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Tauba Auerbach (American, b.1981)
LOT ID: 71466
The Whole Thing (uppercase) I, 2007

Gouache, on paper on panel
30 х 22 х 1.75 in. cm.
Other, provenance label from Jack Hanley Gallery verso. Inscribed "Artery" verso.
Lot description
Tauba Auerbach’s interest in typology stems from her interest in math and design. Viewed as the embodiment of these two disciplines, letters – both handwritten and typed – are a fundamental motivation in her artistic discourse. Considering the familiarity of language, and its ability to automatically invoke meaning, Auerbach employs the alphabet as a vehicle for examining the bounds of perception, dimension, and imagination. In ‘The Whole Thing (uppercase) I’, Auerbach tests the limits of recognition by presenting the entire alphabet, capitalized and written in black, in one square area. Manipulating the viewer’s perspective, the layered letters take on a new meaning as they blur into an abstract, geometric shape. Auerbach leaves enough of the letters’ original forms to encourage the viewer to discover more, inspiring the use of imagination and personal experience to explore interpretations beyond the work’s initial reading.

Tauba Auerbach (b. 1981) is the rising star of the New York art scene working in painting, photography, printmaking, and installation. Her work uses a variety of approaches to investigate language as a system of logic and the relationship between order and chance. Auerbach often creates objects that occupy various “conflicting” states, particularly 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional states raising the issue of fractional dimensionality and questioning Cartesian spacial logic. Recent series like her “Static Photographs” and “Crumple Paintings” create elegant optical patterns while opening up the possibility for contemplating other dimensions. Auerbach graduated in 2003 with a BA in Visual Art from Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA. She was the 2008 SECA Art Award recipient from the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Recently, she was included in the Whitney’s 2010 Biennial and has held solo shows at Paula Cooper Gallery, New York, NY (2012); Malmö Konsthall, Malmö, Sweden (2012); Bergen Kunsthall, Bergen, Norway (2011); Deitch Projects, New York, NY (2009); and Wattis Institute for Contemporary Art, San Francisco, CA (2008).
The Whole Thing (uppercase) I by Tauba Auerbach
  • The Whole Thing (uppercase) I by Tauba Auerbach
  • The Whole Thing (uppercase) I by Tauba Auerbach
  • The Whole Thing (uppercase) I by Tauba Auerbach
  • The Whole Thing (uppercase) I by Tauba Auerbach
  • The Whole Thing (uppercase) I by Tauba Auerbach
  • The Whole Thing (uppercase) I by Tauba Auerbach
  • The Whole Thing (uppercase) I by Tauba Auerbach
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