The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao presents Brancusi–Serra an exhibition open 8 October 2011–15 April 2012, the most ambitious exhibition to date on the work of Constantin Brancusi (1876–1957) and Richard Serra (1938), two of the greatest sculptors of the 20th century.
Organized by the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao in co-operation with the Fondation Beyeler Riehen/Basel, the show examines the connections between these two pioneers of sculpture through nearly fifty works, offering a unique overview of the period of over one hundred years in which modern sculpture developed.
Brancusi, born in Romania and a resident of Paris from 1904 onwards, reduced sculptural forms to their bare essentials and, in so doing, laid the foundations of abstract sculpture. Half a century later, American artist Richard Serra redefined the effects of sculpture by creating minimalist steel pieces, which literally draw the viewer into the work.
This show, a joint initiative of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao and the Fondation Beyeler and curated by Oliver Wick, brings the work of these two artists face-to-face, allowing them to strike up a free, open dialogue. Both artists have made a dynamic, indelible mark on the history of art and forever altered the course of modern sculpture.
Guggenheim Museum Bilbao
Avenida Abandoibarra, 2
48001
Bilbao
BIZKAIA
Spain
www.guggenheim-bilbao.es
Images:
Richard Serra, New York, 1987
Photo: Serra Studio, New York / Nancy Lee Katz
Constantin Brancusi in his studio, ca. 1933-34, photograph by the artist Photo: © Collection Centre Pompidou, dist. by RMN, Paris / © 2011, Constantin Brancusi in Musée national d’art moderne – Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, artist’s bequest / Georges Meguerditchian.