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Artist or Maker: Carl Andre (b. 1935)
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Provenance: Paula Cooper Gallery, New York
Daniel Templon, Paris, acquired from the above, 1983
Thomas Ammann Fine Art, Zurich
Private collection, Switzerland
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Exhibited: Carl Andre, exh. cat., Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1970.
Andover, MA, Phillips Academy, Addison Gallery of Art, Six Alloy Plains, March-April 1973.
Bern, Kunsthalle, Carl Andre Sculpture 1958-1974, April-June 1975, p. 49, no. 1969/62.
New York, John Weber Gallery, Carl Andre: Wood and Metal Sculptures 1960-1975, January 1976.
Washington, D.C., Corcoran Gallery of Art, Carl Andre, Richard Long and Barry LeVA, December 1976-January 1977.
Kunstmuseum Winterthur, Switzerland, Une Collection Imaginaire, April-May 1984, p. 42, pl. 57 (illustrated).
Zurich, Stiftung für konstruktive und konkrete Kunst, 256 Farben & Basics Form: Werkdialog zwischen Analogie und Widerspruch, September 1989-January 1990, p. 100 (illustrated).
Haus Lange und Haus Esters Krefeld and Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Carl Andre Sculptor 1996, February-April 1996, pp. 170-171 and 285 (illustrated in color).
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Literature: Haags Gemeentmuseum and Amsterdam, Stedelijk Van Abbemuseum, Carl Andre, January-March 1987, p. 46, no. 65.
J. Fineberg, Art since 1940: Strategies of being, New York, 1995, p. 302, fig. 10.10 (illustrated).
P. Bianchi, ed., Kunstforum International, no. 134: Art & Pop & Crossover, Teil I, Ruppichteroth, 1996, p. 378.
Sigmar Polke: Transit, exh. cat., Staatliches Museum, Schwerin, 1996, p. 15 (illustrated).
W. Feaver, Who, what, and where is the cutting edge, London, 1996, p. 12 (illustrated in color).
F. Colpitt, Minimal art: the critical perspective, Seattle, 1997, pl. 36 (illustrated).
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Notes: Steel-Magnesiun Plain, as its title suggests, is as much a place, a space, or a territory as it is an object. A series of metal tiles placed on the floor in an alternating checkerboard pattern, the work essentially creates a space that is energized through its own materiality for as Carl Andre has often pointed out, these works are often less seen than experienced, or, perhaps, he has hinted, even felt.
In this respect, the alternating of the steel and the magnesium plates in this work is not just a visual device. In combining these two metals in a checkerboard pattern Andre is not only attempting to draw attention to the very different material qualities of the two metals but also attempting a small act of alchemy. Believing that the material nature of these squares can be experienced merely by standing on them, this combination of metals is an attempt by the artist to energize the space above the sculpture using nothing more than the overt power of its very material presence.
Installation view of Carl Andre, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 1974 c Carl Andre/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY
