Richard Serra’s arresting metal sculptures have always had a way of sucking all the oxygen out of the room. And that’s a good thing. His current New York City show – held at both Gagosian locations downtown – continue the artists’ use of oversized forged and rusted steel to create powerful, Pharaonic forms.
The most visceral piece, sited at the gallery’s 21st location, is NJ-1, 2015, a walk-through installation made up for enormous 4-metre rusted sheets of weatherproof steel. Echoing his many earlier experiential works, the piece is comprised of two semi-attached oblongs, reminiscent of an industrial tanker or ship run aground (familiar Serra motifs). As the visitor walks through the cathedral-like space there’s a definite sensation of dislocation; of exploring a forbidden relic of a massive scale. The artist is constantly forcing you to renegotiate your relationship with the artwork.
Gagosian’s 24th Street location is home to Above Below Betwixt Between, Every Which Way, Silence (for John Cage), Through: three solid steel slab works as well as a drawing. The luminous white gallery at 24th street is anchored by Silence (for John Cage), a minimalist masterwork featuring an 80-ton forged steel slab, which, laid-down horizontally, dominates the space. Primitive and raw, it has an almost overwhelming physical presence.
The other pieces in this series continue the same effect, applying the slabs in various configurations to explore the artist’s ideas about weight, balance and space. Every Which Way is another standout: the work features 16 foot-thick slabs set on a rectangular grid of three heights. Strolling between, one feels as if they are in a kind of funereal procession. The effect is a fitting rejoinder to the other works and NJ-1, 2015’s powerful material presence.
Gagosian’s 24th Street location is home to Above Below Betwixt Between, Every Which Way, Silence (for John Cage), Through, three solid steel slab works as well as a drawing. Pictured: Silence (for John Cage), 2015
Through, 2015
The most visceral piece, sited at the gallery’s 21st location is NJ-1, 2015, pictured
INFORMATION
'Richard Serra: Above Below Betwixt Between, Every Which Way, Silence (For John Cage), Through' and 'NJ-1' are both on view until 29 July. For more details, visit the gallery's website
Photography: Christian Mascaro, courtesy of the artist and Gagosian Gallery
ADDRESS
Gagosian Gallery
522 West 21 Street and 555 West 24 Street
New York, New York
-
This nostalgic exhibition dives into a century of British surfingCornwall's National Maritime Museum charts the history of waveriding on England's south coast
-
Waiheke Island is a must-visit for oenophiles and aesthetes alikeDiscover what to do during this New Zealand destination's annual Walking Festival and beyond
-
Bold colours and tactile textures: inside Bottega Veneta's second fine jewellery dropThe collection is composed of two parts: Enlaced and Alchemy
-
Desert X 2025 review: a new American dream grows in the Coachella ValleyWill Jennings reports from the epic California art festival. Here are the highlights
-
This rainbow-coloured flower show was inspired by Luis Barragán's architectureModernism shows off its flowery side at the New York Botanical Garden's annual orchid show.
-
‘Psychedelic art palace’ Meow Wolf is coming to New YorkThe ultimate immersive exhibition, which combines art and theatre in its surreal shows, is opening a seventh outpost in The Seaport neighbourhood
-
Wim Wenders’ photographs of moody Americana capture the themes in the director’s iconic films'Driving without a destination is my greatest passion,' says Wenders. whose new exhibition has opened in New York’s Howard Greenberg Gallery
-
20 years on, ‘The Gates’ makes a digital return to Central ParkThe 2005 installation ‘The Gates’ by Christo and Jeanne-Claude marks its 20th anniversary with a digital comeback, relived through the lens of your phone
-
In ‘The Last Showgirl’, nostalgia is a drug like any otherGia Coppola takes us to Las Vegas after the party has ended in new film starring Pamela Anderson, The Last Showgirl
-
‘American Photography’: centuries-spanning show reveals timely truthsAt the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, Europe’s first major survey of American photography reveals the contradictions and complexities that have long defined this world superpower
-
Miami’s new Museum of Sex is a beacon of open discourseThe Miami outpost of the cult New York destination opened last year, and continues its legacy of presenting and celebrating human sexuality
