Gordon Matta-Clark: Discrete Violations

This autumn, the De La Warr Pavilion presents Discrete Violations, a focused exhibition of work by Gordon Matta-Clark, one of the most radical artists of the twentieth century. The exhibition brings us close to the thinking behind his large-scale physical interventions into structures, through archival notebooks, index cards, letters, drawings, photographs, and film. The photomontages in the exhibition are themselves objects, not just records, while the films capture actions that exist in no other form. The exhibition is presented in the First Floor Gallery, a building designed by Erich Mendelsohn and Serge Chermayeff, and is supported by The Bridget Riley Art Foundation, Henry Moore Foundation, David Zwirner, and the Art Fund Jonathan Ruffer Curatorial Grant. Gordon Matta-Clark was a central figure of the downtown New York art scene of the 1970s, and his practice transformed the way we think about buildings, cities, and who architecture is really for. His work critically examined modernist ideals, property systems, and the social life of the built environment, and has gained renewed relevance in contemporary discussions around adaptive reuse, spatial justice, and the future of public architecture. The exhibition is shown alongside Prem Sahib in the Ground Floor Gallery, and the two exhibitions enter into a quiet but resonant dialogue. The De La Warr Pavilion strives to be fully accessible, with a range of facilities to support visitors, including ramped access, disabled toilets, a lift to all floors, and accessible galleries and Café.