Label Text:
Placque #4 probably belongs to a series of works created in the late 1950s and early 1960s in which each composition bears an individual character. Although Basque artist Chillida is piece conveys the most characteristic features of his work—ambiguity and contrast. The composition enables contradictory perceptions: the smooth surface with its dark signs evokes calligraphy on fragile paper, but the reality of the heavy stone thwarts this reading. Additionally, the markings are heavy and volumetric, since they consist of lead poured into incisions in the stone. Thus, concepts of heavy and light, flat and volumetric are balanced in perpetual tension. The work conveys the spirit of popular mid-20th century theories about the permanent metamorphosis of all structures of the universe. Marcel Duchamp may have provided the key to understanding Placque #4 when he remarked in 1957 that it is “the ONLOOKER who makes the pictures.” BJ
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=AC+2007.16 |
