This summer, Snowman, is the protagonist al MoMa. A sculpture consisting of a real snowman encased in a glass door freezer, from Peter Fischli (Swiss, 1952) and his collaborator David Weiss (Swiss, 1946-2012); the work arrives at the Rockefeller Sculpture Garden museum's Abby Aldrich as part of the presentation of Artist's Choice by Fischli. Here, Fischli borrows a question engraved on a painting presented outdoors by artist Ben Vautier (French, 1935): “If everything is sculpture, why make sculpture?” Together with Snowman, 20 objects selected by Fischli offer the answers to this question.
Snowman (2016) is an updated version of a 1987 site-specific work by Fischli and Weiss commissioned by a German thermal power station whose energy, in the form of heat, paradoxically, was used to keep the snowman permanently frozen. Although a snowman is, as Fischli notes, a "sculpture that almost anyone can create" simply by rolling three snow globes and stacking them on top of each other, Fischli and Weiss's Snowman depend on a technically complex apparatus for the its subsistence throughout the year. Over the course of three decades of collaboration, Fischli and Weiss shared an interest in exploring the inherent contradictions and extraordinary potential of everyday objects and situations.
Snowman takes on new associations in the setting of MoMA's Sculpture Garden and in the company of works that span the past century, from artists Henri Matisse and Aristide Maillol to Tony Smith and Katharina Fritsch. Together, Snowman and his companions bear witness to the vast possibilities for sculpture today and the role of museums in nurturing and preserving their collections.
The event was organized by Peter Fischli and Cara Manes, Assistant Curator, Department of Painting and Sculpture. The Artist's Choice series of exhibitions is made possible through The Agnes Gund Artist's Choice Fund by Iara Lee and George Gund III, Lulie and Gordon Gund, Ann and Graham Gund, Sarah and Geoffrey Gund.
