Gabriel Orozco

Gabriel Orozco, 'Black Kites', 1997

MoMA, New York, 13 December 2009 – 1 March 2010

I thought my friends Jess and Jordy might be interested in this artist’s work because of the way he uses non-art materials, common bits and pieces, junk sometimes, to make a little bit of something appear from not much of a starting point. Leftovers are often Orozco’s materials, in the way that J&J have made their own work from things like all the tape they use up working as exhibition installers in Melbourne.

Gabriel Orozco has shown at Venice and Documenta, he is represented by Marian Goodman Gallery, there have been major retrospectives of his work including the current one at MoMA. And he knows how to make big works. La DS (1993) is a vintage Citrön DS, cut lengthwise into thirds, the middle portion removed and the two sides reconstructed into a skinnier, sleeker (but unworkable), sex symbol of a car.

But what this survey show impresses most is Orozco’s ability to shift effortlessly between such a grand glamorous work as the Citrön and very small personal works.