Richard Serra - Props, Films, Early Works

Richard Serra (1939-2024) 

Richard Serra is one of the most important contemporary sculptors and occupies a firm place in the art of the past 50 years, where he is already counted among the classics. This lavishly produced volume concentrates on Serra’s early works, the so-called “Props” or “Prop Pieces”, as well as works on film from the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Richard Serra experimented at an early stage with industrial materials like rubber, neon and lead, and also with steel a little later. His treatment of them demonstrates power and sensitivity at the same time. He creates powerful sculptures, canvases and works on paper whose execution demonstrates a fine sense of spatial situations. The volume contrasts works including a selection of twelve “Prop Pieces” with the artist’s early films. In both work groups the main focus lies on the artistic action: the positioning, leaning and adjustment of the lead sheets Serra uses corresponds with the simple actions of his works on film.