ON THE OPENING WALL LABEL FOR THE MUSEUM of Modern Art’s Bodys Isek Kingelez retrospective, the curators have compiled a list of materials deployed by the visionary Congolese artist “roughly organized from most to least prevalent.” To create his wildly complex, fantastical cityscapes, Kingelez used a wealth of commonplace materials and found objects, according to the inventory studiously prepared by conservators and curators, ranging from: “Paper (including colored paper, printed paper, wrapping paper and tissue paper); corrugated cardboard, paperboard, and printed commercial packaging; wood; acrylic and plastic; aluminum and metallic foil and cardboard; rubber foam, Styrofoam, and foamcore; ink, pencil, colored pencil, crayon, marker, and paint (paint pen, gouache, and poster paint); adhesive, tape (colored tape and metallic tape), and stickers; fabric, yarn, string, thread, and twine; beads (paper,…
