Richard Serra
Richard Serra
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Full Name and Common Aliases
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Richard Serra is an American artist known for his large-scale sculptures that explore the relationship between the viewer, the artwork, and the surrounding environment.
Birth and Death Dates
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Born on November 2, 1939, in San Francisco, California.
Nationality and Profession(s)
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American / Sculptor
Early Life and Background
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Serra grew up in a family of modest means, his father being an electrical engineer and his mother a pianist. He developed an interest in art at an early age, attending the University of California, Berkeley, where he studied English literature and philosophy before transferring to the University of California, Santa Barbara, to study painting. In 1957, Serra moved to Rome, Italy, where he spent several years studying art history and theory.
Major Accomplishments
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Serra's early work focused on monochromatic paintings that explored the relationship between color and space. However, it was his transition to sculpture in the late 1960s that brought him widespread recognition. His large-scale works, often created from industrial materials such as steel or lead, challenge the viewer's perception of the artwork itself and its place within the surrounding environment.
Notable Works or Actions
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Some of Serra's most notable works include:
"Tilted Arc" (1981): A large-scale sculpture installed in a pedestrian walkway in New York City, which sparked controversy over its impact on public space.
"Crippled Balance" (1966): A series of sculptures that explore the relationship between balance and equilibrium.
* "Shift" (1972): A work composed of six large steel plates, each weighing several tons, which can be rearranged to create different configurations.
Impact and Legacy
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Serra's work has had a significant impact on modern art, influencing generations of artists and thinkers. His emphasis on the relationship between the viewer, the artwork, and the environment has paved the way for new approaches to sculpture and installation art. As an artist and educator, Serra continues to inspire and provoke audiences worldwide.
Why They Are Widely Quoted or Remembered
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Serra's quotes often reflect his interest in the relationship between the viewer and the artwork, as well as his commitment to challenging traditional notions of sculpture and public space. His quotes are widely quoted due to their thought-provoking nature and relevance to contemporary art discourse.
His contributions to modern art have been recognized through numerous awards and exhibitions, including a retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City (1986) and a solo exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao (2007).
Quotes by Richard Serra
Richard Serra's insights on:
I think this, I think basically I’m not interested in people following my work or making work like my work.
On the other hand, if there’s an underlying core of poetry that I go to, I go to the sea. I’ve lived on the sea all my life. I live on the sea in Cape Breton.
And certainly the history of public sculpture has been disastrous but that doesn’t mean it ought not to continue and the only way it even has a chance to continue is if the work gets out into the public.
If you get it out into the urban field it’s going to be used or misused but it’ll also probably provide a way of people acknowledging what the aesthetic is about because people have to confront it every day.
The viewer becomes aware of himself and of his movement through the plaza. As he moves, the sculpture changes. Contraction and expansion of the sculpture result from the viewer’s movement. Step by step the perception not only of the sculpture but of the entire environment changes.
Basically, what you really want to do is try to engage the viewer’s body relation to his thinking and walking and looking, without being overly heavy-handed about it.
Art for the most part, is about concentration, solitude and determination. It’s really not about other people’s needs and assumptions. I’m not interested in the notion that art serves something. Art is useless, not useful.
But I’ll try to immerse myself in as many of the formal characteristics of site as possible in the landscape.
But what does interest me is the notion that if you do a lot of work it means there’s a potential for other people to understand that a lot of things are possible with a sustained effort and that the broadening of experiences is possible and I think that’s all art can be.