Richard Serra in conversation

Richard Serra at Penn

Pardon the blurry shot but that's all I could get without using the flash on my camera during the talk with Serra and curator, Lynne Cooke last Thursday evening at the University of Pennsylvania. Cook co-curated Richard Serra Sculpture: Fourty Years.

The talk lasted for about an hour and-a-half, with Serra doing most of the talking and Cooke not really asking great questions. The thing about Serra that's impressive is how direct and engaging he is with his language as he is with his work. I really wish Cooke was a bit more engaging with her questions. For the most part, familiar ground was covered in terms of his development as an artist living and working in New York and Europe in the late 60's-early 70's. It was enlightening to find out that Leo Castelli bankrolled Serra's work for three years, even when Serra didn't sell anything. One of those stories that the stuff of myths are made of. I doubt there are many art dealers in the world who are willing to give young artists that kind of support any more.

It was interesting to find out that Serra had a part in the design of the renovation of MoMA. In order to accomodate the three newest sculptures in the retrospective exhibition, which closed in September, a portion of an outside wall had to be made into a door thorough which the plates that made up the works were brought into the museum on the second floor. Serra was asked how big the door needed to be. According to Serra, he said, "About 40 feet wide and 13 feet high" and so it was done. That's a lot of pull.

The question-and-answer session was a bit of fun. One guy asked Serra if the size of a lot of his work was related to his relatively small physical stature and a possible 'Napoleon complex', which Serra denied. Another question came from a student who asked what qualifications would Serra look for in a possible apprentice. The answer to this intrigued me since I've wondered how he managed to keep all of his projects going and how many people might be helping him. Serra said that he only has four people in his circle. Including himself, his wife, an office manager and another assistant.

Someone else had a comment about how the controversy surrounding Tilted Arc may have affected Serra's other work at the time; if Serra saw this as a "low point" from which his newer, "more refined" work came out of. Serra debunked this notion quickly by saying that he never stopped working during that time and that Tilted Arc was probably the "most refined piece" he's ever made.

With that, it was all over.

Serra, pt. II

Video walkthrough of Richard Serra's sculptures Torqued Torus Inversion (2006) and Sequence (2006), on display at MoMA as part of the exhibition Richard Serra Sculpture: Forty Years. The exhibition is on view through September 10, 2007.

E and I went to see the exhibition for the second time yesterday ((first time was here)) and are still buzzing about the work. One thing that came up in conversation about the work is the difference in effect it would have if the pieces on the 2nd floor (Band 2006, Torqued Torus Inversion 2006 and Sequence 2006) were located in an outdoor setting. One of the major effects of walking thorugh the works is that of directional disorientation.

The tops and bottoms of the steel panels curve inward and out, while you follow seemingly endless curves along the horizonal plane which can cause you to feel like you might lose balance when you look up. We figured that if there were open sky above instead of MoMa's ceiling, the sensation of being unbalanced would be enhanced, perhaps. That these large works are indoors and in a cavernous space, they feel even more imposing and threatening due to the enclosed space. If they were ourside, I think the sense of expansiveness and open space outside of the sculptues could make them a little less imposing if there is enough distance away from them. Maybe. It doesn't really matter since the power of Serra's large works seem to translate well outdoors and in.

Richard Serra at MoMA

I've been waiting for a long time to see some of Ricahrd Serra's larger works in person and I finally got the chance a couple of weeks ago. I was in New York with my fianceé to meet up with a friend of hers, along with visiting a couple of jewelry supply places for her and to see the Serra retrospective at MoMA.

We hit the sixth floor first, where the earlier works are shown. Some of the works up there hadn't been shown in years and most I hadn't seen in person. It's always kind of surreal to view artworks by iconic artists whose only contact I'd had was as reproductions in books and magazines. Incidentally, the first time I even found out about Richard Serra's work was toatlly by mistake. It was back in '90 and I was in New York for the first time with a former girlfriend. MoMA was on the agenda and I don't even know if it was a special exhibition, but I remember turning a corner, walking into a room and finding myself in the center of a piece I later came to know as Circuit, four steel plates situated in the corners of the space, bisecting the room diagonally with an open space in the center.

There were other works of his there that time, but Circuit II really made a lasting impression with it's sense of danger (collapse) and reassertion of how the space was navigated by the viewer(s), something that has been integral to Serra's work for years.

The earlier work took up the entire sixth floor and includes a good representation of the early 'prop' pieces, like Prop(1968) and One Ton Prop(House of Cards)(1969) in lead as well as works in rubber such as Belts(1966-67) and To Lift(1967).

The newer pieces in the cavernous space on the second floor, Sequend, Band, and Torqued Torus Inversion, all made in 2006 are amazing to behold. Band, is particualirly beautiful with it's 70-something feet of twisting curves with no interior space. It's like walking along a piece of ribbon standing on edge, except Band, like most of Serra's works, weighs tons. That these three huge works were even able to be put in the space together and not feel crowded seems like a miracle. It still messes with my mind to know how much tonnage is sitting there, looking much lighter than it is. Some of that also has to do with the oxidation that takes place. These works have a beautiful orange patina that can make you forget that you're standing next to and touching a material that is used in much more utilitarian ways, as in steel girders and other architectural substructures.

Photography isn't allowed inside, but if you're unfamiliar with Serra's work, the exhibition pages on MoMA's site will give a good overview (Flash 8 required). The two pieces in the sculpture garden, Intersection IV and Torqued Ellipse II were fair game and I tried to take as much advantage as I could (click images for larger views):

Intersection II







Torqued Ellipse IV

Richard Serra at MoMA

A short time-lapse video showing the installation of two of Ricard Serra'ssculptures in MoMA's sculpture garden.

MoMA will be mounting a 40 year retrospective of his work beginning in June. I'm really looking forward to seeing this show. I've been a fan of Serra's work for a long time, but I've never seen much of his work in person. Back in the early 90's, I actually discovered his work accidentally during my first trip to New York. The show was at MoMA. I only remember walking into this one room and being surrounded with these huge steel plates (I think the piece was Circuit) that were coming from each corner of the room. I didn't know who Serra was at the time, but I liked his work.

A year or so later, I returned to Temple University after a five year hiatus. I discovered the third floor section of art books in Paley Library on the main campus and found a number of books about Serra that were published in Germany. I made the connection with the work I saw in New York previously and was hooked. I mainly responded to his use of a basic construction material in the making of his works. I also admired his thought processes and dedication to continually experimenting with perceptions of space, weight, and balance. I also like that he has continued to push his work and ideas to new places over the years while maintaining a sense of freshness while using the same materials he has for years, as well as continuing to work on a scale that not many would attempt...or who have the means to do so...