Sneaky Serra

One driver of my recent painting spree was a paint-stick drawing by Richard Serra (the title of which escapes me, of course [*edit* Did my research, see title below]) on display at Williams College. Deep, deep black monolithic form on heavy printmaker's rag, simple at a glance but so rich in texture on closer inspection. While similar to his sculptures in its weight and shape, turns out it's not a preliminary study, rather, a reflection of a finished piece. Always have admired working "backwards" in the creative process, but I digress. The point: it turns out Serra was an influence on my thinking months ago during a visit to Storm King Art Center. There, imbedded in one of the hillsides, are these massive sheets of steel jutting into the sky. Ever the sucker for monolithic structures in an open, natural landscape, I gave them a good chunk of time to admire. No doubt that impression set up the ol' brain filter to catch the paint-stick piece. 

"Olsen" (1986) by Richard Serra on view at Williams College until Feb. 19th, 2017.

Texture...subtle but so rich.

Serra at Storm King.