On the Beat: Remembering sculptor Richard Serra and his Lincoln masterwork 'Greenpoint'
Source: JournalStar.com
Author: L. Kent Wolgamott
L. Kent Wolgamott
Entertainment reporter/columnist
Author twitter Author email Follow L. Kent Wolgamott Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification.
{{description}}
Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.
Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today
Perfectly situated so the angles of the space between its two curved oxidized steel walls contrast with the vertical Mueller Tower, Richard Serra's "Greenpoint" stands in the center of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln City Campus.
One of the first of Serra's Cor-Ten steel sculptures, the 3-inch-thick, 16-foot-by-19-foot, 20-ton walls from 1988, "Greenpoint" is a classic example of the work of the leading sculptor of the late 20th century, who died Tuesday at age 85.
"It's probably the most important (sculpture in the Sheldon Museum of Art collection) on a whole lot of levels," former Sheldon director Wally Mason told the Journal Star during a tour of the sculpture collection two years ago. "Despite the fact that I love the Gaston Lachaise, if I could back the truck up and take one thing, that's the one I'd leave with."
The sculpture's importance is rooted in Serra's prominence.
People are also reading... A 1973 Trans Am with just 3,000 miles on the odometer finds its way to Lincoln Lincoln radio station fires talk-radio host after 10 months South Lincoln child care center placed on probation by HHS I-80 widening project west of Lincoln set to start next week Lincoln police investigating death of woman found outside home Lincoln catering trailer is hard to describe -- just call it Bar-ish Spring Camp Preview: 5 Nebraska football position battles to watch 'This has got to stop' -- Machaela Cavanaugh blasts Legislature as Halloran skips hearing Nebraska lawmaker under investigation for harassment now accused of making porn jokes Lincoln man sentenced to 60 to life for killing neighbor over fender bender 'Little bit of anger': Nebraska basketball reacts to abrupt first-round exit ending dream season Nebraska women's basketball's Annika Stewart enters transfer portal At least one person arrested after standoff in northeast Lincoln, police say Cover Five: An early look at Nebraska's Dylan Raiola, Troy Dannen's first days on the job Nebraska senators approve controversial pick for HHS chief
A minimalist who was part of the movement that believed that art should have its own reality, not imitate something else, Serra used heavy-metal industrial material in his sculptures, beginning in 1969 with a series of "prop" works that used large pieces of lead in suspended animation.
The lead, however, was unstable and prone to collapse, which caused Serra to switch to steel, a change that allowed him to make the massive works that exist outside traditional gallery spaces.
Serra's steel sculptures made him world famous. In 2001, he won the prestigious Golden Lion at the 49th Venice Biennale. Four years later, when "The Matter of Time," a series of eight "torqued ellipses" (the name given to the curved steel walls) was installed at the Guggenheim Bilbao in Spain, critic and historian Robert Hughes called him "not only the best sculptor alive, but the only great one at work anywhere in the 21st century."
The large-scale steel sculptures are raw, cold, hard-edged massive constructions that redefine their environments and challenge viewers to interact with them.
Indoors, as at the Dia Beacon museum in New York, Serra's massive curved steel plates fill rooms, forcing viewers to walk between and around them, creating feelings of claustrophobia and a bit of an unfounded fear that they might tip over and squash you.
Outdoors, as with "Greenpoint," there's no claustrophobia. But the scale, the steel and its siting forces the viewer to deal with the sculpture physically -- they're pretty imposing inside -- visually and aesthetically.
It is notable that, unlike many of Serra's huge, steel plate constructions, "Greenpoint" does not sit on the surface, but is firmly anchored, with steel girders welded to their bases and sunk 20 feet into the ground.
Why? Well, let's just say on a campus full of teens and 20-somethings, the temptation to climb up or try to tip over the plates could be hard to resist. The anchoring eliminates that sort of idiocy.
Listen now and subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | RSS Feed | SoundStack
"Greenpoint" came to Lincoln via former Sheldon director George Neubert, a sculptor himself, who purchased the sculpture right out of Serra's studio in the Brooklyn, New York, neighborhood that provides its name.
"I was looking for a major Serra," Neubert said. "I kind of knew him from the Bay Area (where Neubert worked at the Oakland Museum) and his brother, who was a radical lawyer who ran a funky little gallery in North Beach, where I lived.
"I knew better than wanting to commission him because he was a pain. So I was talking to him and he said, 'I just finished a piece in my studio.' It was 'Greenpoint' and I was overwhelmed."
Getting the 40 tons of "Greenpoint" to Lincoln was "quite an event," Neubert said. Because of its weight and scale, transportation permits had to be obtained from each of the states from New York to Nebraska and it was only allowed to be driven in some places, like Chicago, late at night.
The placement of the piece was also something of an issue.
"When he came out, he had decided on another location that wouldn't have been as effective," Neubert said. "I said, 'Richard, I want to place it where the tower is seen through your piece.' He was kind of reluctant, but he finally agreed. When he came out and saw it installed, he said 'Neubert, you were right.'"
Neubert's relationship with Serra and Bay Area knowledge also adds an element of interpretation to the sculpture. Serra's curved steel pieces, whether intentionally or subliminally, reflect the curved lower hulls of the ships that in the '60s were common in the bay.
The cost of "Greenpoint" was $200,000 -- a steal at the time.
"I recall he didn't want to be paid the whole amount at once," Neubert said. "He'd just sold something else and asked if he could get $100,000 now and $100,000 later, to save on taxes."
The last two Serra steel sculptures to be sold at auction by Christie's have gone for $2.9 million, and in 2013 "LA Cone," a single 14-foot curved sheet of Cor-Ten from 1986, sold for more than $4.2 million, a world auction record for the artist.
"That piece would be $10 million to $20 million today," Neubert said. "When you look at what I paid, it's unbelievable."
The purchase of "Greenpoint" and the other outdoor sculptures in Sheldon's collection, largely assembled by Neubert during his 1983 to 1999 tenure running the museum, can never be replicated.
"It's very hard to think about that era continuing today," Wally Mason, the former Sheldon director, said. "You couldn't afford to do this now. And it is very hard to get anything sited on a campus today. We have it now, and it is a treasure, a rare treasure."
Photos: Chief Standing Bear Forever stamp unveiled in downtown Lincoln
Reach the writer at 402-473-7244 or [email protected]. On Twitter @KentWolgamott
0 Comments Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
Tags Arts-culture Sculpture Richard Serra George Neubert Greenpoint Art Trade Construction Industry Architecture Museums Be the first to know
Get local news delivered to your inbox!
Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. L. Kent Wolgamott
Entertainment reporter/columnist
Author twitter Author email Follow L. Kent Wolgamott Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification.
{{description}}
Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.
Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today