This survey of the work of Rudolf Stingel highlights the artist’s highly original process of creating art. Asking the viewer to participate in his work, Stingel examines this collaborative act that involves first the making of the artwork and then the perception of the finished artwork.

This exploration is intended to demystify both the process of creating art and the idea of art. Employing a palette that includes rubber, carpet, painted aluminum, Styrofoam, and paint, Stingel’s work questions and disrupts the viewer’s understanding and experience of an art object. Even though Stingel’s work does not always involve paint on canvas, it continually reflects upon the fundamental questions concerning painting today—authenticity, hierarchy, meaning, and context.

While Stingel has created major installations for the MCA and numerous other institutions, this is his first solo museum exhibition in the United States, surveying his career to date and including a new site-specific work.

This exhibition is curated by Francesco Bonami, Manilow Senior Curator at Large. It is accompanied by a catalogue that examines the broader implications of the artist’s creative practice in contemporary society.