For more than 20 years, American artist Andrea Zittel has lived in the desert near Joshua Tree National Park. Less than three hours outside of Los Angeles, the area could not feel further from the big city. Zittel has established herself in the wilderness with a home and an arts center where people can live, experiment and work together as part of her A-Z Westproject. With this community she explores a question that has always informed her work: how do we want to live and what material things are necessary to make that possible? Most of the collective’s necessary items are created on site from simple materials: ceramic bowls (called “A-Z Containers”) are shaped in the studios and used as all-purpose tableware alongside homespun carpets and textiles, and all serve as an ongoing meditation on the objects in our lives. Back in Berlin, Sprüth Magers is presenting these pieces not in a classic gallery exhibition, but as part of a pop-up store.
The space, which used to house the Image Movement store, seems almost purpose-built for this show: every bowl, garment and wall piece blends seamlessly into the wooden ambience, which is itself a work of art (created by Rosemarie Trockel and Thea Djordjadze). The recessed bookcases now house Zittel’s beautiful ceramics, some of which are painted white, others natural – each one unique. They are all made to Zittel’s specifications by the people who fill A-Z West with life. The pieces exist in harmony with each designer’s handwriting and style and the artist’s larger blueprint. Anything purchased from A-Z West directly supports the community: all proceeds flow back into the studios and directly benefit the artists who work there.
Text: Laura Storfner / Photos: Jonas Michel
Sprüth Magers Window, Oranienburger Str.18, 10178 Berlin–Mitte; map
Andrea Zittel: A-Z West Works, Pop-up Store, 13 & 27.11.2021, 11–18h. December dates will be announced in due course.
@spruethmagers
@andreazittel
