Richard Serra

For this first retrospective exhibition on Spanish soil, Serra himself has selected the ensemble of sixteen works, realised between 1966 and 1989, although it is worth noting that some of the sculptures have been produced in earlier projects to take into the consideration the particular conditions of the exhibition space. The exhibition, more than being a retrospective in the strictest sense of the word, opens up the possibility of ascertaining Serra's development of sculptural concepts and the formal language they are based on and highlights at least two primordial elements of space in Serra's work. Firstly, the assumption that this is the main factor that does not solely determine the work (dimensions, arrangement, composition). Secondly, his work distinguishes between architectural space (thus the sculpture becomes a transient space) while also needing it as a context for the pieces and to modify the viewer's experience of it.

Works such as Plunge (1983), T-Junction (1988) and Anvil (1988) illustrate this notion of the occupation and development of space in his work and the dominance of verticality, which alludes to the fact that Serra works from an elevated position, not the ground, and believes that they must be seen from above. As Serra himself asserts in reference to this matter: “When you are building a piece that weighs 100 tonnes you have to work under determined codes.”