Gordon Matta-Clark nació en 1943 en Nueva York, Estados Unidos. Creció entre su país natal, Santiago de Chile y París. Entre 1962 y 1968 estudió arquitectura en Cornell University, oficio que abandonó para establecerse como artista, fotógrafo, cineasta y escritor en el bajo Manhattan. Ahí ocupó un lugar importante en el grupo Anarchitecture, parte del movimiento artístico que durante la década de 1970 recuperaría el barrio neoyorquino actualmente conocido como SoHo. Murió el 27 de agosto de 1978.
Entre otras piezas colectivas participó en la intervención urbana de compra de espacios baldíos Reality Properties/Fake Estates (1973) y en la apertura del restorán comunitario Food (1971).
Además de películas como Sauna View (1971) o Chinatown Voyeur (1973), performances como Tree Dance (Poughkeepsie NY, 1971) o The Wall (Berlín, 1976), su trabajo más célebre consiste en una serie de enormes cortes a edificios: Splitting (Englewood NJ, 1974), Conical Intersect (París, 1975), Day’s End (New York City, 1975), Office Baroque (Amberes, 1977) y Circus/The Caribbean Orange (Chicago, 1978).
Gordon Matta-Clark was born in 1943 in New York City. He grew up between his native country, Santiago de Chile and Paris. Between 1962 and 1968 he studied architecture at Cornell University, a career he abandoned to settle as an artist, photographer, filmmaker and writer in lower Manhattan. There, he was part of the Anarchitecture group and played a key role in the artistic movement that during the 1970s restored the neighborhood in New York City currently known as SoHo. He died on August 27, 1978.
Among other collective work, he participated in the purchase of unused urban land as part of Reality Properties/Fake Estates (1973) intervention, and in the opening of the community restaurant Food (1971).
Besides films like Sauna View (1971) or Chinatown Voyeur (1973), performances like Tree Dance (Poughkeepsie NY, 1971) or The Wall (Berlin, 1976), his more renowned work is a series of massive building cuts: Splitting (Englewood NJ, 1974), Conical Intersect (Paris, 1975), Day’s End (New York City, 1975), Office Baroque (Antwerp, 1977) and Circus/The Caribbean Orange (Chicago, 1978).
