Intern Luke’s World Of Art: Richard Serra

Intern Luke shares another trip to the Gagosian with us... Staring deep into the heart of darkness that is Richard Serra's Rift series one thing becomes strikingly clear; we are not alone in this universe. Now I’m not sure what or who is out there, but there has to be other forms of intelligent life. Richard Serra, a seventy three year old contemporary artist currently residing in New York, is known for his minimalistic and large scale work. Serra works in a wide variety of mediums and, in my opinion, is exceptionally proficient in all his artistic endeavors. This particular exhibit Double Rifts, a series of grand paintings, plays directly to his minimalistic ways. The works are understated yet sophisticated; powerful and eye catching while also being simple and quite soothing to the eye. Standing in the main room of the Beverly Hills Gagosian Gallery I found myself getting lost in the details of the pieces. Though from far away these works look two dimensional and plain, as one gets closer you are hit with the many layers of paint that meld together to leave the piece a vertical projection of some ancient, distant, alien planets topography. As I gazed across the ridges and valleys of black paint I began to visualize a world where everyone is colorblind, but in the most majestic and beautiful way. There is no racial tension, as the people and the land all share the same deep black tone to the eye of the beholder. Ebony excellence gives way to cream rifts or caverns depending on which reality you're in at the moment. Thin breaks in the vast ocean of black slowly turn into an eye-popping juxtaposition between beige and black. Serra has created a body of work in Double Rifts that are both thought evoking as well as meditative. Sadly I caught the tail end of the exhibit, and by the time this went to press it had ended. Although the Gagosian hasn’t posted which exhibit will be next, based off past experience, I can say with confidence if will be worth seeing in person, I know I will be checking it out, and you should too.