Beschreibung:

MEXICO Gabriel Orozco Two Socks 1995 papier mâché, in 2 parts (i) 3 1/2 x 10 1/8 x 3 7/8 in. (9 x 25.7 x 10 cm.) (ii) 4 1/4 x 6 1/8 x 4 1/2 in. (10.8 x 15.7 x 11.3 cm.)
Provenance Galerie Chantal Crousel, Paris Private Collection, Paris Exhibited New York, The Museum of Modern Art, Gabriel Orozco 13 December- 1 March 2010, then travelled to Basel, Kunstmuseum Basel (18 April- 10 August 2010), Paris, Musée national d’art moderne Centre Georges Pompidou (15 September 2010- 3 January 2011), London, Tate Modern (19 January- 25 April 2011) Literature J.P. Criqui, A. Shcerf and M. Nesbit, Gabriel Orozco Trabajo 1992-2002, Cologne: Walther Konig, 2004,n.p. (illustrated) Gabriel Orozco exh. cat., Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, 2005, p. 86- 87 (illustrated) Gabriel Orozco exh. cat., Museo del Palacio de Bellas Artes, Mexico, 2006, p. 163 (illustrated) A. Temkin, Gabriel Orozco exh. cat., The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2010, p. 104 (illustrated) J. Morgan, Gabriel Orozco (Tate Modern Artists series), London: Tate Publishing, 2011, p. 45 (illustrated) Catalogue Essay I don’t separate the making and the final result; I don’t separate the two. I think the balance, for me, is very important—the balance of the making of something. This making is part of the final result, is part of the final end of the story. And that’s why, again, the body in action, the individual in action, in relation with the social space, the social materials, and economics of these is very important. Gabriel Orozco 2003 Mexican artist Gabriel Orozco’s conceptual artistic practice revolves around the spheres of video, photography and sculpture, exploring the often unexpected, unobtrusive and routine implications brought into being by everyday actions and objects. The present lot, Two Socks, evokes a rich history of artists utilizing moulds, castings and organic forms and materials to convey a sense of the uncanny, converting the quotidian into the subtly mysterious. This trajectory can be noted in the work of artists such as Bruce Nauman and Eva Hesse who redefined the parameters of contemporary sculpture as they radicalized the viewer’s physical and intellectual experience of art from the conceptual plane. When considering Orozco’s sculptural practice, Nauman and Hesse specifically come to mind due to their work with both natural and industrial materials, introducing innovative and non-traditional aesthetics to the gallery setting. Hesse remarked about her artistic process, “Don’t ask what the work is. Rather, see what the work does.” In contrast to Hesse, Orozco interrogates the ontological status of everyday objects while distinguishing between the real qualities of commonplace materials, indirectly referencing Hesse’s and Nauman’s theoretical approaches. A master at both observation and creative intervention, Orozco encourages his audience to form new imaginative associations between commonplace images and experiences, challenging the traditional concept of beauty as an elevated ideal and incorporating it into the modern reality on the ground. Orozco comments on Two Socks, “Like everyone, I had odd, unmatched socks. Suddenly I realized that I had a connection with the infinite through those socks. They belong, we could say, to a sort of blown-up cosmos, full of odds and ends.” While living in New York the artist decided to create the piece after seeing an episode of British television show Mr. Bean. The artist filled his socks to the point of inflation with papier mâché, until they came to resemble gourd-like objects. Of the production process the artist recalls: “The way in which they are made is the most interesting thing about them. I got the idea to make this piece—separate from all of my amateurish metaphysical meditations—from watching Mr. Bean on television one day. There’s a scene in the park where he’s brought everything he needs to make his lunch, a sandwich. He takes out an immense jar of mayonnaise, an enormous pickle, and an entire bag of sliced bread. He takes out two heads of lettuce and goes over to the water fountain and washes them. Then he takes off a shoe and throws it to the sid