Richard Serra: Monumental Sculptures and the Psychology of Weight

Richard Serra1939– | AMERICAN | SCULPTURE

Serra is the foremost American creator of sculpture for public spaces. He produces huge works, which have a commanding presence and are held together only by gravity.

Look for giant, minimal, monumental slabs of metal, often exhibited in open urban spaces. They are unmissable and unavoidable—and often seem to be unstable, as though the pieces could fall over. Take pleasure in his interest in massive weight and the way he likes to play with the sense and appearance of it: propped, balanced, rotated, moving, about to move, added to, subtracted from, towering, ground-hugging. He loves playing with the force and direction of weight.

Serra is also interested in the psychology of weight, in two ways:

1. observing the impact that his massive, apparently unstable or dangerous objects have on the viewers’ own space and on their bodily and mental reactions to them;

2. as a metaphor for social realities, such as the weight of government control or personal tragedy. Legal actions have been taken to have some of his works removed.

Richard Serra 1939– | AMERICAN | SCULPTURE

T.W.U.

Richard Serra, 1979–80, weathered steel, Hamburg, Germany: Deichtorhallen. Each plate weighs 72 tons. In 1980–81 the work was on public display on a street corner in Tribeca, New York.

Richard Serra T.W.U.

Richard Serra, 1979–80, weathered steel, Hamburg, Germany: Deichtorhallen. Each plate weighs 72 tons. In 1980–81 the work was on public display on a street corner in Tribeca, New York.

KEY WORKS: Strike: To Roberta and Rudy, 1969–71 (New York: Guggenheim Museum);Five Plates, Two Poles, 1971 (Washington DC: National Gallery of Art);Balance, 1972 (Washington DC: Hirshhorn Museum)