ARTFEED — Contemporary Art Intelligence

Carol Bove's Maccarone Exhibition RA Challenges Artistic Authorship with Ziprin Circle Collaborations

exhibition · 2026-04-22

From September 7 to October 19, 2013, Maccarone gallery presented a solo exhibition by Carol Bove called RA, or Why is an orange like a bell? This exhibition featured twelve works that challenged traditional ideas about who creates art. Out of these, only six were attributed to Bove; the others were made by artists like Lionel Ziprin, Joanne Ziprin, Harry Smith, Richard Berger, and others from their Lower East Side community in the 1950s-60s. Bove's 'forced collaborations' utilized materials like concrete, brass, and steel. Notable pieces included a 2013 untitled sculpture with petrified wood, as well as the powder-coated steel works Solar Feminine and Hieroglyph. Bove also co-curated a reading room at 98 Morton Street, highlighting Ziprin and Smith's ephemera.

Key facts

  • Exhibition RA, or Why is an orange like a bell? ran September 7 to October 19, 2013 at Maccarone gallery
  • Only six of twelve works were attributed to Carol Bove, with others by Ziprin circle members
  • Materials included concrete, brass, cast steel, and powder-finished steel
  • Concurrent reading-room exhibition co-curated with Philip Smith at 98 Morton Street featured Ziprin ephemera
  • Bove's site-specific installations Caterpillar at Highline Park ran through May 2014
  • Equinox at Museum of Modern Art ran through January 2014
  • Bove describes her approach as 'forced collaborations' incorporating others' works
  • In 2012 interview she emphasized disaggregation where elements maintain individual autonomy

Entities

Artists

  • Carol Bove
  • Lionel Ziprin
  • Joanne Ziprin
  • Harry Smith
  • Richard Berger
  • Philip Smith
  • Beatrix Ruf

Institutions

  • Maccarone
  • Highline Park
  • Museum of Modern Art
  • Art in America
  • Qor Collective
  • Inkweed Studios

Locations

  • New York City
  • United States
  • 630 Greenwich Street
  • 98 Morton Street
  • Lower East Side

Sources