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The Location of Lines

Key Images of Artworks in the Exhibition

Sol LeWitt, American, 1928–2007. The Location of Lines, 1974. Offset on paper; saddle-stitched, and softcover. 2 copies; 8 × 8 in. (20.3 × 20.3 cm), 48 pp. Collection Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, National Endowment for the Arts Museum Purchase Grant and Gift of the Men's Council, 2012.105. © 2020 The LeWitt Estate / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

Photo: Nathan Keay, © MCA Chicago

Edward Krasiński, Polish, 1925 – 2004. Interwencja (Intervention), 1983. Acrylic on wood with blue adhesive tape. Wooden panel; 39 7/16 × 37 7/8 × 5 7/16 in. (100.2 × 96.2 × 13.8 cm); installed dimensions variable. Collection Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Purchased jointly by Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago with funds provided by Mary and Earle Ludgin by exchange and by the Metropolitan Museum of Art New York by Roy R. and Marie S. Neuberger Foundation Inc.; The Cynthia Hazen Polsky Fund., 2014.37. © 1983 Edward Krasiński.

Photo: Nathan Keay, © MCA Chicago

Francis Alÿs Retoque/Painting, 2008 Video 8:30 min, color, sound © Francis Alÿs

© Francis Alÿs

Latifa Echakhch

All Over (194.80), 2017 Wool, cotton, aluminum and wood 202 x 154 x 5 cm  Private collection of Eugene Fu Photo: Stefan Altenburger

Ana Mendieta Untitled (Blood Sign #2/Body Tracks), 1974

Super-8 film (color, silent) transferred to video © The Estate of Ana Mendieta Collection, LLC Courtesy Galerie Lelong & Co.

Annette Messager, French, b. 1943. Mes Trophees (My Trophies), 1986–88. Acrylic, and charcoal and pastel on gelatin silver print. Framed; 46 ¾ × 28 ¾ × 1 3/8 in. (118.7 × 73 × 3.5 cm). Collection Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Gift from The Howard and Donna Stone Collection, 2002.47. © 2020 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris.

Photo: Nathan Keay, © MCA Chicago

Emily Jacir Where We Come From, 2001-2003 detail (Mahmoud)

American passport, 30 texts, 32 c-prints, and 1 video Collection Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, gift of Jack and Sandra Guthman, 2016.37.a-b © Emily Jacir Photo: Nathan Keay, © MCA Chicago

About the Exhibition

Lines are the first gesture in writing, drawing, and sculpture making them central to representation. While we often describe lines as definitive—“a line in the sand,” or “crossing the line”—artists in this exhibition play with these limits, revealing how they can change and move.

Taking the title from a Sol LeWitt artist's book, The Location of Lines further examines the form of a line in the context of space and politics. Through a variety of representations in the prints, drawings, photographs, and videos that make up the exhibition, viewers are invited to reconsider the line and its meaning, both in imagination and in reality. These uses span from the abstract to the concrete: the line as a form, as a symbol, as a concept, and ultimately as a geographic border. Each artwork reveals how lines, limits, and borders are constructed and how they can change. After all, for those in power, lines can be erased just as easily as they are drawn.

The exhibition is organized by Line Ajan, Barjeel Global Fellow. It is presented in the Cohen Gallery and Stone Family Gallery on the fourth floor.

Artists in This Exhibition

ARTISTS IN THIS EXHIBITION INCLUDE:

  • Francis Alÿs (Belgian, b. 1959)
  • Latifa Echakhch (Moroccan, b. 1974)
  • Mona Hatoum (British-Palestinian, b. Lebanon, 1952)
  • Alfredo Jaar (Chilean, b. 1956)
  • Emily Jacir (American, b. 1973)
  • Edward Krasiński (Polish, 1925–2004)
  • Sol LeWitt (American, 1928–2007)
  • Ana Mendieta (American, b. Cuba, 1948–1985)
  • Annette Messager (French, b. 1943)
  • Howardena Pindell (American, b. 1943)

Zarina (Indian, b. 1937)

Installation Images

Installation view, The Location of Lines, MCA Chicago Aug 29, 2020–Feb 21, 2021

Photo: Nathan Keay, © MCA Chicago

Installation view, The Location of Lines, MCA Chicago Aug 29, 2020–Feb 21, 2021

Photo: Nathan Keay, © MCA Chicago

Installation view, The Location of Lines, MCA Chicago Aug 29, 2020–Feb 21, 2021

Photo: Nathan Keay, © MCA Chicago

Installation view, The Location of Lines, MCA Chicago Aug 29, 2020–Feb 21, 2021

Photo: Nathan Keay, © MCA Chicago

Installation view, The Location of Lines, MCA Chicago Aug 29, 2020–Feb 21, 2021

Photo: Nathan Keay, © MCA Chicago

Installation view, The Location of Lines, MCA Chicago Aug 29, 2020–Feb 21, 2021

Photo: Nathan Keay, © MCA Chicago

Installation view, The Location of Lines, MCA Chicago Aug 29, 2020–Feb 21, 2021

Photo: Nathan Keay, © MCA Chicago

Installation view, The Location of Lines, MCA Chicago Aug 29, 2020–Feb 21, 2021

Photo: Nathan Keay, © MCA Chicago