Matthew Marks Gallery

Robert Gober

Since the 1970s Robert Gober has been exploring sexuality, religion, and politics in meticulously handcrafted work. Early in his career The New York Times described his sculptures as “minimal forms with maximum content.” In his art even the most commonplace object — a shoe, a sink, a bag of cat litter — contains multiple meanings and implications. The foundation of his practice is the physical act of making. What might appear at first to be a dented can of ordinary house paint, for example, might turn out to be a hand-painted sculpture in solid lead crystal.

While Gober’s work addresses universal themes of loss and longing, his personal experiences deeply inform his art, charging each work with an acute sense of intimacy. Among his best-known works are his immersive installations, the first of which, created in 1992 at the Dia Center for the Arts in New York, included a barred window set high in a wall, bundles of hand-printed newspapers, and sculptures of sinks complete with running water, among other elements. For his 1997 exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, Gober made an installation with a wooden staircase ascending up the back wall, its steps rendered inaccessible by a cascade of flowing water, while three storm drains set in the floor offered glimpses of lifelike tide pools below. The installation for his 2005 exhibition at Matthew Marks Gallery comprised eight drawings and fifteen sculptures arranged in rows like the pews of a chapel, leading to a large cross bearing a headless concrete crucifix with water pouring out of its nipples. On either side, a door slightly ajar revealed a bathtub with human legs cast in beeswax just visible above the water.

Robert Gober (b. 1954) has participated in numerous international exhibitions, among them five Whitney Biennials and five Venice Biennales, including the 2001 Biennale, where he represented the United States. His work was the subject of a large-scale survey at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 2014. Other one-person museum exhibitions have been organized by the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, the Dia Center for the Arts in New York, the Serpentine Gallery in London, the Jeu de Paume in Paris, and the Schaulager in Basel. He lives and works in New York.

Selected Works

Exhibitions

ROBERT GOBER
“Shut up.” “No. You shut up.”

November 5, 2021–January 29, 2022

522 West 22nd Street
New York

ROBERT GOBER
Sculpture, Photographs, and Works on Paper 1976–2019

May 20–June 10, 2020

Online

ROBERT GOBER
Tick Tock

February 23–April 21, 2018

526 West 22nd Street
New York

ROBERT GOBER
Sculpture Drawings Studies

January 19–April 6, 2013

1062 North Orange Grove
7818 Santa Monica Boulevard
Los Angeles

ROBERT GOBER

February 2–March 29, 2008

526 West 22nd Street
521 West 21st Street
New York

ROBERT GOBER

February 3–March 10, 2007

526 West 22nd Street
521 West 21st Street
New York

ROBERT GOBER

March 5–April 23, 2005

522 West 22nd Street
New York

Group Exhibitions

VIJA CELMINS / ROBERT GOBER

October 29, 2022–January 28, 2023

1062 North Orange Grove
7818 Santa Monica Boulevard
Los Angeles

HOME LIFE

January 29–March 27, 2021

523 West 24th Street
New York

THOMAS DEMAND, KATHARINA FRITSCH, ROBERT GOBER, BRICE MARDEN, KEN PRICE, MARTIN PURYEAR, CHARLES RAY, PAUL SIETSEMA, ANNE TRUITT, TERRY WINTERS

September 14–October 21, 2017

1062 North Orange Grove
7818 Santa Monica Boulevard
Los Angeles

ROBERT ADAMS, VINCENT FECTEAU, ROBERT GOBER, MARTIN PURYEAR, CHARLES RAY, ANNE TRUITT, TERRY WINTERS

October 31, 2015–February 13, 2016

523 West 24th Street
New York

10 SCULPTURES

July 11–August 29, 2015

1062 North Orange Grove
7818 Santa Monica Boulevard
Los Angeles

ARTISTS FOR ARTISTS
51st Anniversary Exhibition to Benefit the Foundation for Contemporary Arts

December 13, 2014–January 10, 2015

526 West 22nd Street
New York

A DRAWING SHOW

October 4–November 29, 2014

526 West 22nd Street
New York

SUMMER GROUP EXHIBITION

July 19–August 16, 2014

1062 North Orange Grove
7818 Santa Monica Boulevard
Los Angeles

SCULPTURE
Katharina Fritsch, Robert Gober, Jasper Johns, Ellsworth Kelly, Martin Puryear, Charles Ray

February 8–April 19, 2014

523 West 24th Street
New York

NEW WORK
Katharina Fritsch, Robert Gober, Nan Goldin, Andreas Gursky, Martin Honert, Charles Ray, Terry Winters

September 10–October 16, 2010

522 West 22nd Street
526 West 22nd Street
523 West 24th Street
New York

FIVE WORKS IN BRONZE

November 3, 2007–January 12, 2008

523 West 24th Street
New York

SMALL SCULPTURE

September 23–October 28, 2006

523 West 24th Street
New York

RECENT DRAWINGS
Robert Gober, Roni Horn, Jasper Johns, Ellsworth Kelly, Brice Marden, Ken Price, Charles Ray, Terry Winters

January 14–February 25, 2006

523 West 24th Street
New York

SCULPTURE
Darren Almond, Peter Fischli David Weiss, Katharina Fritsch, Robert Gober, Donald Judd, Ellsworth Kelly, Ugo Rondinone, Tony Smith

September 20–November 1, 2003

522 West 22nd Street
New York

100 DRAWINGS AND PHOTOGRAPHS
Tenth Anniversary Exhibition

November 3–December 22, 2001

523 West 24th Street
New York

ANNI ALBERS, ROBERT BECK, CADY NOLAND, JOAN SEMMEL, AND NANCY SHAVER
An exhibition curated by Robert Gober

July 5–September 10, 1999

522 West 22nd Street
New York

OPEN SECRETS
Seventy Pictures on Paper, 1815 to the Present

November 19–December 28, 1996

523 West 24th Street
New York

AN EXHIBITION TO BENEFIT ACT-UP
The AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power

December 5–December 21, 1991

1018 Madison Avenue
New York

Books

ROBERT GOBER
Tick Tock

ROBERT GOBER
Sculptures and Installations 1979–2007

ROBERT GOBER
A Robert Gober Lexicon

100 DRAWINGS AND PHOTOGRAPHS
Tenth Anniversary Exhibition

OPEN SECRETS
Seventy Pictures on Paper, 1815 to the Present

Posters

ROBERT GOBER
“Shut up.” “No. You shut up.”

ROBERT GOBER
Tick Tock

out of print