Richard Serra

Hal Foster

Clara Weyergraf-Serra

Richard Serra, renowned for his challenging and inventive work, is widely considered to be one of the greatest sculptors of the contemporary era. The Matter of Timedocuments Serra's recent commission by the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao of seven monumental sculptures for the largest gallery of the museum. Together with "Snake" (1994-97), the work that Serra created for the museum's grand opening, the sculptures create a permanent, site-specific installation of a scale and ambition unrivaled in modern history. Through a revealing interview-essay by noted critic Hal Foster, and writings and statements by the artist about his recent series Torqued Ellipsesand the present, unprecedented commission, the book discloses the last 25 years of this sculptor's oeuvre and the evolution of his sculptural vocabulary as it relates to this installation. Other writings by Carmen Gimenez and a chronology by Kate Nesin help contextualize Serra's work.

The Matter of Time

One of the most important sculptors of this century, Richard Serra has been a spokesman on the nature and status of art in our day. Best known for site-specific works in steel, Serra has much to say about the relation of sculpture to place, whether urban, natural, or architectural, and about the nature of art itself, whether political, decorative, or personal. In interviews with writers including Douglas and Davis Sylvester, he discusses specific installations and offers insights into his approach to the problem each presents. Interviews by Peter Eisenman and Alan Colquhoun elicit Serra's thoughts on the relation of architecture to contemporary sculpture, a primary component in his own work. From essays like "Extended Notes from Sight Point Road" to Serra's extended commentary on the Tilted Arc fiasco, the pieces in this volume comprise a document of one artist's engagement with the practical, philosophical, and political problems of art.

Writings/Interviews

“The rhythm of the body moving through space has been the motivating source of most of my work.”—Richard Serra Drawn from talks between celebrated artist Richard Serra and acclaimed art historian Hal Foster held over a fifteen-year period, this volume offers revelations into Serra’s prolific six-decade career and the ideas that have informed his working practice. Conversations about Sculpture is both an intimate look at Serra’s life and work, with candid reflections on personal moments of discovery, and a provocative examination of sculptural form from antiquity to today. Serra and Foster explore such subjects as the artist’s work in steel mills as a young man; the impact of music, dance, and architecture on his art; the importance of materiality and site specificity to his aesthetic; the controversies and contradictions his work has faced; and his belief in sculpture as experience. They also discuss sources of inspiration—from Donatello and Brancusi to Japanese gardens and Machu Picchu—revealing a history of sculpture across time and culture through the eyes of one of the medium’s most brilliant figures. Introduced with an insightful preface by Foster, this probing dialogue is beautifully illustrated with duotone images that bring to life both Serra's work and his key commitments.

Conversations about Sculpture

Ernst-Gerhard Guse

Douglas Crimp

Yve-Alain Bois

Critical essays accompany a selection of the San Francisco-born sculptor's works and discuss the controversy surrounding his sculpture

A Picturesque Stroll Around Clara-Clara

Museum of Modern Art (New York, N.Y.)

Kynaston Mc Shine

Kynaston McShine

Lynne Cooke

"This book offers a detailed presentation of Richard Serra's entire career, from his early experiments with materials like rubber, neon, and lead to the environmentally scaled steel works of recent years, including three monumental new sculptures created for the exhibition that this book accompanies."--BOOK JACKET.

Forty Years

Richard Serra Sculpture

Dirk Reinartz

"Located on the Kaipara harbor in New Zealand, Te Tuhirangi Contour is one of Serra's latest site-specific works. The site is a vast open grass pasture with rolling elevations and curvilinear contours. The sculpture, made of hundreds of tons of steel, is located on one continuous contour, 843 feet long. Documented in Reinartz's black and white photography."--William Stout Architectural Books.

Richard Serra

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