ART-PRESENTATION: Carl Andre-Sculpture as Place 1958-2010, Part II

Installation View, Carl Andre: Sculpture as Place, 1958–2010, Dia: Beacon, Riggio Galleries, Beacon, New York (5/514-2/3/15), © Carl Andre/Licensed by VAGA, New York. Photo: Bill Jacobson Studio-New York, Courtesy Dia Art Foundation, New York

Carl Andre is known for his abstract works made of repetitive blocks, bricks, and metal plates arranged directly on the floor. Like other Minimalists of his generation, Carl Andre constructed his works out of industrial materials that called attention to the inherent physical structure of the piece and to the architecture of the surrounding space. Eschewing metaphor and symbolism, Andre’s work operates as a set of purely physical and perceptual concerns (Part I).

By Efi Michalarou
Photo: MOCA Archive

Encompassing more than 300 works, “Carl Andre: Sculpture as Place, 1958–2010” at MOCA in Los Angeles., is the largest solo show to date of this major US artist, who pioneered a fundamentally different concept of sculpture. Carl Andre’s oeuvre is presented in works from over 50 years, approximately 50 sculptures, over 200 poems, a group of rarely exhibited assemblages known as “Dada Forgeries” and a selection of photographs and ephemera allow the viewers to trace the historical and aesthetic shifts and evolutions in Andre’s artistic production. The retrospective, which premiered at Dia:Beacon in 5/5/14 represents all major historical and aesthetic shifts in Andre’s career, from his early exercises to his most recent work. For Carl Andre, sculpture becomes place and thereby redefines the role of the public and its experience of the artwork. In an interview when he was asked about the mediums he is using, Carl Andre said: “I can’t draw and I can’t paint. My handicaps have been of a great advantage for me, but it wasn’t until a certain moment that I realized that. I was very lucky to know people like Frank Stella and other artists who helped me understand that I was only a sculptor”. The main stages of Andre’s mature oeuvre are represented by a large selection of sculptures including the artist’s defining floor sculptures, modular arrangements of unaltered building and industrial materials such as brick stacks, metal squares, slabs, and timber blocks. An unprecedented display of poems and typewriter works examine the pivotal role of language in Andre’s practice, providing a strikingly intimate perspective on his visionary approach to concrete poetry. The exhibition also offers a rare opportunity to view a selection of Andre’s “Dada Forgeries” a legendary series of assemblages and readymade-like pieces produced sporadically between the late ‘50s and the early ‘00s, ephemera and photographic documentation. The poems Andre composed from the ‘50s onwards can be understood as a Conceptual extension of his sculptures. This body of work forms another focal point of the exhibition.

Info: Curators: Philippe Vergne, Yasmil Raymond and Bennett Simpson, The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, The Museum of Contemporary Art, 152 North Central Avenu, Los Angeles, Duration: 2/4-24/7/17, Days & Hours: Mon, Wed & Fri 11:00-18:00, Thu 11:00-29:00, Sat-Sun 11:00-17:00, www.moca.org

Installation View, Carl Andre: Sculpture as Place, 1958–2010, Dia: Beacon, Riggio Galleries, Beacon, New York (5/514-2/3/15), © Carl Andre, Licensed by VAGA-New York. Photo: Bill Jacobson Studio-New York, Courtesy Dia Art Foundation-New York
Installation View, Carl Andre: Sculpture as Place, 1958–2010, Dia: Beacon, Riggio Galleries, Beacon, New York (5/514-2/3/15), © Carl Andre, Licensed by VAGA-New York. Photo: Bill Jacobson Studio-New York, Courtesy Dia Art Foundation-New York

 

 

Installation View, Carl Andre: Sculpture as Place, 1958–2010, Dia: Beacon, Riggio Galleries, Beacon, New York (5/514-2/3/15), © Carl Andre, Licensed by VAGA-New York. Photo: Bill Jacobson Studio-New York, Courtesy Dia Art Foundation-New York
Installation View, Carl Andre: Sculpture as Place, 1958–2010, Dia: Beacon, Riggio Galleries, Beacon, New York (5/514-2/3/15), © Carl Andre, Licensed by VAGA-New York. Photo: Bill Jacobson Studio-New York, Courtesy Dia Art Foundation-New York

 

 

Installation View, Carl Andre: Sculpture as Place, 1958–2010, Dia: Beacon, Riggio Galleries, Beacon, New York (5/514-2/3/15), © Carl Andre, Licensed by VAGA-New York. Photo: Bill Jacobson Studio-New York, Courtesy Dia Art Foundation-New York
Installation View, Carl Andre: Sculpture as Place, 1958–2010, Dia: Beacon, Riggio Galleries, Beacon, New York (5/514-2/3/15), © Carl Andre, Licensed by VAGA-New York. Photo: Bill Jacobson Studio-New York, Courtesy Dia Art Foundation-New York

 

 

Carl Andre, 9 x 27 Napoli Rectangle, Naples, 2010. Installation view, Carl Andre: Sculpture as Place, 1958–2010, Dia: Beacon, Riggio Galleries, Beacon-New York (5/5/14-2/3/15), © Carl Andre, Licensed by VAGA-New York, Photo: Bill Jacobson Studio-New York, Courtesy Dia Art Foundation-New York
Carl Andre, 9 x 27 Napoli Rectangle, Naples, 2010. Installation view, Carl Andre: Sculpture as Place, 1958–2010, Dia: Beacon, Riggio Galleries, Beacon-New York (5/5/14-2/3/15), © Carl Andre, Licensed by VAGA-New York, Photo: Bill Jacobson Studio-New York, Courtesy Dia Art Foundation-New York

 

 

Carl Andre, Passport (Detail), 1960, Installation view, Carl Andre: Sculpture as Place, 1958–2010, Dia:Beacon, Riggio Galleries, Beacon-New York(5/5/14-2/3/15), © Carl Andre, Licensed by VAGA-New York, Photo: Bill Jacobson Studio-New York, Courtesy Dia Art Foundation-New York
Carl Andre, Passport (Detail), 1960, Installation view, Carl Andre: Sculpture as Place, 1958–2010, Dia:Beacon, Riggio Galleries, Beacon-New York(5/5/14-2/3/15), © Carl Andre, Licensed by VAGA-New York, Photo: Bill Jacobson Studio-New York, Courtesy Dia Art Foundation-New York

 

 

Installation View, Carl Andre: Sculpture as Place, 1958–2010, Dia: Beacon, Riggio Galleries, Beacon, New York (5/514-2/3/15), © Carl Andre, Licensed by VAGA-New York. Photo: Bill Jacobson Studio-New York, Courtesy Dia Art Foundation-New York
Installation View, Carl Andre: Sculpture as Place, 1958–2010, Dia: Beacon, Riggio Galleries, Beacon, New York (5/514-2/3/15), © Carl Andre, Licensed by VAGA-New York. Photo: Bill Jacobson Studio-New York, Courtesy Dia Art Foundation-New York