Seen in the Mirror: Things from the Cartin CollectionLuke SysonLabel: David ZwirnerDescription: An exciting unexpected and beautiful encounter with one collector’s deeply personal assemblage of works. Since the 1980s Mickey Cartin has assembled a remarkable collection of objects and art—Renaissance and modernist paintings master prints sculptures illuminated manuscripts and more. Exploring the theory behind collecting art and how Cartin’s approach to collecting diverges from common practices this publication offers a unique perspective on an intimate practice. Unconcerned with hewing to specific categories time periods or media Cartin’s collection—which includes the likes of Josef Albers Sol Lewitt and Forrest Bess—creates active combinations and disrupts homogeneity privileging the drive of curiosity. A documentation of the celebrated exhibition Seen in the Mirror: Things from the Cartin Collection at David Zwirner New York in 202 this catalogue includes additional artworks from Cartin’s trove along with views of his home conveying how he lives with these various types of work. Cartin selected each work in the exhibition and catalogue as a reflection of his deep connections with the many artists represented therein. The conversation between Cartin and David Leiber illuminates the tensions between study and instinct reading versus experiencing as well as the influences and figures that inform his personal curatorial practice. With an introduction by the curator of the Cartin Collection Steven Holmes and a text from the art historian Luke Syson this inspiring volume is a spirited investigation of a very different method of and approach to collecting.
