Andrea Zittel: Critical Space is the first comprehensive survey in the US of work by this prolific artist, designer, engineer, consultant, and community advocate. The exhibition features twenty-one living units and environments by Zittel, including two site-specific installations that examine her working process, alongside drawings and documentation. Many of the presented works were made and titled under the aegis of Zittel’s corporate identity, A-Z Administrative Services, a conceptual framework analyzing the systematization, and limited “meaning,” of everyday, contemporary life. The A-Z Management and Maintenance Unit, Model 003 (1992), for example, is a 60-square-foot structure designed to compactly facilitate all of Zittel’s eating, cleaning, socializing, and storage needs; A-Z Six-Month Personal Uniforms (1991–94) includes black-and-white dresses designed by the artist, which she wore to all work and social engagements over six month periods of time each.
The exhibition was accompanied by a catalogue.
Andrea Zittel: Critical Space was organized by the Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, and the New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York.