“What a difference the handmade paper makes. It expands the affective dimensions of B. Wurtz’s art and tweaks it in ways that might be altogether new. The noisy mundane materials of the marketplace that are common in his art—the plastic bags, the bread wrappers, the mesh sacks, the stuff salvaged from the recycling bin and cleaned up to live another day in whimsical sculptures and wall pieces—are set in soft collision with deluxe handmade paper, which in and of itself is a powerful sensual and signifying presence. An ideal continuum of master craftsmanship, traditional materials and recipes, it manifests uniqueness at every turn—in the vagaries of deckled edges, pliant translucent depths, toothy surfaces, receptivity to color—all of which not only epitomize but guarantee authenticity and value.

It’s miraculous that such beauty can be coaxed out of such humble natural fibers as abaca (derived from a type of banana tree found in the Philippines), linen and cotton. At the other end of the spectrum are Wurtz’s “collectibles,” none of which are in any way noteworthy, not withstanding the care and attention he bestows upon them. Even though it’s one of his talents to find elegance in non-descript materials arranged just so, there’s no way the plastic bags, clips, lids, wrappers and other so-called disposables can transcend themselves. That tension—between the rough and the refined—is always on display, however sublimated it may be by affective devices of humor, play, resourcefulness, conscientiousness–even sincerity.”

— Jan Avgikos, excerpt from Cannibal Designs: An Exercise in How to Make the World One’s Own, Essay for B. Wurtz: Works in Handmade Paper 2013-2015, Lab Grant Publication Series No. 16, Dieu Donné.

About the Artist

B. Wurtz (b. 1948, Pasadena, CA) lives and works in New York. He opened a major solo exhibition This Has No Name at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles in 2018 while simultaneously presenting his first public commission, Kitchen Trees, through the New York City Public Art Fund. In 2015 he was the subject of a retrospective exhibition at BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead, United Kingdom. In 2016 the exhibition traveled to La Casa Encendida, Madrid. He has had additional solo exhibitions at Kunstverein Freiburg; White Flag Projects, St. Louis; and Gallery 400, University of Illinois at Chicago. His work has been included in group exhibitions at MoMA PS1, New York; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; and Musée d’Art Contemporain de Lyon. (Source: Metro Pictures)

For more information, please visit their website: http://bwurtz.com

In the Studio

Available Works

Additional Links

B. Wurtz: Works in Handmade Paper 2013-2015, Lab Grant Publication Series No. 16, Dieu Donné.

Metro Pictures