Gordon Matta-Clark, scion and rebel, died at 35 in 1978 and has since become a cult figure of late-twentieth-century art. Born in New York and trained in architecture at Cornell, he went on to question the field's conventions in vivid projects that excised holes into existing buildings or assembled deeds to New York City alleys and curbs. His work and words, while sophisticated enough to make him an"artist's artist," and colossal and outgoing enough to draw public attention and affection, were always also grounded in social or political convictions.