2020.09.25
2020.12.07
Opening
Warehouse
CarrerasMugica is pleased to present Richard Serra. WORKS FROM THE 70S AND 80S, the gallery’s third exhibition of work by the US artist following ECHOIC DRAWINGS (2012) and TRACKS (2009).
→ Richard SerraThe show features nine artworks—one sculpture and eight large-format works on paper. The sculpture, Three Unequal Elevations (1975), comprises three forged steel blocks, all three with the same width and depth of 65 and 31 cm but each one with a slightly different height: 25, 27 and 29 cm respectively. The blocks are arranged in an equilateral triangle with a separation of 6 metres between them. This notable example of minimalist art elicits the spectator’s active engagement, formulating the relationship between sculpture and space through the sensations conveyed by the material, volume, mass and weight.
Among the works on paper a special mention is deserved for four which could be termed “echoic” in the parlance of the art critic Yve-Alain Bois. They are drawings that refer to sculptures but made after they were installed, as a kind of echo. These include Federal Plaza I (1984) referring to the controversial Tilted Arc, a solid steel plate measuring 37 metres long by 4 metres high, which was installed in Foley Federal Plaza in Manhattan between 1981 and 1989 and whose withdrawal was the cause of heated public debate and indeed legal action that eventually led to the passing of the Visual Artists Rights Act to protect artists’ rights over their works. Equally interesting are the drawings Tujunga Cut (1983) and Bilbao Jungle (1983) referring to the sculpture Bilbao (1983), which the artist made for Correspondencias. 5 arquitectos / 5 escultores (1983), his first exhibition in Spain, held at the Museum of Fine Arts of Bilbao, curated by Carmen Giménez and Juan Muñoz.
Other germane examples of echoic drawings on view in this exhibition are C.C. IV, (1983-4) and C.C. VIII (1983-4) referring to the sculpture Clara Clara (1983) installed in the Tuileries gardens in Paris.
All these works on paper were executed with a combination of black oil-stick, pigment and wax heated and applied with pressure, a recurrent technique used by the artist to imbue the works with a material quality that blurs the distinction between drawing and painting.
The show features nine artworks—one sculpture and eight large-format works on paper. The sculpture, Three Unequal Elevations (1975), comprises three forged steel blocks, all three with the same width and depth of 65 and 31 cm but each one with a slightly different height: 25, 27 and 29 cm respectively. The blocks are arranged in an equilateral triangle with a separation of 6 metres between them. This notable example of minimalist art elicits the spectator’s active engagement, formulating the relationship between sculpture and space through the sensations conveyed by the material, volume, mass and weight.
Among the works on paper a special mention is deserved for four which could be termed “echoic” in the parlance of the art critic Yve-Alain Bois. They are drawings that refer to sculptures but made after they were installed, as a kind of echo. These include Federal Plaza I (1984) referring to the controversial Tilted Arc, a solid steel plate measuring 37 metres long by 4 metres high, which was installed in Foley Federal Plaza in Manhattan between 1981 and 1989 and whose withdrawal was the cause of heated public debate and indeed legal action that eventually led to the passing of the Visual Artists Rights Act to protect artists’ rights over their works. Equally interesting are the drawings Tujunga Cut (1983) and Bilbao Jungle (1983) referring to the sculpture Bilbao (1983), which the artist made for Correspondencias. 5 arquitectos / 5 escultores (1983), his first exhibition in Spain, held at the Museum of Fine Arts of Bilbao, curated by Carmen Giménez and Juan Muñoz.
Other germane examples of echoic drawings on view in this exhibition are C.C. IV, (1983-4) and C.C. VIII (1983-4) referring to the sculpture Clara Clara (1983) installed in the Tuileries gardens in Paris.
All these works on paper were executed with a combination of black oil-stick, pigment and wax heated and applied with pressure, a recurrent technique used by the artist to imbue the works with a material quality that blurs the distinction between drawing and painting.
WEIGHT AND MEASURE
1993
Etching with aquatint in arches cover paper. Ed. 22/45
172,7 x 81,3 cm
