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Lot Essay
Untitled is from a group of nine unique wood sculptures executed between 1988-1989 using a door as its central motif. Many of the works are in museum collections, including the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis and Goetz Collection, Munich. As in all Gober's work, its manner of construction is a central part of its mystery. In the present work, the artist has painstakingly recreated a door, using the same medium of an actual door, which appears to be folding in on itself. "I always try to get people to focus less, or at least not first, on finding 'meaning' or a 'theme' in the work, but to focus on what it is exactly, what is it physically made of and how it is made. A lot of times metaphors are almost embedded in the medium" (R. Gober, Sculpture and Installations 1979-2007, Basel, 2007, p. 21).
The sculpture is installed at the exact height of a door. If the top section were to swing upward and the bottom section to swing down, it would hang as an actual door would. In this way, Gober creates a sense of movement, of change, and depending on one's outlook, it is either collapsing inward or about to shift back to its "normal" state. Works in this series run the gamut from fairly straightforward recreations of a door leaning against a wall or simply folded in half, to those that appear to have completely been twisted as if they have come alive and have the ability to shapeshift as they see fit.
Rather than take an actual door and modify it, Gober created the present lot in his studio. In this way, it has the appearance of being a ready-made, or a kind of assisted ready-made. Gober's work has echoes of Duchamp, who modified functional objects in a way that transformed them and also removed their primary function. What previously functioned as a door, is now more akin to a floating surrealist shelf, and what previously was used as a barrier can no longer keep people out, or easily allow them in.
There is a humorous quality to these doors, morphing and seemingly springing to life, as well as a serious side stemming from their formal rigor and proportion that brings to mind Donald Judd's Stacks. But there is always more to Gober than initially meets the eye, and there is a poignant, human quality present as well, not explicit but never far from the surface. Gober has not only created the exact proportions of the door, but also carefully crafted a patina of age and wear-this is not a spotless new door, but one who has lived an active life and has some of the scars to prove it. Ultimately it is the enigmatic, open-ended nature of Gober's art that makes them among the most compelling works of art of his generation.
The sculpture is installed at the exact height of a door. If the top section were to swing upward and the bottom section to swing down, it would hang as an actual door would. In this way, Gober creates a sense of movement, of change, and depending on one's outlook, it is either collapsing inward or about to shift back to its "normal" state. Works in this series run the gamut from fairly straightforward recreations of a door leaning against a wall or simply folded in half, to those that appear to have completely been twisted as if they have come alive and have the ability to shapeshift as they see fit.
Rather than take an actual door and modify it, Gober created the present lot in his studio. In this way, it has the appearance of being a ready-made, or a kind of assisted ready-made. Gober's work has echoes of Duchamp, who modified functional objects in a way that transformed them and also removed their primary function. What previously functioned as a door, is now more akin to a floating surrealist shelf, and what previously was used as a barrier can no longer keep people out, or easily allow them in.
There is a humorous quality to these doors, morphing and seemingly springing to life, as well as a serious side stemming from their formal rigor and proportion that brings to mind Donald Judd's Stacks. But there is always more to Gober than initially meets the eye, and there is a poignant, human quality present as well, not explicit but never far from the surface. Gober has not only created the exact proportions of the door, but also carefully crafted a patina of age and wear-this is not a spotless new door, but one who has lived an active life and has some of the scars to prove it. Ultimately it is the enigmatic, open-ended nature of Gober's art that makes them among the most compelling works of art of his generation.