Painter, Tom Hauskin, currently showing at Yakima Light Project Gallery, says one of his inspirations is the sculptor Richard Serra. Richard Serra was born in San Francisco in 1939. After studying at the University of California at Berkeley and at Santa Barbara, he graduated in 1961 with a BA in English literature. During this time, he began working in steel mills in order to support himself. In 1964, he graduated from Yale University with both a BFA and an MFA. Receiving a Yale Traveling Fellowship, he spent a year in Paris, followed by a year in Florence funded by a Fulbright grant. Serra’s early work in the 1960s focused on the industrial materials that he had worked with as a youth in West Coast steel mills and shipyards: steel and lead. A famous work from this time involved throwing lead against the walls of his studio. Though casts were created from the impact of the lead hitting the walls, the emphasis of the piece was really on the process of creating it: raw aggression and physicality, combined with a self-conscious awareness of material and a real engagement with the space in which it was worked. Since those Minimalist beginnings, Serra’s work has become famous for that same physicality—but one that is now compounded by the breathtaking size and weight that the pieces have acquired. You can see one of Serra’s massive pieces “Wake” at the Seattle Art Museum’s Olympic Park in Seattle, Washington. “Wake”, consists of five wave-like steel components appear to fishtail through space, perfectly reflecting the nearness of Puget Sound. “Wake” is the parks largest permanent installation. In its current configuration, the 300 ton, 5 part steel sculpture, built in 2004, stretches 125 feet and stands alone in the parks valley, a site that Serra selected for it. He also helped design the surroundings to accommodate his piece.
Posted on: Tue, 18 Nov 2014 00:59:01 +0000
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