BOOK: Teresita Fernández / Robert Smithson, Radius Books

 

The publication “Teresita Fernández / Robert Smithson” by Radius Books sets out to create a conversation between two artists from different generations whose work deals with landscapes, materials, and how we see the world. This is an exciting premise: Teresita Fernández’s investigations into place, identity, and social context are paired with Robert Smithson’s explorations of entropy, geology, and site-specific art. The result is a dialogue that highlights both common ground and differences, giving readers a fresh way to think about art, nature, and time. One of the book’s strengths is how it mirrors SITE SANTA FE’s exhibition it accompanies. Just as viewers move through rooms organized around key themes, readers move through chapters that echo these ideas, but at their own pace. The inclusion of multiple voices—critics, curators, and artists like Lucy Lippard and Cecilia Vicuña—adds even more richness, ensuring the book isn’t just an exhibition catalogue but a lively space for discussion. At the same time, the book’s ambition can be overwhelming. By covering such a wide range of ideas—from the cosmos and deep time to cartography and material intelligence—it sometimes risks becoming too broad, making the connections between Fernández and Smithson feel more suggestive than deeply examined. Another potential issue is that Fernández’s work may be framed too much in relation to Smithson’s, which could unintentionally overshadow her own distinct contributions. Overall, the book succeeds in offering an engaging, layered conversation that expands the exhibition into print. Its real achievement is not just comparing Fernández and Smithson, but creating a space where their ideas resonate, clash, and inspire new ways of thinking about art and the world we inhabit. -Dimitris Lempesis