Dear Richard, Thank you.

I thought I knew the basics of Richard Serra’s work. Large sheets of metal curved and manipulated to direct or obstruct movement. I have seen pictures of his most discussed projects, the NEA public art controversy (Tilted Arc in front of the Jacob Javits Federal Building) and the Castelli Warehouse installations, and, I have handled his prints. Needless to say, I have never experienced Serra’s work. Let me repeat that, I have never experience the awe, the full force intensity and the physical power of the spaces he creates.

Friday was my 24th birthday and honestly, my first ever alone. (I spent last year in Houston at the de Menil with a serious boyfriend) So this year, I felt the need to go somewhere and see something just for myself. I didn’t need an extravagant foreign affair, but I wanted a meaningful experience to reflect on the past year and dream about the year ahead. Dia Beacon was exactly what I was looking for and seemed perfect for my first solo adventure to celebrate my new found sense of independence and the wisdom of my old age. These were the conditions under which I met the work Richard Serra, really, for the first time.

Torqued Ellipses, although when described is deceptively simple, it left me weak. He used sheets of oxidized steel about 2 inches thick and 16 feet high to create three altered elliptical volumes, which you are directed to walk around, enter and explore. The ellipse on the ground is the same form as the ellipse above. These are the basics, my experience, however, was incredible. Upon entering the gallery, completely alone, I was struck by the natural light hitting the red, brown and bronze surfaces that seemed to both reflect and absorb light varying by curve of the surface. The entire gallery was silent and I was the only one in the space, facing his work one-on-one. The sculptures were beyond monumental, a towering 16 feet to my meager 5 feet 2 inches. Then after slowly walking around the never ending outer edges, I stepped in. In the first, the light was behind me casting a small shadow inside the ellipse and then suddenly, I was transformed, flooded with memories of Monument Valley and Arches National Park. Somehow an hour north of New York and surrounded by steel, I was home in Arizona, backpacking with my father and having the same emotional reaction to my surroundings. Art is experiential and viewer contingent, that’s the point after all. A few photographs, a computer screen and a review can never replace the experience of being surrounded by art, whatever physical or emotional reaction the work manifests in you. I believe this is unconditionally true, yet with the constant pressure to be up-to-date and informed, I find myself doing more reading than looking. Thus, it is with much gratitude on my birthday that I express my appreciation for being able to experience Serra’s work, the importance of spaces like Dia Beacon and my life in the arts, this year and next.

Can you hear me now?

My critical engagement with the arts exists, for the most part, privately. Within a safety of secrecy, I read, critique, research, write, paint, draw, and make prints, thus I avoid proclaiming my strong thoughts and opinions on art in the volume they actually deserve. But here’s to not watering things down, to speaking with confidence and, above all, owning, whole-heartedly, what you believe. After all, Chanel said it best, that “the most courageous act is still to think for yourself. Aloud.”

Welcome to Art in Play. Enjoy.