Channa Horwitz
10 March to 1 May 2016
Sonakinatography, Composition XVII, 1987–2004
Casein paint on mylar
Courtesy the Estate of Channa Horwitz
Photo by Timo Ohler
Channa Horwitz (1932–2013, Los Angeles) was amongst the pioneers in the late 1960s and 70s of a distinctly Californian minimalism. She came relatively late to art, arranging it around her home life, and despite corresponding and swapping work with Sol LeWitt, she received little attention from the art world until the end of her life.
Horwitz claimed artistic freedom through confinement to a few simple rules. She came to base all her work on the numbers one to eight – often deploying a colour code for each number – and used this system to depict time and movement. Her outstanding series titled Sonakinatography can be understood in terms of notation, for instance for music or choreography.
Working mostly without the promise of exhibition, Horwitz was disciplined and prolific. Although she experimented with other materials – sculpture and photography, as well as performance and ultimately installation – her preferred form was drawing, often using ink on standard graph paper. At times during the exhibition Horwitz's work will be activated through music, and dance, and movement workshops.
This exhibition reconfigures the first survey of Horwitz's work at KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin, in 2015, and is curated again by Ellen Blumenstein, Chief Curator, KW. Since 2012, Horwitz's work has been included in major exhibitions including the Whitney Biennial, New York, 2014, the Venice Biennale, 2013, and 'Moments. A History of Performance in 10 Acts', ZKM, Karlsruhe, 2012.
Selected texts
Events
Friday 11 to Sunday 13 March 2016
News
Channa Horwitz
Language Series II, 1964–2004
Casein paint on graph paper
Courtesy Collection Oehmen, Germany
Photo by Marcus J. Leith
Exhibition view
Channa Horwitz
Photo by Marcus J. Leith
Foreground:
Investigation of shadows for the painting series Circles and Squares, 1967–68
Photograph
Courtesy the Estate of Channa Horwitz
Exhibition view
Channa Horwitz
Works from the series Sonakinatography, 1970–2012
Photo by Marcus J. Leith
Exhibition view
Channa Horwitz
Works from the series Sonakinatography, 1970–2012
Photo by Marcus J. Leith
Exhibition view
Channa Horwitz
Works from the series Sonakinatography, 1970–2012
Photo by Marcus J. Leith
Exhibition view
Channa Horwitz
Photo by Marcus J. Leith
Mark Fell
Interpretation of Sonakinatography, Composition III, 2016
Multi-speaker installation
Courtesy the artist
Photo by Marcus J. Leith
Exhibition view
Channa Horwtiz
Photo by Marcus J. Leith
Foreground:
Mark Fell
Interpretation of Sonakinatography, Composition III, 2016
Multi-speaker installation
Courtesy the artist
Background:
Channa Horwitz
Round in Three Parts, 1977
Ink on paper
Courtesy the Estate of Channa Horwitz
Exhibition view
Channa Horwtiz
Photo by Marcus J. Leith
Foreground:
Mark Fell
Interpretation of Sonakinatography, Composition III, 2016
Multi-speaker installation
Courtesy the artist
Channa Horwitz
To the Top Large to Large No. 1, Variation No. 1, 1980/2003
Ink on mylar
Courtesy the Estate of Channa Horwitz
Exhibition view
Channa Horwitz
Photo by Ewa Herzog
Channa Horwitz
Displacement, 2011/2016
in collaboration with Y8, ARTYOGA, Hamburg
Plywood blocks, paint and marker pen on MDF
Photo by Ewa Herzog
Channa Horwitz
Displacement, 2011/2016
in collaboration with Y8, ARTYOGA, Hamburg
Plywood blocks, paint and marker pen on MDF
Photo by Ewa Herzog
Channa Horwitz
Displacement, 2011/2016
in collaboration with Y8, ARTYOGA, Hamburg
Plywood blocks, paint and marker pen on MDF
Photo by Ewa Herzog
Channa Horwitz
Displacement, 2011/2016
in collaboration with Y8, ARTYOGA, Hamburg
Plywood blocks, paint and marker pen on MDF
Photo by Ewa Herzog
Exhibition view
Channa Horwitz
Photo by Marcus J. Leith
Clockwise from left:
Composition III: Poem Opera for Eight People, 1968
Ink on paper
Courtesy Collection Bergmeier
Sounds and Silences: Instructions to Elli Zimmerman, 1969
Ink on graph paper
Courtesy the Estate of Channa Horwitz
Dance Movement: Instructions to Sheila Rozann, 1969
Ink on graph paper
Courtesy the Estate of Channa Horwitz
The Time, 1969/2012
Audio recording on cassette tape
Courtesy the Estate of Channa Horwitz
Channa Horwitz
Dome Inside Square, 1968
Acrylic on wood
At the Tone the Time Will Be, 1969
Performance at Orlando Gallery, Encino, California
16 mm film, digitised. Film by Marlene Matlow
Courtesy Estate of Channa Horwitz
Photo by Marcus J. Leith
Channa Horwitz
Language Series I, 1964–2004
Casein paint on card on rag board
Courtesy Collection Oehmen, Germany
Photo by Marcus J. Leith
Exhibition view
Channa Horwitz
Photo by Marcus J. Leith
From left:
Language Series II: Squares + Rectangles, No. 8 of 8, 1964–2004
Ink on paper on rag board
Courtesy Collection Oehmen, Germany
Language Series I: Circles and Squares No. 2 of 8, 2004–05
Ink on graph paper
Language Series I: 1-5-8, 1964
Casein paint on paper
Language Series I: 1-4-5, 1964
Casein paint on paper
Language Series: 4-1-3, 2004–05
Ink and casein paint on paper board
Courtesy the Estate of Channa Horwitz
Exhibition view
Channa Horwitz
Photo by Marcus J. Leith
Clockwise from left:
Circle in Square or Square in Circle, 1968/2010
Acrylic on wood
Courtesy Collection RJP, Marseille
Black and White Circle and Square with Box and Shadow, 1968
Oil on canvas
Courtesy Estate of Channa Horwitz
Circle and Square on Cube, Studies No. 2, 1968
Acrylic on cardboard
2 parts
Courtesy Collection M. Galiano
Circles on a Cube, 1968/2011
Acrylic on wood
Estate of Channa Horwitz
Exhibition view
Channa Horwitz
Photo by Marcus J. Leith
Clockwise from left:
Double Square, 2005
Acrylic on canvas
Courtesy the Estate of Channa Horwitz
Black and White Circle and Square with Box and Shadow, 1968
Oil on canvas
Courtesy Estate of Channa Horwitz
Circle and Square on Cube, Studies No. 2, 1968
Acrylic on cardboard
2 parts
Courtesy Collection M. Galiano
Circle in Square or Square in Circle, 1968/2010
Acrylic on wood
Courtesy Collection RJP, Marseille
Channa Horwitz
Circles and Squares Painted in Shadow, 1967
Oil on canvas
Courtesy Collection Ellen Davis, Los Angeles
Photo by Marcus J. Leith
Exhibition view
Channa Horwitz
Photo by Marcus J. Leith
From left:
Patterns, 1982
Ink on paper on graph paper
9 parts
Courtesy the Estate of Channa Horwitz
Canon VI, Variation No. 2, 1982
Ink on mylar
Courtesy Collection Oehmen, Germany
Exhibition view
Channa Horwitz
Photo by Marcus J. Leith
From left:
Canon VI, Variation No. 2, 1982
Ink on mylar
Courtesy Collection Oehmen, Germany
8 Designs for Canon, 1982
Ink and casein paint on graph mylar
Courtesy Collection of Dr and Mrs Howard Resin
Channa Horwitz
Canon, 1987
Casein paint on graph mylar
Courtesy The Mohn Family Trust
Photo by Marcus J. Leith
Exhibition view
Channa Horwitz
Photo by Marcus J. Leith
Clockwise from left:
Moiré, 1984
Casein paint on mylar
Courtesy the Estate of Channa Horwitz
Flag No. 2, 1984
Casein paint on mylar
Courtesy Collection Amrita Jhaveri
Moiré, 1983
Ink on mylar
Courtesy the Estate of Channa Horwitz
Moiré, 1983
Ink on mylar
Courtesy the Estate of Channa Horwitz
Channa Horwitz
Number Matrix VI, 1990
Casein paint on mylar
Courtesy Collection Hundertmark and Birkholz
Photo by Marcus J. Leith
Channa Horwitz
Untitled, date unknown (c. 1968)
Ink, felt pen and pencil on graph paper
Courtesy Collection Bergmeier
Photo by Marcus J. Leith
Exhibition view
Channa Horwitz
Photo by Marcus J. Leith
From left to right:
Art and Technology Proposal: Suspension of Vertical Beams Moving in Space, 1968
Ink on graph paper
Movement for Beams, c.1968
Pencil on graph paper
Movement for Beams No. 2, c. 1968
Pencil and ink on graph paper
Movement for Beams, c. 1968
Pencil and ink on graph paper
Movement for Beams No. 3, c. 1968
Pencil on graph paper
Courtesy the Estate of Channa Horwitz
Channa Horwitz
Variation and Inversion on a Rhythm Series 3-1 through 3-14, 1975
Ink on graph paper
Courtesy the Estate of Channa Horwitz and François Ghebaly Gallery, Los Angeles
Photo by Marcus J. Leith
Channa Horwitz
Variation and Inversion on a Rhythm Series 3-1 through 3-14, 1975
Ink on graph paper
Courtesy the Estate of Channa Horwitz and François Ghebaly Gallery, Los Angeles
Photo by Steve White
Channa Horwitz
Variation and Inversion on a Rhythm Series 3-1 through 3-14, 1975
Ink on graph paper
Courtesy the Estate of Channa Horwitz and François Ghebaly Gallery, Los Angeles
Photo by Steve White
Exhibition view
Channa Horwitz
Photo by Marcus J. Leith
From left to right:
Rhythm of Lines 4-7, 1987
Casein paint and 23 karat gold leaf on mylar
Rhythm of Lines 6-7, 1988
Casein paint and 23 karat gold leaf on mylar
Rhythm of Lines 1-6, 1988
Casein paint and 23 karat gold leaf on mylar
Courtesy Collection Charlotte Feng Ford
Exhibition view
Channa Horwitz
Photo by Marcus J. Leith
From left to right:
8 Expanded, Variation II, 1981
Ink on graph mylar
Courtesy the Estate of Channa Horwitz
1/4 Noisy, 1998
Casein paint on mylar
Collection Ellen Davis, Los Angeles
Rhythm of Lines 4-7, 1987
Casein paint and 23 karat gold leaf on mylar
Courtesy Collection Charlotte Feng Ford
Channa Horwitz
8 Expanded, Variation I and 8 Expanded, Variation II, 1981
Ink on graph mylar
Courtesy the Estate of Channa Horwitz
Photo by Marcus J. Leith