Fred Sandback: Vertical Constructions

Fred Sandback: Vertical Constructions, published on the occasion of the Sandback show at David Zwirner in Fall 2016, takes its lead from a historic 1987 exhibition of Sandback’s wor k in Münster, also called Vertical Constructions . With a mixture of rescanned archival imagery that shows the work in situ in Münster, and new photography of these lyrical works installed the Zwirner gallery, this new catalogue is both a historical documen t and the next step in this body of work, almost exactly three decades after its first presentation. Not only was this a crucial period for Sandback, in which he experimented with the interaction between larger spaces and multiple vertical works, but the s how itself was very influential, setting the stage for some of the permanent installations to come. A new essay by renowned art historian Yve - Alain Bois picks up where Bois left off in his 2006 essay for Hatje Cantz, a decade later. Here Bois looks at hi s influential argument about the power of Sandback’s immateriality — its ability to linger in our memories of the work — in the context of the vertical constructions. Lisa LeFeuvre, a longtime scholar of Sandback’s work, offers a more historical treatment of t he show in the context of Sandback’s writings and other works from the 1980s. Finally, a reprint of Marianne Stockebrandt’s original essay for original Münster installation of the show reveals the dialogues around Sandback’s work at the time and helps us r econstruct the way the influence of his vertical works has continued to grow in the thirty years since.