Material Language: Alberto Cavalieri, John Chamberlain, Amanda Keeley, Yucef Merhi, Kay Rosen, Amanda Linares, Mira Schendel, Cy Twombly, Lawrence Weiner

The Bonnier Gallery is pleased to present Material Language, on view April 2nd – May 28th. The examination of language through material meaning connects the works of these artists. Alberto Cavalieri looks at high-valued objects and contrasts their importance with life-giving necessities, like oxygen and water. Similarly, Amanda Linares takes a cultural nod from Cuban infrastructure to remark on the limits of daily life in her home country.

The influential works of John Chamberlain and Cy Twombly emerged at a time when contemporary art was undergoing challenge and change. Each developed their own languages; for Chamberlain, the use of car scrap metal set him apart, and for Twombly, his signature looping marks evoke pre-defined writing.

Amanda Keeley and Kay Rosen's work play with wording, the shape of letters adjusted to the formatting limits of their materials. For Yucef Merhi, play is fundamental, as language begins in childhood. His work beckons nostalgia and repurpose of otherwise obsolete objects. 

Mira Schendel's works on paper convey the symbolic aspect of letters as imagery, the gentle material being intensified through forced markings. Lawrence Weiner's large-scale typography often refers to materials and constructions that enact a physical process. As a self-taught artist, Weiner championed the accessibility of art and saw language itself as a "material for construction."