Monday, November 9, 2009

Richard Serra : You Send Me




Until December 23, there is a show of new sculptures by Richard Serra at Gagosian Gallery ( 522 W. 21st St. ).
Each of the two pieces shown is made from 6 huge steel plates. Of course they tilt and grab the space around them in palpably seductive angles. For cold steel, it sure is hard to keep your hands off these. Although the material and scale are like previous work ( the climactic pieces from the 2007 MoMa survey ), the much more labyrinthine arrangement of elements here is new. I overheard more than one viewer say they felt scared while negotiating through the spaces. I didn't feel scared, but the physically disorienting, out-of-whack-vibe that results from coming into proximity with any of his large-scale, tilted works is in even greater evidence here. You feel your center of gravity pulling you in subtly odd ways.

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