Leo Castelli Gallery is pleased to announce the exhibition Richard Artschwager, Early Works from the 1960’s running from March 2 – April 21, 2012. The exhibition will feature select early works by the artist, including some of his iconic Formica sculptures and paintings on Celotex. Works in the exhibition span the years 1962 – 1970.

Included in the exhibition is Counter, 1962, one of the artist’s most seminal works. Prior to creating Counter, Artschwager studied in New York under the French artist Amedee Ozenfant. Subsequently, he worked in commercial furniture production. These two influences synthesized his practice and resulted in a body of work that drew on and simultaneously challenged the boundaries of pop, minimal, and conceptual art.

During these early years, Artschwager favored commercial furniture materials such as Formica. Formica works such as Walker and Piano humorously and inconspicuously relate to familiar functional objects. At the same time, they function as devices that alter the viewer’s spatial perception. Alluding to functionality, but abstracted from their utility, these sculptures created a new conversation regarding the relationship between the viewer and the art object.

Richard Artschwager was born in Washington D.C. in 1923. He currently lives and works in upstate New York. His work has been the subject of many important museum survey exhibitions including the Whitney Museum of American Art, Centre Pompidou, Deutsche Guggenheim, and the Kunstmusuem Winterthur. His work is in museum collections worldwide including the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Museum Ludwig Cologne. Richard Artschwager is the subject of a forthcoming retrospective at the Whitney.