An enormous work by American artist McArthur Binion (@mcarthurbinion) that was specifically commissioned by Museum Voorlinden (@museumvoorlinden). The work “DNA: Study: Voorlinden” (2019) was constructed out of (copies of) Binion’s address books from the 70s, 80s and 90s. Contact information of friends and professional contacts in the New York art scene paint a picture of Binion’s relationships, work, family and citizenship. And so, in fact, of his DNA.
This is a recurring theme in the works in the DNA Study Series, which combine the abstract form of the grid, applied here with blue oil-paint-stick, with the real and personal objects that tell the story of an African-American artist. Apart from the address books used here, Binion also created works in the series incorporating copies of his passport and birth certificate.
I would have to go back to have a closer look one day. Maybe I can find Jean Michel-Basquiat or Sol Lewitt on there somewhere. They were among the artists Binion befriended.
