Luis Camnitzer
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Biography
Luis Camnitzer (b.1937) is a German-born Uruguayan artist, educator, and writer who moved to New York in 1964. He was at the vanguard of 1960s Conceptualism, working primarily in printmaking, sculpture, and installations. For more than five decades, his practice has been marked by an enduring interrogation of systems of power, the intersection of art and pedagogy, and the deconstruction of language and other familiar frameworks.
In 1964, Camnitzer co-founded The New York Graphic Workshop, along with Liliana Porter and José Guillermo Castillo. They probed the social impact and theoretical possibilities of printmaking by defying its traditional limitations. The workshop’s innovative propositions, including three-dimensional prints and an exhibition staged through the mail, epitomize the irreverence and social efficacy unifying Camnitzer’s diverse body of work.
Language has been a key subject of inquiry for Camnitzer since 1966. His juxtapositions of text and image in various media expose the fallibility of both representational systems. Early prints annotated with the procedures of their own production characterize his biting wit. As do his recurrent subversions of individual authorship and his scrutiny of the discrete art object and its commercial value. As Camnitzer’s interest in the polysemy of representational systems unfolded, so did his aim to express socio-political concerns through his art—especially in his rebuke of military regimes taking power in Latin America and the fraught political landscape of his adopted country, the United States.
The wooden Object Boxes that Camnitzer began constructing in the early 1970s typify his investigation of the relationship between language and image. Objects, drawings, and found images are contained between glass panes and accompanied by brass plates bearing evocative yet enigmatic texts. Rather than definitive explanations of the contents, the correlation of text to object or image is an extemporaneous construct, an indeterminate narrative meant to be formed by the viewer.
Camnitzer’s work frequently beckons the subjectivity of the spectator through discursive, interactive, and participatory propositions that reveal his dedication to pedagogy. As an educator, he has advocated since the 1960s for the need for art to transcend the boundaries of its conventional parameters and establishments. That conviction is the basis of A Museum Is a School, a touring site-specific installation displayed on the exterior of various arts institutions since 2009. By emphatically re-defining the museum, Camnitzer re-contextualizes the work housed inside. Under his proposal, art becomes a dynamic process rather than a product, a means of acquiring and developing knowledge; the museum becomes a forum for exchange; the artist becomes a facilitator rather than an authority. Camnitzer’s commitment to involving the public in this creative process reflects his role as a progenitor of process-oriented art, his abiding commitment to institutional critique, and his lifelong conviction in art’s transformative function.
Retrospectives of Camnitzer’s work have been presented at El Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, Spain (2018); Museo de Arte de la Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá (2012); El Museo del Barrio, New York, NY (2011); Kunsthalle zu Kiel, Germany (2003); and Lehman College Art Gallery, Bronx, NY (1991). The artist’s work has been the subject of solo exhibitions at El Museo de la Memoria y los Derechos Humanos, Santiago, Chile (2013); Kemper Art Museum, St. Louis, MO (2011); Daros Latinamerica, Zürich, Switzerland (2010); and El Museo del Barrio, New York, NY (1995), among others. His work has been included in many group exhibitions, including HOME—So Different, So Appealing, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, CA, traveled to Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX (2017); Under the Same Sun: Art from Latin America Today, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY (2014); and Information, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY (1970). He has participated in several international biennials, including documenta 11, Kassel, Germany (2002); Whitney Biennial, New York, NY (2000); and Pavilion of Uruguay, 43rd Venice Biennale, Italy (1988). Camnitzer’s work is represented in the collections of The Art Institute of Chicago, IL; Centre Pompidou, Paris, France; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY; The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY; São Paulo Museum of Art, Brazil; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY; Tate Modern, London, United Kingdom; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN; and Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY, among others. His honors include the Guggenheim Fellowship in 1982 and 1961. From 1969–2000, he taught at the State University of New York (SUNY) College at Old Westbury and is professor emeritus.
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Exhibitions
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Luis Camnitzer
Alteration of the World (1967–78) 3 Nov 2023 - 28 Jan 2024 GermantownAlexander Gray Associates, Germantown presents Luis Camnitzer: Alteration of the World (1967–78), the artist’s eighth solo exhibition with the Gallery. The show highlights core tenets of Camnitzer’s practice—the deconstruction of...Read more -
Luis Camnitzer
Arbitrary Order 19 Jan - 25 Feb 2023 New YorkAlexander Gray Associates, New York presented Luis Camnitzer: Arbitrary Order, the artist’s seventh one-person exhibition with the Gallery. It debuts A to Cosmopolite, the first installment of an ongoing series...Read more -
"A sheet of paper casts a shadow."
16 Sep - 30 Oct 2022 GermantownAlexander Gray Associates, Germantown presents 'A sheet of paper casts a shadow.” This group exhibition features a selection of works on paper by six Gallery artists, Ricardo Brey, Luis Camnitzer,...Read more -
To Name a Place: Contemporary Landscape
23 Jun - 5 Aug 2022 New YorkParticipating artists: Miya Ando Luis Camnitzer Mel Chin Justine Fisher Coco Fusco Valeska Soares Ryan Trecartin Arnie Zimmerman Alexander Gray Associates presents To Name a Place: Contemporary Landscape, a group...Read more -
South South
26 Feb - 11 Apr 2021 GermantownAlexander Gray Associates, Germantown presents South South, an exhibition that examines poetics of space and orientation in works by five Gallery artists: Ricardo Brey, Luis Camnitzer, Melvin Edwards, Regina Silveira,...Read more -
Between the Lines
11 Sep - 17 Oct 2020 New YorkAlexander Gray Associates, New York presented Between the Lines, a group exhibition of recent and historic sculptures and works on paper by Luis Camnitzer, Jennie C. Jones, Hassan Sharif, Valeska...Read more -
Luis Camnitzer
Towards an Aesthetic of Imbalance 9 Jan - 15 Feb 2020 New YorkAlexander Gray Associates presented its sixth exhibition of Luis Camnitzer’s work, highlighting two key installations, El Mirador [The Observatory] (1996), and Territorio Libre [Free Territory] (2018). For over five decades,...Read more -
Luis Camnitzer
Short Stories 23 Feb - 1 Apr 2017 New YorkAlexander Gray Associates presented Luis Camnitzer: Short Stories, featuring new work in a variety of media, including: video, printmaking, and modified readymade objects. For his fifth solo-exhibition at the Gallery,...Read more -
Passage
29 Oct - 12 Dec 2015 New YorkAlexander Gray Associates presented Passage, an exhibition featuring work by Ai Weiwei, Siah Armajani, Luis Camnitzer, Valie Export, Hans-Peter Feldmann, Mona Hatoum, Robert Longo, Ana Mendieta, Dennis Oppenheim, Regina Silveira,...Read more -
Luis Camnitzer
The Mediocrity of Beauty 19 Feb - 28 Mar 2015 New YorkAlexander Gray Associates presented an exhibition of artwork by Luis Camnitzer, featuring works in a variety of media dating from 1968 to the present. An accompanying catalogue was published in...Read more -
Broken Spaces: Cut, Mark, and Gesture
27 Feb - 6 Apr 2013 New YorkBroken Spaces: Cut, Mark, and Gesture Luis Camnitzer Jeremy Gilbert-Rolfe Harmony Hammond Lorraine O'Grady Hassan Sharif Jack Whitten Inaugurating its representation of Harmony Hammond, Alexander Gray Associates presented Broken Spaces:...Read more -
Luis Camnitzer
12 Sep - 20 Oct 2012 New YorkAlexander Gray Associates was pleased to present its third individual exhibition with Luis Camnitzer, whose contributions since the 1960s to the development of Latin American contemporary art and international Conceptual...Read more -
Landscape as an Attitude
23 Jun - 30 Jul 2010 New York -
Luis Camnitzer
Memorial 17 Mar - 24 Apr 2010 New YorkLuis Camnitzer's exhibition, Memorial at Alexander Gray Associates consisted of a large-scale new work that the artist completed in 2009. In this 195-part artwork, Camnitzer replicates the Montevideo telephone directory,...Read more -
Propose: Works on Paper from the 1970s
15 Jan - 14 Feb 2009 New York -
Luis Camnitzer
19 Mar - 26 Apr 2008 New YorkAlexander Gray Associates Since the late 1960s, Luis Camnitzer has created works in a variety of media—including installation, printmaking, drawing, and photography—that expose our collective indifference to the violence governments...Read more
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Public Collections
ARCO Corporation, New York, NY
Art Institute of Chicago, IL
Biblioteca Communale, Milan, Italy
Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris, France
Blanton Museum of Art, University of Texas, Austin, TX
Bowdoin College Museum of Art, Brunswick, ME
Cabinet of Drawings and Prints of the Uffizzi, Florence, Italy
Casa de las Américas, Havana, Cuba
Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
Centro Galego de Arte Contemporánea, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Centro Wifredo Lam, Havana, Cuba
Colby College Museum of Art, Waterville, ME
Colección Patrica Phelps de Cisneros, Caracas, Venezuela/New York, NY
Daros Latinamerica, Zürich, Switzerland
Fonds Régional d’Art Contemporain de Lorraine, Metz, France
Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, MA
Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel
J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA
Jewish Museum, New York, NY
Library of Jerusalem, Israel
Malmö Stad, Sweden
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Castilla y León, León, Spain
Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires, Argentina
Museo de Arte Moderno, Bogotá, Colombia
Museo de Arte Moderno, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Museo de Arte Moderno, Cartagena, Colombia
Museo de Arte y Diseño Contemporáneo, San José, Costa Rica
Museo de Artes Plásticas, Montevideo, Uruguay
Museo de Bellas Artes, Caracas, Venezuela
Museo de Gráfica y Dibujo Latinoamericano, Roldanillo, Colombia
El Museo del Barrio, New York, NY
Museo del Grabado, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Museo La Tertulia, Cali, Colombia
Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, Spain
Museo Nacional de Artes Visuales, Montevideo, Uruguay
Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Havana, Cuba
Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Santiago, Chile
Museo Universitario de Arte Contemporáneo, Mexico City, Mexico
Museu de Arte Contemporânea da Universidad de São Paulo, Brazil
Museum Lodz, Łódź, Poland
Museum of Contemporary Art, Skopje, North Macedonia
Museum of Contemporary Graphic Art, Fredrikstad, Norway
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX
The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
Museum Wiesbaden, Germany
National Museum of Modern Art, Baghdad, Iraq
New York Public Library, New York, NY
Pérez Art Museum Miami, FL
Queens Museum, New York, NY
Rollins Museum of Art, Winter Park, FL
São Paulo Museum of Art, Brazil
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC
Snite Museum, Notre Dame University, South Bend, IN
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
Tate Modern, London, United Kingdom
Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
Yeshiva University, New York, NY -
News / Events
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Luis Camnitzer
The Clemente Center November 3, 2023Luis Camnitzer is included in a group exhibition, BoriGuay: Off the Grid, at The Clemente Center's LES Gallery in New York.
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Luis Camnitzer and Valeska Soares
Galeria Marlborough Madrid September 14, 2023Luis Camnitzer and Valeska Soares are included in a group exhibition, RAYUELA / El Orden Falso. Comisariada por Octavio Zaya at Galeria Marlborough Madrid, Spain.
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Luis Camnitzer
Biennale de l'Art et de la Nature Urbaine September 1, 2023Luis Camnitzer among participating artists in Biennale de l'Art et de la Nature Urbaine: (re)connecting.earth (02): Beyond Water on the banks of Lake Geneva, Switzerland.
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Ricardo Brey
Juan Francisco Elso: Por América at the Phoenix Art Museum May 6, 2023Ricardo Brey, Luis Camnitzer, Melvin Edwards, and Lorraine O’Grady are included in the group exhibition Juan Francisco Elso: Por América organized by El Museo de Barrio and curated by Olga Viso travels to the Phoenix Art Museum.
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Luis Camnitzer
Fundación Juan March Madric March 31, 2023Luis Camnitzer is included in the group exhibition Escala: Escultura (1945-2000) at the Juan March Madrid Foundation in Madrid, Spain.
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Luis Camnitzer
Bowdoin College Museum of Art December 15, 2022Luis Camnitzer included in the group exhibition Turn of Phrase: Language and Translation in Global Contemporary Art at the Bowdoin College Museum of Art in Brunswick, ME.
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Juan Francisco Elso: Por América
El Museo del Barrio October 27, 2022Ricardo Brey, Luis Camnitzer, Melvin Edwards, and Lorraine O’Grady included in the group exhibition Juan Francisco Elso: Por América curated by Olga Viso at El Museo del Barrio, New York.
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Luis Camnitzer
Art Omi October 12, 2022Luis Camnitzer among those to be honored at the Francis J. Greenburger Awards presented by Art Omi at the New Museum, New York.
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Luis Camnitzer
Pratt Institute September 27, 2022Luis Camnitzer included in a panel discussion Voces: Exploring Latin American/Latinx Artists at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY.
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Luis Camnitzer
Galerie Lelong & Co. May 12, 2022Luis Camnitzer included in the group exhibition Alfredo Jaar: THE TEMPTATION TO EXIST at Galerie Lelong & Co. in New York.
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Luis Camnitzer
Institute for Contemporary Art, Virginia Commonwealth University March 16, 2022Luis Camnitzer will deliver a talk in relation to A Museum is a School, his site-specific installation at the Institute for Contemporary Art at Virgina Commonwealth University, on view from March 12, 2022 through January 1, 2023.
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Luis Camnitzer
Institute for Contemporary Art at Virginia Commonwealth University March 12, 2022Luis Camnitzer's one-person exhibition A Museum is a School at the Institute for Contemporary Art at Virginia Commonwealth University.
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Luis Camnitzer
University of Leeds February 9, 2022Luis Camnitzer and poet Tan Lin discuss the binds between form, content and context that shape the impact of public language.
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Articles / Reviews