Castelli Gallery is pleased to announce an exhibition of new works by Robert Morris. On view will be four works: Fat Man, Spats, Breather and Red Razor II.
Fat Man and Spats are both works modeled on WWII objects. Fat Man was the nickname given to the atomic bomb dropped by the U.S. Air Force on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. Spats is modeled on the undercarriage of the infamous Nazi dive bomber, the JU 87-B---, or Stuka. Both works are built on the scale of the originals, but in light, open work Arctic Birch stained black.
There are two Felt works in the exhibition: Breather and Red Razor II. Since the sixties, felt has been Mr. Morris’ most iconic medium. When first talking about his choice of felt as a medium, Morris said: “Felt has anatomical associations, it relates to the body—it is skinlike. The way it takes form, with gravity, stress, balance, and the kinesthetic sense, I like all that.” The analogy between felt and the body is clearly present also in the new works. Breather is formed by a mound of strips of grey felt that slowly rise and fall in a diaphragm-like motion. On the gallery wall, coils of razor wire of the type seen in security fences becomes the armature for thick strips of bright red felt. The two Felt works resonate to the general mood of the other sculptures in the exhibition.
Entitled Red and Black Black and Red, the exhibition will run from January 14 through April 5, 2014. The exhibition is accompanied by an illustrated catalog with the text of a talk delivered by the artist at the University of Chicago on November 15, 2013.