.

In 1980 Peter Downsbrough started using transfer tape to overlay two lines onto commercially available postcards of mostly ordinary urban views. He then sent them off to friends and relatives. Later, he also added words, using transfer letters. Furthermore, a number of his altered postcards were published between 1980 and 2024.

Downsbrough used this condensation of his visual vocabulary to talk about how we observe and analyze things.

His work has been exhibited widely and is included in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Musée d’Art Moderne et Contemporain, and Fonds Municipal d’art contemporain, both in Geneva; Centre Pompidou and Fonds National d’Art Contemporain, both in Paris; Le Consortium, Centre d’Art, and FRAC Bourgogne, both in Dijon; FRAC Bretagne, Rennes; FRAC Lorraine, Metz; and FRAC Nord - Pas de Calais, Dunkerque, France; S.M.A.K., Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst, Ghent, and Middelheimmuseum, Antwerp, Belgium; Museu d’Art Contemporani, Barcelona, Spain; and Muzeum Sztuki, Lodz, Poland.” Nicola Mafessoni

Conceptual and minimal art, electroacoustic experimentation, sound art and field recording, radical and utopian architecture, are at the centre settantaventidue’s program.

settantaventidue is committed to an articulated and rigorous cultural proposal, concentrating specifically on experimentation and research in the fields of visual, sonic and architectural arts with determined and consistent trajectories estranged from mainstream culture, conventional artistic discourses, and market dynamics.

All of settantaventidue’s cultural activities are entirely organized and financed by the non-profit entity Umbra Grey ETS, thanks to the generous collaboration of:

Main partner and supporter:

Kira A. Princess of Prussia Foundation, Germany

Partners:

TomoTomo, Milano

Paper&People, Milano

Press Point, Milano

Zurich Insurance Plc Italia & Consulenze Assicurative srl-Brescia

Futura_Research