The Christopher Cutts Gallery is proud to present An Whitlock’s “it’s just a number.”
This exhibition brings together several new bodies of work by the Canadian conceptual artist, known for her experimental installations, photography, and sculpture work. Whitlock’s practice is centred on sustained investigations of material, process, and labour-intensive techniques. This exhibition also includes earlier pieces, created up to 50 years ago. Hairlines, originally shown in the 1980s, is presented here for the first time in decades, along with textile-based work from the 1970s.
The title series, it’s just a number, was developed through a meticulous, time-intensive process of hand-stamping the numbers 1 through 80 into intricate, lace-like compositions. The range of numbers was based on the artist’s age, and the project took her several years to complete as she worked in phases — designing and producing the stamps, composing the eighty 9 x 9-inch works, and then digitizing them to generate negative counterparts. Whitlock was particularly interested in the unpredictability of the process. She designed the stamps to incorporate multiple iterations of each numeral, in varying orientations and rotations, making it impossible to control the precise placement of each impression. Through repetition and overlap, the numbers become abstracted, and the interlacing lines form elegant, ornate patterns.
The series culminates in a suite of editioned prints, as well as an art book featuring all 160 pieces — compositions for every number and their corresponding negatives.
The book functions as both an archive and an art object, produced at a 1 to 1 scale with the original artwork. With blank verso pages, the format invites participation and engagement, allowing the collector to extract individual prints and install or display them as desired. The publication is issued in an edition of 80 and is currently available to order. It will also be available at the opening tomorrow.
