Do It Yourself

A survey of the innovative sculptural and installation work of Damian Ortega. In works that spin, dangle, sprawl and climb, Damian Ortega reveals his fascination with how everyday things—whether manmade or organic—are constructed, and his keen interest in the tools and elements that facilitate the process of construction, from pickaxes and pulleys to bricks to molecules. A former political cartoonist, Ortega infuses his sculptural work with an incisive wit, bringing the humorist’s eye to works in which materials are manipulated in surprising ways. His objects reflect the dynamism of the world around us in ways that we might otherwise overlook, subtly subverting conventional views of sculpture as permanent and monumental. This book, accompanying a major exhibition at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, brings together work from 1996 to 2007, including sculpture, photography, and video, revealing the rich range of Ortega’s artistic activity.

Damian Ortega (born 1967) is the leading Mexican artist of the generation that emerged in the wake of the influence of Gabriel Orozco and Francis Alys. He lives and works in Mexico City and Berlin. Jessica Morgan is Curator of Contemporary Art at Tate Modern, London. Gabriel Kuri is an artist and author.