Torqued Spirals, Toruses and Spheres: Six new sculptures. In recent years Serra has explored the effects of torqued forms in a series of single and double-torqued ellipses. The two torqued spirals in the present show Bellamy and Sylvester, titled in honor of two recently deceased friends, turn the interior corridor of the double torqued ellipse into a seemingly endless path into the core of a torqued spiral.
Gagosian Gallery Chelsea is pleased to announce an exhibition of six
new sculptures by Richard Serra. Torqued Spirals, Toruses and
Spheres announces Serra’s involvement with new sculptural shapes
and configurations.
In recent years Serra has explored the effects of torqued forms in a
series of single and double-torqued ellipses. The two torqued spirals in
the present show Bellamy and Sylvester, titled in honor of two recently
deceased friends, turn the interior corridor of the double torqued ellipse
into a seemingly endless path into the core of a torqued spiral. Hal
Foster in his text for the exhibition catalogue vividly describes the
experience of walking the spiraling path: "It is as if your body becomes
its own roller coaster, one tracked not up and down but round and
round".
Betwixt the Torus and the Sphere and Union of the Torus and the Sphere
introduce entirely new shapes into Serra’s sculptural vocabulary. For the
first time he works with spheroid and toroid sections. In Betwixt the
Torus and the Sphere three toroid and three spheroid sections are
assembled to create five unique passageways. In Union of the Torus
and the Sphere, a toroid section and a spheroid section lock together to
create Serra’s first sculpture with an interior volume that cannot be
entered. Both of these sections, with their extreme lean, are
freestanding.
Elevational Wedge is a site-specific work. Its elevation from zero to five
inches over the length of approximately twenty-two feet levels the incline
of an existing ramp in the south gallery. Ali-Frazier continues the
extensive series of Serra’s forged pieces. The two massive blocks set in
identical rooms vary in width by eight inches. This variation in measure
is almost impossible to ascertain visually but is felt as a difference in
volume, a difference in the weight of the solid in relation to the volume of
the room.
Torqued Spirals, Toruses and Spheres is the most extensive exhibition
of Richard Serra’s major sculpture on view in New York since his 1986
retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art.
A fully illustrated catalogue will accompany the exhibition.
Gagosian Gallery Chelsea 555 West 24th Street New York NY 10011 Tel 212 228 2828 Fax 212 228 2878
Thursday, October 18 - Saturday, December 15, 2001 Opening reception: Thursday, October 18, 6 - 8pm