-
About
Deploying light, shadow, scale and gravity, Fred Sandback’s work creates striking perceptual effects in response to the surrounding architecture. Using commercial acrylic yarn, Sandback usually traces the space between different points on floors, ceilings, and walls, creating shapes by outlining planes or volumes and constructing the illusion of a pane of glass or shimmering lines of color.
Fred Sandback was born in Bronxville, New York in 1943 and died in New York City in 2003. He was educated at Williston Academy (1957-1961) and Theodor-Heuss-Gymnasium in Heilbronn, West Germany (1961-1962). He studied philosophy at Yale University (1962-1966) and received an MFA from Yale’s School of Art and Architecture in 1969. Since the late sixties, his work has been featured in numerous group and individual exhibitions in the United States and Europe. Notable individual exhibitions include Dia Art Foundation, New York (1988), Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich (2003); Whitechapel Gallery, London (2011); and Glenstone, Potomac, Maryland (2015). In 1981, the Fred Sandback Museum was established in Winchendon, Massachusetts under the sponsorship of Dia Art Foundation. The Fred Sandback Archive was established in 2007, primarily to create and maintain an archival resource on the artist’s art. Sandback’s work is represented in numerous public collections, including the Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC; Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York.
-
Works
Fred Sandback
Untitled (Sculptural Study, Mikado)black , yellow and white acrylic yarnFurther images
Sandback made several Mikado drawings and sculptures, beginning in the 1990s, inspired by the chance-generated Mikado or “pick-up-sticks’ game. The artist’s Mikado sculptures are generally installed flat against a wall,...Sandback made several Mikado drawings and sculptures, beginning in the 1990s, inspired by the chance-generated
Mikado or “pick-up-sticks’ game. The artist’s Mikado sculptures are generally installed flat against a wall, with a few
exceptional examples occupying an entire space. This is a rare three-dimensional sculpture using more than one
color, the majority of the room-scaled works are in black. A three-dimensional black Mikado is in the collection of the
Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich.
Fred Sandback. Gallery Hyundai, Seoul. August 28–October 6, 2019.
Fred Sandback. Seoul: Gallery Hyundai, 2019. Text by Yve-Alain BoisSelected WorksInquire about works by Fred SandbackVideoExhibitions in the gallery-
FRED SANDBACK
11 June TO 20 August 2022 CHARLOTTENSTRASSEEach encounter with Fred Sandback’s sculpture is unique. The works may appear easily overlooked, especially...View Exhibition -
FRED SANDBACK
25 July TO 29 August 2020 CHARLOTTENSTRASSEThis summer, Galerie Thomas Schulte is pleased to present an installation by the US-American artist...View Exhibition
Artist News-
Fred Sandback / Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin
Solo Exhibition 31 March to 17 September 2023Hamburger Bahnhof’s exhibition Fred Sandback: Simple Facts features the legendary Minimalist artist’s trendsetting spatial installations. In an oeuvre dedicated to installations, Conceptual Art, Minimalism and...Read more -
FRED SANDBACK / PAUL EGE ART COLLECTION, FREIBURG I. BR., GERMANY
GROUP EXHIBITION 17 JULY TO 30 OCTOBERThe exhibition Backspace shows works by the artist Sebastian Dannenberg in dialogue with positions from the Paul Ege Art Collection. Consciously and questioningly, positions of...Read more