Tag: Music

I encountered the work of Richard Serra completely by accident: on a photo-outing to visit The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, I just happened to be there the afternoon that “Vortex” was being installed. How could I resist? Back in one of my earlier incarnations, as “Kramer the Framer” for Kauffman Galleries in Houston, I got to take part in the installation of a number of sculptural pieces around the town. But I’d never seen anything on the scale of this sculpture by Serra.

Installing a sculpture that is over 20 meters tall (67 feet, 10 inches) is not a minor undertaking and the crane crew were in great form. I spoke with one of them to learn when the piece would be “officially” ready so we could come back to photograph the piece up close and personal.

Up close and personal because that’s one of the things about Serra’s work of this kind — it’s actually personal and the viewer is invited “in” to the piece. As a musician, I was entranced by the acoustics of “Vortex”, the delay and reverb were a treat and I wanted to come back and do a performance inside the sculpture. As a photographer, I was smitten by the textures and colors of the steel’s rich patina.

Years later, I made the trek down to the Museum of Modern Art in New York, from Bridgewater, Massachusetts where I was living at the time, to see the wonderful retrospective of Serra monumental works, their installation no mean feet, requiring the removal of one of the museum’s wall. What an incredible privilege to see so many of these gentle giants in one plae.

It had not been until that day in Fort Worth, that I came to know of this man’s work; I had been completely unaware of the controversy caused by his 1981 “Tilted Arc”… but I quickly learned to appreciate his use of CorTen steel — thanks in no small part to reflecting back Houston sculptor Ben Woitena explaining to me about patina on metal, years earlier.

I am blessed to call Ben a friend and likewise to have encountered the work of Richard Serra.

Farewell, sensei.