Alessandra Fernandez Artist Response Richard Serra 2015

Richard Serra is an American minimalist sculptor and video artist mainly known for his work with large-scale musters of sheet metal.

He was born in San Francisco and stayed in the west coast to attend the University of California at Berkeley in 1961and later graduated from Yale University with both a BFA and an MFA in 1964. He currently lives in New York and Nova Scotia.

In his early years Serra’s work mainly involved and was centralized on the industrial materials from his youth. These materials came from steel mills and shipyards: steel and lead. The shipyards specifically were a key place were many of Serra’s ideas came from. The mobility of the boats and their structure influenced his approach for his future pieces.

What concerns him when approaching his work is the relationship and interactions of the materials as well as the ability to manipulate the material. He also deals with the concepts of space and engagement. He approaches his sculptures by creating models instead of drawing and works from inside out. Each cast is created through the impact of the lead hitting the walls, there emphasis on the process: raw aggression and physicality.

 Among his most famous sculptures is the breathtaking the sixty-foot-tall "Charlie Brown".  Which is composed of gigantic plates of towering steel, bent and curved, as it elevates