At a glance
Gordon Matta-Clark treats architecture as a raw material, slicing through abandoned buildings to reveal the hidden political and physical structures beneath their skins.
Meet the artist
Why go
This is a comprehensive look at how Matta-Clark turned urban decay and manual labour into a radical new language, showing how he fundamentally changed our perception of the built environment.
You'll see
Building-cut documentation · Original films · Architectural fragments · Conceptual drawings · Collaborative urban projects
Pace of visit
The high volume of archival material and films makes for a slower, more intellectually demanding pace.
Don't miss
The original films documenting the building cuts, which capture the physical danger and intense labour involved in his massive structural interventions.
Artlovers Tip
Make time to watch the films before examining the photographs; seeing the physical movement helps clarify the scale, risk, and sheer effort behind the cuts.
Inside the exhibition
Not the Work…The Worker — Gordon Matta-Clark at MAXXI in Rome, Italy, presents a detailed examination of the artist who redefined the relationship between sculpture and architecture. Rather than building new structures, Matta-Clark famously used saws and jackhammers to open up existing ones, treating the city's neglected corners as sites for social and physical exploration.
The selection spans his most significant interventions, featuring large-scale documentation of his building cuts alongside architectural fragments and conceptual drawings. A significant portion of the gallery is dedicated to his collaborative urban projects and the films that recorded his process, highlighting his focus on collective labour and the political implications of urban space.
This exhibition is particularly relevant for the way it connects Matta-Clark’s historical actions to contemporary discussions on urban abandonment and reuse. By situating his work within the industrial aesthetic of the MAXXI, the show emphasises the physical reality of his anarchitecture and his lasting influence on how artists engage with the built world.
Worth travelling for?
A dense, intellectually rewarding show for visitors interested in the intersection of architecture, urban politics and radical conceptual art.
Not the Work…The Worker — Gordon Matta-Clark
Artlovers relevance
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