Claude van Lingen’s 9/11 Memorial honors those who died on September 11, 2001 in the World Trade Center, Pentagon, and Pennsylvania tragedies and pays homage to those who died in the ensuing conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The exhibition centers around two large drawings in which the names of the 2,753 victims of the World Trade Center were written one over the other, in Claude’s signature style, causing the paper to shed and tear. Extending from this focal point are several other drawings memorializing those who died in the Pentagon attack (125), the Pennsylvania crash (39), as well as works commemorating those who died in the wars since October 7, 2001 in Afghanistan (about 2,500) and Iraq (over 4,000). The names of the latest deaths are regularly updated and written in performance at the openings of 9/11 commemorative exhibitions.
During this memorial exhibition, visitors will be asked to collaboratively create an artwork by writing the names of the victims killed in the 9/11 attacks on a large piece of paper then sign and date their action on another. The signatures will be attached to the back of the artwork and framed.
“I want to thank Sean Gaulager, Austin Nelsen, Leslie Moody Castro, Vladimir Mejia, Chris Burch and the whole team at Co-Lab Projects for presenting this memorial exhibition as well as Dr. Cynthia Playfair and Sherry Keller for lending these works for exhibition commemorating the horrific event that we witnessed personally.” - Claude van Lingen
Claude van Lingen was born in 1931 in Vereeniging, South Africa. He studied at the Johannesburg College of Art and, in 1952, was awarded the National Teacher’s Diploma in Art. After teaching high school for 12 years Claude was appointed Chairman of the Teacher Training Department at the Johannesburg College of Art, and in 1975, Chairman of the Fine Art Department. His application of the principles of the highly successful Perceptual Studies course he designed to his own work led to his winning the prestigious Ernest Oppenheimer Memorial Trust Award and representing South Africa at the 1975 São Paulo Biennial.
In 1978 Claude left South Africa and settled in New York. He regularly exhibited in solo and group exhibitions, most notably, in 1991, being invited to show at the prestigious John Weber Gallery. During the 1990s he was represented by the Vera Engelhorn Gallery. In 2005 Claude moved to Austin, TX where he has exhibited regularly, most notably with Co-Lab Projects, has received awards from The Chronicle and had a work acquired by the Blanton Museum of Art.
Since 1980 various incarnations of his 1000 Years From Now theme have been shown in galleries in the USA,Canada, and in the Johannesburg Art Museum. His work is in the permanent collections of the Musée des Art Decoratiefs de la Ville de Lausanne, Switzerland, The Blanton Museum of Art, Austin, Texas, and in the Johannesburg, Durban, and Hester Rupert Art Museums, South Africa.
