Carl Andre | |
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| Born | (1935-09-16)September 16, 1935 Quincy, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Died | January 24, 2024(2024-01-24) (aged 88) New York City, U.S. |
| Education | Phillips Academy |
| Known for | Sculpture |
| Notable work | |
| Movement | Minimalism |
| Spouses |
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Carl Andre (September 16, 1935 – January 24, 2024) was an Americanminimalist artist recognized for his ordered linear andgrid format sculptures. His sculptures range from largepublic artworks (such asStone Field Sculpture, 1977, inHartford, Connecticut,[1] andLament for the Children, 1976,[2] inLong Island City, New York), to large interior works exhibited on the floor (such as144 Magnesium Square, 1969[3]), to small intimate works (such asSatier: Zinc on Steel, 1989, and7 Alnico Pole, 2011[4]).
In 1985 his third wife, contemporary artistAna Mendieta, fell from their 34th-floor apartment window and died. Neighbors heard an argument and Mendieta shouting "no" immediately before the fall. He was acquitted of asecond-degree murder charge in a 1988bench trial, causing uproar among feminists in the art world; supporters of Mendieta have protested at his subsequent exhibitions.
Andre was born on September 16, 1935, inQuincy, Massachusetts, the youngest of the three children of George (a master designer of freshwater plumbing for ships[5]) and Margaret (Johnson) Andre.[6] He completed primary and secondary schooling in the Quincy public school system and studied art atPhillips Academy inAndover, Massachusetts, from 1951 to 1953.[7] While at Phillips Academy, he became friends withHollis Frampton, who would later influence Andre's radical approach to sculpture through their conversations about art[8] and through introductions to other artists.[9]
Andre served in theU.S. Army inNorth Carolina from 1955 to 1956, and moved to New York City in 1956. While in New York, Frampton introduced Andre toConstantin Brâncuși, through whom Andre became re-acquainted with a former classmate from Phillips Academy,Frank Stella, in 1958. Andre shared studio space with Stella from 1958 through 1960.[9]
Andre cited Brâncuși as an inspiration for his early wood sculptures,[10] but his conversations with Stella about space and form led him in a different direction. While sharing a studio with Stella, Andre developed a series of wooden "cut" sculptures[8] (such asRadial Arm Saw cut sculpture, 1959 andMaple Spindle Exercise, 1959). Stella is noted as having said to Andre (regarding hunks of wood removed from Andre's sculpture), "Carl, that's sculpture, too."[7]
From 1960 to 1964, Andre worked as a freightbrakeman and conductor in New Jersey for thePennsylvania Railroad. His experience with blue collar labor and the ordered nature of conductingfreight trains would later influence Andre's sculpture and artistic personality. For example, it was not uncommon for Andre to dress inoveralls and a blue work shirt, even to the most formal occasions."[7]
During this period, Andre focused mainly on writing, and there is little notable sculpture of his on record between 1960 and 1965. His poetry resurfaced later, most notably in a book published in 1980 byNYU Press called12 Dialogues, in which Andre and Hollis Frampton took turns responding to one another at a typewriter using mainly poetry and free-form essay-like texts.[8] Andre'sconcrete poetry has been exhibited in the United States and Europe, a comprehensive collection of which is in the collection of theStedelijk Museum in Amsterdam.[11]
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Carl Andre’s sculptural practice encompassed a remarkable range of scales, materials, and structural logics throughout his career. He created monumental compositions such as Breda (1986), made from ninety-nine blocks of Belgian blue limestone, and Rise (2011), a series of enormous steel plates bent at right angles to engage the surrounding space, both demonstrating his ongoing exploration of horizontality and verticality through industrial materials.[12]
In 1965, Andre had his first public exhibition of his work in theShape and Structure show curated byHenry Geldzahler at theTibor de Nagy Gallery.[13]
In the late 1960s, entrepreneur Karl Ströher fromDarmstadt, Germany, acquired three major works from Andre to give them on loan to theHessisches Landesmuseum Darmstadt.[14]Peter Iden then acquired these works for theMuseum für Moderne KunstFrankfurt[15] in 1981.[16] The works have since been shown in various "Change of Scene"[17] exhibitions (1992–2002) at the museum in Frankfurt[18] and internationally.[19]
In 1969, Andre helped organize theArt Workers Coalition.[20]
In 1970, he had a solo exhibition at theSolomon R. Guggenheim Museum.[citation needed]
Over nearly seven decades, Andre produced more than two thousand sculptures, ranging from large site-responsive floor pieces to smaller intimate forms, each emphasizing the inherent qualities of material and the viewer’s direct experience of space.[21]
In 1972, Britain'sTate Gallery acquired Andre'sEquivalent VIII, an arrangement of 120firebricks.
The piece was exhibited several times without incident, but became the center of controversy in 1976 after being featured in an article inThe Sunday Times and later being defaced with bluefood dye. The "Bricks controversy" became one of the most famous public debates in Britain about contemporary art.[22][23][24]
Andre'sLever consists of a single line of 137 firebricks.[25] The work concisely divides a space as the bricks hug the floor.[26] The exhibition ofLever at the 1966 exhibitionPrimary Structures at theJewish Museum in New York brought considerable recognition to Carl Andre.[27]
The gradual evolution of consensus about the meaning of Andre's art was compiled in the bookAbout Carl Andre: Critical Texts Since 1965, published byRidinghouse in 2008. The most significant essays and exhibition reviews were collated into this volume, including texts written by some of the most influential art historians and critics:Clement Greenberg,Donald Kuspit,Lucy R. Lippard,Robert C. Morgan,Barbara Rose andRoberta Smith.[citation needed]
Andre's first two marriages ended in divorce, while he was acquitted of the murder of his third wife Ana Mendieta(seebelow).[28] In 1999 he married artistMelissa Kretschmer.[29]
Andre died in Manhattan on January 24, 2024, at the age of 88.[6]
In 1979 he met his third wife, artistAna Mendieta, through a mutual friendship with artistsLeon Golub andNancy Spero atAIR Gallery in New York City.[7][29] Andre and Mendieta married in January 1985.[30] Mendieta fell to her death from Andre's 34th-story apartment window in September 1985, after an argument with Andre.[31] Their neighbors, a couple next door, are reported to have heard Mendieta scream "No" the same night, and Andre was also seen with multiple scratches on his face after that night.[32] Andre was quoted from a9-1-1 call after her death to have said, "What happened was we had ... my wife is an artist and I am an artist and we had a quarrel about the fact that I was more, eh, exposed to the public than she was and she went to the bedroom and I went after her and she went out of the window".[33] The same night Andre was charged withsecond-degree murder. He elected to be tried before a judge with no jury. In 1988, he was acquitted of all charges related to Mendieta's death.[31][34]
Museums that exhibit Andre's work have been met with outrage from Mendieta's supporters. The 2022 podcastDeath of an Artist detailed a culture of secrecy around Mendieta's death and Andre's potential involvement.[35] In 2017, protestors attended the opening of his exhibition at The Geffen Contemporary atMOCA in Los Angeles, distributing postcards that read, "Carl Andre is at MOCA Geffen.¿Dónde está Ana Mendieta?" ('Where is Ana Mendieta?').[36][37]
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