Richard Serra: Large Scale Prints By Richard Serra
Category: Books,Arts & Photography,History & Criticism
Richard Serra: Large Scale Prints By Richard Serra Details
Richard Serra began making prints in 1972. Since then, his continued investigations into printmaking have produced an innovative body of work that is as large as it is varied. While Serra's prints explore the perceptual possibilities suggested by his sculptural work, they are not merely illustrative, but rather autonomous works of art that constantly push the medium to its limits. Conveying a sense of weight, instability, and potential motion, Serra's graphic works possess a physical presence that provokes reactions similar to those experienced in the presence of his sculptures. Rounding out the publication's visuals, two essayists explore the many ramifications of presence in Serra's work.
Reviews
Richard Serra's works on paper are as beautiful and compelling as his sculptures, and so a new book about them is most welcome. This book is a catalogue for a traveling exhibition of Serra's large scale prints: it presents 36 of these in photograph and description, along with interesting short essays by Allison Kemmerer and Richard Axsom, foreword and a checklist. The prints themselves are wonderful, and this book includes newer material not found in the 1999 Catalogue Raisonné. This book is beautifully produced and very cleverly designed (my only concern will be keeping the brilliant white cover boards clean). But I have to wonder about the decision on size: it's certainly ironic that a book about these huge prints is so small-not quite 7 inches square, one of the smallest art books I have. The small size does have the effect of making these prints seem like rare gems (albeit black and white ones), reducing them down to their essence of shape, but I think a larger volume could have done that too and given more of a sense of scale. This little book is great, though, and has convinced me to brave the wilds of Notre Dame to see the exhibition in the fall.
