David Zwirner is pleased to announce an exhibition of works by Austrian artist Franz West (1947–2012) on view at the gallery’s Paris location. This exhibition will survey a range of West’s sculptures, works on paper, and installations produced between the late 1970s and early 2000s.
Emerging in Vienna in the early 1970s, West developed a unique aesthetic that engaged equally high and low reference points and often privileged social interaction as an intrinsic component of his work. By playfully manipulating everyday materials and imagery in novel ways, he created objects that served to redefine art as a social experience, calling attention to the ways in which it is presented to the public, and how viewers interact with works of art and with each other.
A significant and rarely seen group of the artist’s early Passstücke (Adaptives) will open the exhibition. Also on view will be a grouping of West’s early drawings, which share the irreverent aesthetic and humor of his sculptures. Likewise, a group of West’s Namensbilder (Nameplates) will echo the formal elements of the Passstücke while underscoring the communal and performative aspects of his work from this period.
