MILAN.- MASSIMODECARLO is presenting New Works, a solo exhibition by American artist Sanford Biggers. Returning to Italy after over a decade, Biggers continues his exploration of historical objects and discarded materials to create artworks that disrupt cultural hierarchies. As the first artist ever commissioned for a campus-wide installation at Rockefeller Center in New York in 2021, Biggers is renowned for his ability to merge past and present, high and low culture, and tradition and innovation. In this body of work, he once again pushes our visual literacy, presenting a series of new works that simultaneously unravel and reassemble histories.
Known for his research-driven practice, Biggers merges disparate narratives into cohesive yet unpredictable compositions. In his hands, a quilt transforms from a humble object into a performative, sculptural piece that evokes African-American craft while engaging with the visual tricks of op-art.
Through the precise geometry of quilts and the blending of neoclassical and West African forms, Biggers ensures that the past and present, the fabricated and the handmade, coexist seamlessly in his work - while keeping us guessing which is which.
His pieces are undeniably “funky” - in the best sense - as Chisenhale Gallery Director Dr. Zoé Whitley aptly describes. In the exhibition text, Whitley writes, “From fragments of fabric, steel, marble, and ceramic, whole worlds emerge through pastiche and reassembly to form a funky remix.” Quoting the legendary bassist and singer Bootsy Collins, she adds: “Funk is the absence of any and everything you can think of, but the very essence of all that is.” It’s this same inventive spirit that drives Biggers’ practice, rooted in the African-American tradition of making do with what’s available. As Biggers himself notes, “We use what we have to innovate,” transforming the everyday into something extraordinary.
Biggers doesn’t just transform objects; he redefines how we perceive them, urging us to rethink concepts of value, authenticity, and art historical "purity." With this latest exhibition, he continues to weave new narratives from the fragments of the past, reminding us that art, like history, is always subject to reinterpretation.
And sometimes, that process starts with something as simple as a quilt. “When I hit a mental block, I’ll put up some quilts on the wall and just sit there to be among them for a while,” Biggers says. It’s not just about the fabric, after all; it’s about the invisible hands that have stitched, woven, and patched together time itself. That quiet energy - part material, part aura - becomes Biggers’ muse, guiding him toward new ideas. In a world constantly spinning forward, it seems that the quiet company of the past is all Biggers needs to unlock the future.
Sanford Biggers (Los Angeles, 1970) lives and works in New York, US.
Known for his research-driven practice, Biggers merges disparate narratives into cohesive yet unpredictable compositions. In his hands, a quilt transforms from a humble object into a performative, sculptural piece that evokes African-American craft while engaging with the visual tricks of op-art.
Through the precise geometry of quilts and the blending of neoclassical and West African forms, Biggers ensures that the past and present, the fabricated and the handmade, coexist seamlessly in his work - while keeping us guessing which is which.
Biggers’ practice encompasses a range of mediums including films, installations, video, drawing, sculpture and performance. Through these various mediums, the artist challenges our given relationships to history with its established symbols and beliefs, combining African-American traditions and aesthetics with Japanese symbolism, Central European references with contemporary urban experiences and Italian technique with the rhythms of hip-hop music.
