Chicago’s Graham Foundation spotlights Arakawa and Madeline Gins

Over 40 drawings and decades of archival materials from the late artist-architects Shusaku Arakawa and Madeline Gins have arrived in Chicago, documenting an early period in their practice that would later go on to influence their architectural projects—buildings designed to reverse aging.

Geometric line art, cages, architectural models, and section drawings all break down the evolution of “Reversible Destiny,” the concept that the built environment is able to influence human physiology. Architecture was the starting point and inspiration for a body of work that included traditional art as well as sculpture and poetry. The duo would later go on to form the Reversible Destiny Foundation, which partnered with the Estate of Madeline Gins to make the show possible. Eternal Gradient originally ran at Columbia University’s Arthur Ross Architecture Gallery in 2018 before moving to its current home at the Graham Foundation. Chicago and New Orleans–based practice Norman Kelley was responsible for the exhibition design.