1938-2024
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Robeson (1984) Robeson Artist: Richard Serra Dating: 1984 Type: Work on paper Material: Paintstick on screen print on paper Measures: 257,4 x 167,5 cm Acces / purchase date: 1986 Inventory number: 0506 Copyright: © Richard Serra, ProLitteris, Zürich; Foto: Courtesy Künstler und Galerie M, Bochum
In this work, the genres of drawing and printmaking converge, with Serra developing an unconventional printing technique that closely resembles the execution and effect of his drawings, albeit with the difference that only a small edition of 15 was produced. What distinguishes this work, which is one of the very first of its kind, from conventional prints is primarily the oversized paper format. First, a screen print of the surface figure was printed in matte black. Serra then added two further layers of black by applying black paintstick over the black print to add both physical density and structural tactility. The end result is not so much a picture as a clearly outlined figure that gains its significance in the moment at which the observer views it on the wall, for it does not portray any representation, but is in itself part of the situation it creates. The viewer is overwhelmed by the work, because the figure is so huge that it can be perceived only in terms of its position and weighting. This effect is further compounded by the vast swathe of black, uninterrupted by any drawing, which appears as pure mass.
In Serra’s oeuvre, the two drawings “Spine I” and “Spine II”, both 1983, may play a role as precursors to “Robeson;” their titles indicate the vertical disposition of a human figure whose subtle sideways tilt is directly perceptible. “Robeson” alludes to the black singer, actor, and civil rights activist Paul LeRoy Robeson (1898–1976)—but this purely factual aspect of the work is merely a reference, rather than an illustration.
Dieter Schwarz