Arrived at the opening of "Richard Serra: Early Work" and "Palermo: Works on Paper 1976-1977" last night at David Zwirner's West 20th Street gallery designed by Annabelle Selldorf that opened in February 2013. This new five story building, which boasts 30,000 square feet, is the first commercial art gallery to receive LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification.
Richard Serra, Strike: To Roberta and Rudy, 1969–71
On the ground floor, early works dating from 1966-1971 by Richard Serra are on view from museum and private collections. Serra's innovative and experimental use of nontraditional materials, such as vulcanized rubber, neon, and lead, as well as his use of spatial and temporal properties, redefined sculpture. Strike: To Roberta and Rudy (1969-71), a hot-rolled steel plate, on loan from the Panza Collection at the Guggenheim is a prime example.
Blinky Palermo, 1–7 Untitled, 1976
Up on the second floor, the Palermo exhibition, organized in collaboration with the Palermo Archive, celebrates the 70th anniversary of the artist's birth in 1943 in Leipzig, Germany. The works date from 1973-1976, and were executed in New York during the years before his early death at age 33 in 1977. Many of these drawings, like his late paintings, have been realized in series. My favorite, 1-7 Untitled (1976), on loan from the Museum of Modern Art, NY, is a seven part work executed in vibrant red acrylic on paper which epitomizes his extraordinary use of form and color.
