Carl Andre Sculpture as place, 1958-2010

Philippe Vergne

Book - 2014

" Carl Andre (b. 1935) redefined the parameters of abstract sculpture in the 1960s and 1970s. He was a highly influential voice in the American minimalist movement, recognized for his ordered linear and grid formats. In the early 1960s, Andre's creative focus shifted to writing poetry when he took a job as a freight brakeman and conductor for the Pennsylvania Railroad. His poems echoed and extended the themes in his sculptural work, and his experience with the railroad significantly influenced his choice of materials in later years. In this stunning catalogue, which accompanies the first retrospective of Andre's work since 1970, the artist's legacy is examined in eleven essays by international scholars. The book presents... a broad range of sculpture made over the past fifty years, including Andre's emblematic floor and corner pieces, highlighting his radical use of standardized units of industrial material such as timber planks, concrete blocks, and metal plates. A vast selection of Andre's previously unpublished concrete poems, together with letters, postcards, ephemera, and documentation of important installations, further complements our understanding of an essential figure in the history of contemporary art. "--

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Subjects
Published
New York : Dia Art Foundation ©2014.
[2014]
Language
English
Main Author
Philippe Vergne (author)
Other Authors
Yasmil Raymond (author), Christophe Cherix (-), Carl Andre, 1935-
Item Description
Edited by Michelle Piranio and Jeremy Sigler.
Physical Description
398 pages : illustrations ; 29 cm
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 372-375) and index.
ISBN
9780300191714
Contents unavailable.
Review by Choice Review

Andre's 50-plus-year career is celebrated in this volume and the accompanying exhibition at Dia: Beacon (New York); the first retrospective of Andre in North America since 1980, the exhibition will travel to three European museums following its close in 2015. Amply illustrated, this accompanying catalogue seems to mirror Andre's own "typewriter drawings" and other textual practices through its soft focus, careful composition, and disclosure of the important role that language played in his practice over these years. The first half of the text provides images, and the second half focuses on Andre's relationship to sculpture, Dada, atomism, verticality, and texts. Throughout both sections, attention is paid to the artist's poems and works on paper, assemblages known as "Dada Forgeries," and photographs and ephemera. The volume is anchored by texts from co-curators Vergne and Raymond, with contributions by ten others. An extensive exhibition history, bibliography, and chronology are accompanied by an exhibition checklist and an index, thereby making this volume an important addition to art libraries focusing on minimalism and the varied trajectories of "sculptural practice" from the second half of the 20th century through the present. --Juilee Decker, Georgetown College

Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

In this exquisite volume, published in collaboration with the Dia Art Foundation, the contribution of minimalist sculptor Andre (b. 1935) to postwar art is considered through handsome reproductions and insightful text. Born and raised in Quincy, Mass., a former freight brakeman and conductor for the Pennsylvania Railroad, Andre used basic industrial materials in their stock formations to introduce an alternative approach to sculpture. As he once remarked, "'Rather than cut into the material, I now use the material as a cut in space.'" The phenomenal display of work confirms Andre's radical simplicity: a roll of lead ribbon, stacked timber blocks, mangled steel reinforcing rods. With virtually no style, studio, or assistants, he powerfully questioned the artist's role and, according to Dia director Vergne, "changed sculpture." Influenced by Ezra Pound, Andre was also an original poet interested in "the tactile sense of the words themselves." His work with language receives close examination across several of the book's 11 essays. Also discussed is the synthesis of space and time in Andre's sculptures, how he paved the way for conceptual artists such as Douglas Huebler and Victor Burgin, and more. It's impossible to read this book and not come away with a deeper understanding and admiration for Andre's work. 48 color and 352 b&w illus. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved