Episode No. 18 of The Modern Art Notes Podcast features artist Richard Serra.
A retrospective of Serra’s drawings has just opened at its originating institution, The Menil Collection. It will be on view through June 10. The exhibition was previously at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. It was organized by the Menil’s Michelle White and Bernice Rose, and SFMOMA’s Gary Garrels.
The Menil installation results in an exhibition that bears virtually no resemblance to the presentation at the Met. The spaces are more thoughtfully created to emphasize the physicality of the work and they’re better-lit. The show’s narrative is clearer. Just as great: Serra has created a site-specific drawing for the Menil, Two Corner Cut: High Low (2012, see below). White and Serra have installed it in the last gallery of the show — and to me it’s the best work there. It’s the rare, remarkable drawing that leaves a viewer feeling unsteady and disoriented.
Air date: March 8, 2012.
Richard Serra in his installation of Two Corner Cut: High Low (2012) at The Menil Collection.
Richard Serra, Two Corner Cut: High Low, installation view at Menil Collection, 2012.
At the Menil Collection, Serra poses with Triangle (1974/2011) and Diamond (1974/2011).
Richard Serra, Emerson, 2010. Collection of The Menil Collection, Houston.
Auguste Rodin, The Thinker, ca. 1880, cast 1904. Collection of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. Photo via Flickr user Stephen Rees.
Reconstruction of Atelier Brancusi at the Centre Pompidou in Paris. Photos via Flickr user Daniel Ryan.
Paul Wonner, Still Life with Cup, 1959.
Crown Zellerbach Building/One Bush Plaza, San Francisco. Photos courtesy Flickr user Tom Poser.
Richard Serra, Twain, 1974-82. Photo via Flickr user J.G. Park.
Richard Serra, Untitled, 1968. Collection of the St. Louis Art Museum.
Richard Serra, 7, 2011.
Richard Serra, Joe, 2000. Collection of the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts, St. Louis.
Richard Serra, Shift, 1970-72. Image via Flickr user Spacing Magazine.
Richard Serra, Shift, 1970-72.
Richard Serra, Pulitzer Piece, 1970-71.
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