Begining in the 1960s, a number of separate artists, for quite different reasons, took the decision to repeat a single practice, or to make one ongoing piece, throughout their working lives.
Since 1965, Roman Opalka has made paintings, in increasingly lighter shades of grey, of the numbers from one to infinity. On Kawara's Today series, grey paintings showing the date of their manufacture, has continued since 1966. In 1998, Emese Benczur began to sew the same phrase onto reels of embroidered tape, a practice she will continue for the rest of her life.
These practices challenge both the present assumption that artists will make radically different work at different moments in their careers and an earlier model of personal and artistic development over the course of time. The work of the artists presented here does not change, develop or mature.
In their different ways, the 'truth' that Mondrian speaks of is more at stake for these artists than style, reputation, prevailing fashion, external events or current debate. Against change, critical reception or personal inclination, they seek to be true to a project or an idea. In keeping a distance from contemporary events, the vagaries of the self, or everyday incident and distraction, they implicitly or explicitly question the relevance of these issues to the making of art.
The Single Road will explore the implications of this attitude and commitment.