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Lot Essay
'If you open a transistor, you will see groups of wires inside. They are not different colors to make the inside look pretty, but to show that they have different functions'
(André Cadere, quoted in C. Kismaric, C. Dercon & B. Marcelis (eds.), André Cadere: All Walks of Life, exh. cat., The Institute for Contemporary Art, P.S. 1, New York, 1992, p. 29)
André Cadere's wooden batons, made up of individually painted multi-colored wooden segments, are part painting, part sculpture and part performance. The segments in Untitled (A 13002040) have been assembled in accordance to a specific system conceived by the artist (their length always relates to their radius), yet Cadere inserts into each work an anomaly to avoid this precise system being decoded. Resolutely hand-crafted but with the quasi-scientific elements recalling the binary codes of early computing or the genetic sequencing of the human DNA, the sequential assemblage of these objects becomes part-living object and part art experiment.
This notion of 'living sculpture' is further enhanced by the central aspect of these works in which Cadere would locate each of the works in a specific location, giving each one a unique sense of place. He would promenade each baton through the streets of Paris before propping them up against a wall in an art gallery or museum and thereby making them part of the exhibit in question, and in the process causing a dramatic shift in context for both the art already installed on the walls and his rods provisionally leaned against them. Like the early performance based work of the British artists Gilbert & George, the 'performative' nature of Cadere's pieces moves away from the strict formalism of the previous generation, becoming instead an institutional critique of the establishment art world. Cadere reappropriates the 'hallowed' space of the art gallery or museum by performing his actions without the knowledge or approval of his 'hosts'. By infiltrating and exposing the conventional system of art he demonstrated that no matter how much the art world had supposedly embraced Conceptual art's 'anyone can do it' ethos, it remained firmly at the edges, challenging the mainstream with its presence.
Despite being made in a relatively traditional manner, on a formal level at least, Cadere's barres blur the traditional boundaries between painting and sculpture. In seeking to challenge the careful segregation of the two main mediums of art, Cadere uses these works to test the boundaries of artistic classification and dissemination in society. Although these works are made up of standard units and colors, Cadere gives each piece an individuality with his method of fabrication. Each becoming an individual comment on the increasingly homogenous and commercial nature of art.
(André Cadere, quoted in C. Kismaric, C. Dercon & B. Marcelis (eds.), André Cadere: All Walks of Life, exh. cat., The Institute for Contemporary Art, P.S. 1, New York, 1992, p. 29)
André Cadere's wooden batons, made up of individually painted multi-colored wooden segments, are part painting, part sculpture and part performance. The segments in Untitled (A 13002040) have been assembled in accordance to a specific system conceived by the artist (their length always relates to their radius), yet Cadere inserts into each work an anomaly to avoid this precise system being decoded. Resolutely hand-crafted but with the quasi-scientific elements recalling the binary codes of early computing or the genetic sequencing of the human DNA, the sequential assemblage of these objects becomes part-living object and part art experiment.
This notion of 'living sculpture' is further enhanced by the central aspect of these works in which Cadere would locate each of the works in a specific location, giving each one a unique sense of place. He would promenade each baton through the streets of Paris before propping them up against a wall in an art gallery or museum and thereby making them part of the exhibit in question, and in the process causing a dramatic shift in context for both the art already installed on the walls and his rods provisionally leaned against them. Like the early performance based work of the British artists Gilbert & George, the 'performative' nature of Cadere's pieces moves away from the strict formalism of the previous generation, becoming instead an institutional critique of the establishment art world. Cadere reappropriates the 'hallowed' space of the art gallery or museum by performing his actions without the knowledge or approval of his 'hosts'. By infiltrating and exposing the conventional system of art he demonstrated that no matter how much the art world had supposedly embraced Conceptual art's 'anyone can do it' ethos, it remained firmly at the edges, challenging the mainstream with its presence.
Despite being made in a relatively traditional manner, on a formal level at least, Cadere's barres blur the traditional boundaries between painting and sculpture. In seeking to challenge the careful segregation of the two main mediums of art, Cadere uses these works to test the boundaries of artistic classification and dissemination in society. Although these works are made up of standard units and colors, Cadere gives each piece an individuality with his method of fabrication. Each becoming an individual comment on the increasingly homogenous and commercial nature of art.