Find-a-Text: Artworld Edition

Unlike popular word search puzzles that commonly contain hidden words grouped around pop- cultural themes such as television or sports, Charles Gute’s austere text grids contain names and references that are grounded firmly within the realm of contemporary art. In each work, the contemplative gaze of the viewer is conflated with that of the puzzle-solver looking for hidden words. This dual reception playfully questions the notion of art as a “puzzle” with hidden meanings that the viewer must decode in order to appreciate.

The exhibition “FIND-A-TEXT,” a solo exhibition of works by Charles Gute (November 6 – December 12, 2008) was accompanied by a 96-page paperback publication—a book that both emulates the look and feel of mass-market puzzle books and that effectively functions as a catalogue raisonné of this particular body of work.

More than 70 Contemporary Art Puzzles