Richard Serra

Artaud

Serra’s monumental drawing Artaud recalls the steel sculptures for which the artist is best known. Like his three dimensional works, it is physically larger than a human, and has an aggressive presence that impresses the viewer with its sense of balance, mass and weight. Serra’s drawing process echoes the transformative creation of sculpture. He created this textured, circular design with heated oil paint sticks, developing a coal-like accumulation that hardened on handmade paper which had once been watery pulp.

The artist’s mark making is concentrated at the center of the work, and gradually lessens towards the drawing’s edge. Outside of the circle’s perimeter, small glimmers of white paper are left uncovered, offering a delicateness that relieves the interior’s heavy tension. The drawing takes its name from the surrealist playwright Antonin Artaud, who, like Serra, rebelled against artistic conventions with works that balance pressure and release.