Richard Serra

Serra is best known for his enormous steel sculptures. Such works are made of massive slabs of steel that can have a somewhat intimidating presence. Yet it is the very combination of actual unwieldiness and illusory lightness that makes these works successful. In this large drawing Serra creates the impression of weight with nothing more than paper and paintstick. Two pitch-black surfaces, not quite rectangular, seem to collide with each other. The fact that the ‘rectangle’ on the left side reclines, while the one on the right is upright, heightens the visual tension: it is as though two opposing forces are engaged in an all-out struggle. However, the blocks maintain a delicate balance with each other, and the massiveness turns into Serra’s own form of elegance, which rarely loses its threatening nature altogether.