Gabriel Orozco (b. 1962)

Marian Goodman Gallery, New York
Private Collection, Miami

New York, Marian Goodman Gallery, Gabriel Orozco, Recent Works, May 6-June 14, 2008, illustrated in color
New York, The Museum of Modern Art, December 13, 2009-March 1, 2010; Basel, Kunstmuseum, April 18-August 8, 2010; Paris, Centre Pompidou, September 15, 2010-January 3, 2011; London, Tate Modern, January 19-April 25, 2011, Gabriel Orozco, p. 233, illustrated in color

The sculpture is in very good condition. The piece of wood displays a highly burnished gilded surface on one of the four faces. The gold leaf surface is stable but shows signs of minor wear in a few areas. These areas include minor losses along the edges and proper left bottom corner. A 1” x 2” scuff in the gold was detected above the proper right bottom corner and not far from a 3” hairline scratch on the other side. Several scattered tiny losses and scuffs in the gold were seen on the top and lower section of the gilded surface. The painted surface is in very good condition. The paint is stable with no significant losses evident. Minor dimensional cracking was noted in the exposed wood on the top and proper right side of the sculpture. (This condition report has been provided courtesy of Wilson Conservation, LLC)
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

"I love the idea of how trees grow from a center," Orozco once explained, "how they also grow underground, and on the ground, from a center and a horizon, they start to develop all the branches. A tree is a metaphor for me."  

Executed in 2007, Tronco verde expands upon Gabriel Orozco's original Samurai Tree Invariants by formally appropriating an organic element, a tree trunk, as both support and participatory agent in the depiction of an elegant structural diagram of circles and quadrants. Conceptually related to these now iconic paintings, Tronco verde reaffirms Orozco's technical precision; namely the mathematical logic behind a game of chess.

When explaining the concept behind the Samurai Tree series, Orozco stated, “I knew they were going to be read as paintings, and I think they are not about painting. They are diagrams. The idea of a diagram has the pretension to explain how things work, how objects behave and how plants grow.” 

To understand Orozco's logic, the viewer must be aware of the artist's instructions for the creation of this series. Taken from Gabriel Orozco: The Samurai Tree Invariants, the following steps indicate the sequential progression of the 677 color variants produced in this critical body of work. 

1. Starting from the center, a sequence of growing circles multiplied or divided by two, developed to the limits of the square.
2. The structural and directional axes of the sequence generate a field division.
3. We have four colors, one color per field.
4. The location and distribution of colors start from the center and "jump" like knight in a chess game (one and two or two and one fields).
5. The background can also be divided by four and the location of colors can be related to the circle in the center as contrary, complementary or equalizing.
6. The whole structure can rotate as much as the background.