Zwirner & Wirth will present ten sculptures and three drawings by Fred Sandback spanning four decades of the artist's career. The work of Fred Sandback has been exhibited extensively in Europe and United States since the late 1960s. His first one-person exhibitions were at the Galerie Konrad Fischer, Düsseldorf, and the Galerie Heiner Friedrich, Munich, both in 1968. In addition, through the patronage of the Dia Foundation, Sandback was able to create a permanent installation of his work in, what he called, the Museum of Winchedon, which was open from 1981 to 1996. Most recently in 2003, several large sculptures were permanently installed at Dia Beacon, Beacon, NY.
The story of how Sandback began creating sculptures out of string is well documented by the artist and the historians. In 1966, George Sugarmann, in response to Sandback's frustrations with sculpture and sculptural practices, told him "Well if you are so sick of the parts, why not just make a line with a ball of string and be done with it". Following his first sculpture in string, Sandback realized that this material allowed him "to play with something existing and non existing at the same time".