American artist Richard Serra, a major figure in contemporary art with monumental works made of rusted steel plates, died on Tuesday at the age of 85, according to the New York Times, citing his lawyer. He died at his home in the state of New York due to pneumonia, according to the American daily, quoted by Le Figaro.
Exhibited in major American museums to the desert of Qatar, Richard Serra created massive works with a minimalist look, exploring the issues of space and the environment.
Born in San Francisco to a Russian Jewish mother and a Spanish father, Serra trained in Paris before settling in New York in the 1960s, where the artistic phenomenon was in full swing. At the end of the decade, he published a manifesto and then unveiled a seminal work, “One ton prop (House of cards)”, four 122×122 cm lead plates held in balance by their own weight, like a house of cards.
He then moved on to large plates of rusty brown-orange steel, exhibited in New York, Washington, Bilbao and Paris. In 2014, he exposed dark towers in the sands of Qatar, so far away that you need a 4×4 and a good map to get there, 70 km from the capital Doha. “When you see my pieces, you don’t retain an object. Remember an experience, a passage,” he said in 2004.
