Richard Serra’s most recent extra large-scale steel sculptures are Janus-like in that they look both towards a new century and back at the last. These massive torqued ellipses, spirals and maze-like enclosures represent the culmination of the tradition of welded metal sculpture started by Julio Gonzalez and subsequently Picasso in the early-thirties of the last century.
Looking forward to this new century, Serra’s work seems to predict an Art that is industrial in scale, technological in means and unpredictable in effect. If you haven’t walked through the sculptures themselves you have not experienced the intense wonder and indescribable vertigo induced by such seemingly cold and impersonal slabs of rusted steel. I haven’t been to the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain but it is definitely on the list. A close second would be a trip to see the Julio Gonzalez exhibit; easily reached with a Metro card.
Recommended FREE Event Through June 18
Exhibition
Julio González: Sculptures and Drawings
Instituto Cervantes Gallery
Tuesdays through Fridays: 12:30 to 6:30 pm
Saturday: 10:00 am to 1:30 pm
Sundays and Mondays: closed
Collection of the
Institut Valencià d Art Modern (IVAM)
Free admission
Instituto Cervantes at Amster Yard
211-215 East 49th Street
New York, NY 10017
Tlf:1 212 308 77 20
Read the NY Times Review of the Julio Gonzalez exhibit here.
Thursday, June 09, 2005
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