John McCracken: Works from 1963-2011

My tendency is to reduce or develop everything to "single things;" things which refer to nothing outside, but which at the same time possibly refer, or relate, to everything.
–John McCracken

David Zwirner is pleased to present an exhibition of works by John McCracken (1934–2011), on view at the gallery's 537 West 20th Street location in New York. Drawn primarily from public and private collections, the approximately fifty works in this exhibition chart the evolution of McCracken's diverse but considered oeuvre. Encompassing both well-known and lesser-seen examples of the artist's production from the early 1960s up through his death in 2011, the exhibition includes a range of the artist's sculptures as well as a number of his paintings and sketches in an effort to fully contextualize and demonstrate the breadth of his practice.

McCracken occupies a singular position within the recent history of American art, as his work melds the restrained formal qualities of Minimalist sculpture with a distinctly West Coast sensibility expressed through color, form, and finish. He developed his early sculptural work while studying painting at the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland in the late 1950s and early 1960s. While experimenting with increasingly three-dimensional canvases, the artist began to produce objects made with industrial materials, including plywood, sprayed lacquer, and pigmented resin, creating the highly reflective, smooth surfaces that he was to become known for.

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For more information about available works contact inquiries@davidzwirner.com