Wednesday, June 27--------One of the most talked about art events in New York City these days is the career retrospective of famed American sculptor Richard Serra, which is attracting capacity crowds at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). The highlights of this summer art blockbuster are three new massive sculptures that have been installed in MoMA's second floor galleries devoted to contemporary art. One of the preeminent sculptors of our era, Richard Serra has long been acclaimed for his challenging and innovative work, which emphasizes materiality and an engagement between the viewer, the site, and the work. From his use of unconvential industrial elements (rubber, plastic, neon) in the early 1960s to his large-scale work that engage with a particular architectural, urban, or landscape setting, Serra's oeuvre over a forty-year career is truly monumental.
While Serra is best known for his cavernous lead and steel sculptures, he has also directed quite a number of short films, which will screen in seperate programs over the summer. A first series of films was projected last week. A second program begins this coming Sunday, July 1 and is again repeated on Monday, July 9. A full schedule of the films is included on the MoMA website. For those who don't want to wait until the formal screenings or who can't make it to New York to catch this once-in-a-lifetime art event, you can catch a fascinating group of videos on the installation of this massive art project, interviews with the artist and a video tour of the exhibition itself, by visiting the Museum of Modern Art website at: http://www.moma.org/exhibitions/exhibitions.php?id=2866.
Sandy Mandelberger, Film New York Editor