Robert Lazzarini
Encyclopedia
Robert Lazzarini is an American artist who lives and works in New York
. He has been exhibited nationally and internationally since 1995 and is included in major collections such as the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.
; the Whitney Museum of American Art
, New York
; and the Walker Art Center
, Minneapolis.
and to the introduction of phenomenology into the discourse of art. Additionally, all of Lazzarini's sculptures are created out of the same materials as the things on which they are based; for example, the skulls (2001), which Lazzarini first exhibited at the Whitney Museum of American Art, were created out of cast bone.
-based operations such as mappings and translations. There are two primary types of distortions at work in Lazzarini's sculptures: planar and wave. The planar distortions are skews and scale shifts, as well as accelerated and de-accelerated perspectives. The sine-wave distortions are compound projections of intersecting sine waves. Particularly with regard to the planar distortions, the geometries of which are related to the construction of perspectives
in two dimensions, there is no single vantage point at which the sculpture can be seen to "resolve" to the configuration of what the artist calls the "normative object"--that is, to the object upon which the sculpture is based as well as the idea of the object that resides in the viewer's mind. Both the planar and the wave distortions make this normative object appear "alien," and so entail the viewer in a process of recognition and familiarization which has been compared to the process of human cognition
.
In staging this "corporeal encounter," then, Lazzarini's sculpture bears comparison to the early work of Robert Morris
and Carl Andre
, both artists associated with Minimalism
, and to the mature work of Richard Serra
.
's Maja paintings and reaching an apogee with Claude Monet
's Rouen Cathedral series, the repetition and variation of some selected subject matter has served the history of art in many different capacities since the beginning of the nineteenth century. It was not until the 1960s and Pop art
, however, that this strategy was intentionally deployed to echo the products of media and consumer culture. Andy Warhol
's 32 Campbell Soup Cans, first exhibited at the Ferus Gallery
in Los Angeles
in 1962, are exemplary in this instance. Following Warhol, but not in the Pop-vein, are figures such as Donald Judd
, Sol LeWitt
, and John Coplans
, all of whom are important precedents for Lazzarini's work.
, which marked the first time that Lazzarini altered the physical space of the gallery to heighten the viewer's sense of disorientation.
American Academy of Arts and Letters, May 2003
New York Foundation for the Arts, Visual Arts Grant, June 1986
New York Foundation for the Arts, Visual Arts Grant, July 1985
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. He has been exhibited nationally and internationally since 1995 and is included in major collections such as the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
; the Whitney Museum of American Art
Whitney Museum of American Art
The Whitney Museum of American Art, often referred to simply as "the Whitney", is an art museum with a focus on 20th- and 21st-century American art. Located at 945 Madison Avenue at 75th Street in New York City, the Whitney's permanent collection contains more than 18,000 works in a wide variety of...
, New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
; and the Walker Art Center
Walker Art Center
The Walker Art Center is a contemporary art center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The Walker is considered one of the nation's "big five" museums for modern art along with the Museum of Modern Art, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim Museum and the Hirshhorn...
, Minneapolis.
Introduction
Primarily a sculptor, Lazzarini is best known for making common objects that have been subjected to compound distortions which have the effect of confusing visual and haptic space, or rather complicating the space of pictures and the space of things. Lazzarini also alters the physical spaces in which these objects are seen—the "ground" to the object's "figure"--which adds to the "disorienting" effect that the work exerts on its audience. Offering no ideal point of view and so compelling its viewers to walk around the work, Lazzarini's sculptures trace their lineage back to the 1960s, minimalismMinimalism
Minimalism describes movements in various forms of art and design, especially visual art and music, where the work is set out to expose the essence, essentials or identity of a subject through eliminating all non-essential forms, features or concepts...
and to the introduction of phenomenology into the discourse of art. Additionally, all of Lazzarini's sculptures are created out of the same materials as the things on which they are based; for example, the skulls (2001), which Lazzarini first exhibited at the Whitney Museum of American Art, were created out of cast bone.
Distortion
The compound mathematical distortions that are central to Lazzarini's work are derived using algorithmAlgorithm
In mathematics and computer science, an algorithm is an effective method expressed as a finite list of well-defined instructions for calculating a function. Algorithms are used for calculation, data processing, and automated reasoning...
-based operations such as mappings and translations. There are two primary types of distortions at work in Lazzarini's sculptures: planar and wave. The planar distortions are skews and scale shifts, as well as accelerated and de-accelerated perspectives. The sine-wave distortions are compound projections of intersecting sine waves. Particularly with regard to the planar distortions, the geometries of which are related to the construction of perspectives
Perspective (graphical)
Perspective in the graphic arts, such as drawing, is an approximate representation, on a flat surface , of an image as it is seen by the eye...
in two dimensions, there is no single vantage point at which the sculpture can be seen to "resolve" to the configuration of what the artist calls the "normative object"--that is, to the object upon which the sculpture is based as well as the idea of the object that resides in the viewer's mind. Both the planar and the wave distortions make this normative object appear "alien," and so entail the viewer in a process of recognition and familiarization which has been compared to the process of human cognition
Cognition
In science, cognition refers to mental processes. These processes include attention, remembering, producing and understanding language, solving problems, and making decisions. Cognition is studied in various disciplines such as psychology, philosophy, linguistics, and computer science...
.
Embodied vision
The effect of Lazzarini's distortions is to interrupt one's standard or habituated processes of visual recognition. The "normative object" appears familiar, but familiar to two different registers: the two-dimensional and the three-dimensional. Such simultaneous perception of the object as both 2D and 3D one's habits of seeing, and so induces a reflex reaction, which is to walk around the object and to attempt to resolve or reconcile it to what one knows. "Indeed the very distortions that resist and undermine our ability to see trigger a shift from the spectatorial gaze to the corporeal encounter.” Since the object's compound distortions guarantee that no such reconciliation is possible, one's own reaction of walking around the work and taking up various vantage points, the process of attempted reconciliation itself, becomes part of the content of the work.In staging this "corporeal encounter," then, Lazzarini's sculpture bears comparison to the early work of Robert Morris
Robert Morris (artist)
Robert Morris is an American sculptor, conceptual artist and writer. He is regarded as one of the most prominent theorists of Minimalism along with Donald Judd but he has also made important contributions to the development of performance art, land art, the Process Art movement and installation...
and Carl Andre
Carl Andre
Carl Andre is an American minimalist artist recognized for his ordered linear format and grid format sculptures. His sculptures range from large public artworks to more intimate tile patterns arranged on the floor of an exhibition space Carl Andre (born September 16, 1935) is an American...
, both artists associated with Minimalism
Minimalism
Minimalism describes movements in various forms of art and design, especially visual art and music, where the work is set out to expose the essence, essentials or identity of a subject through eliminating all non-essential forms, features or concepts...
, and to the mature work of Richard Serra
Richard Serra
Richard Serra is an American minimalist sculptor and video artist known for working with large-scale assemblies of sheet metal. Serra was involved in the Process Art Movement.-Early life and education:...
.
Materiality
All of Lazzarini's sculpture are fabricated out of materials that are proper to the "normative objects" upon which they are based. What this means is that there has been no "material translation" of any kind: no working with traditional sculptural or "art" materials as a means to represent some other more complex matter, such as a human body represented in marble, or an equestrian statue cast in bronze. The implication of this process is that it becomes difficult to describe a sculpture such as Lazzarini's brass knuckles as a "representation" of "real" brass knuckles. The distortion of the object alone cannot render it a representation; after all, objects that are damaged or distorted via other means, such as in a fire or explosion, do not cease being the objects that they are. Lazzarini's sculptures, in their adherence to what one might call a strict policy of material replication, open an inquiry into the nature or logic of artistic representation itself.Repetition and variation
Repetition and variation are formal strategies that are central to Lazzarini's sculpture. Beginning as early as Francisco GoyaFrancisco Goya
Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker regarded both as the last of the Old Masters and the first of the moderns. Goya was a court painter to the Spanish Crown, and through his works was both a commentator on and chronicler of his era...
's Maja paintings and reaching an apogee with Claude Monet
Claude Monet
Claude Monet was a founder of French impressionist painting, and the most consistent and prolific practitioner of the movement's philosophy of expressing one's perceptions before nature, especially as applied to plein-air landscape painting. . Retrieved 6 January 2007...
's Rouen Cathedral series, the repetition and variation of some selected subject matter has served the history of art in many different capacities since the beginning of the nineteenth century. It was not until the 1960s and Pop art
Pop art
Pop art is an art movement that emerged in the mid 1950s in Britain and in the late 1950s in the United States. Pop art challenged tradition by asserting that an artist's use of the mass-produced visual commodities of popular culture is contiguous with the perspective of fine art...
, however, that this strategy was intentionally deployed to echo the products of media and consumer culture. Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol
Andrew Warhola , known as Andy Warhol, was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art...
's 32 Campbell Soup Cans, first exhibited at the Ferus Gallery
Ferus Gallery
The Ferus Gallery was a contemporary art gallery operating from 1957-1966. In 1957 it was located at 736-A North La Cienega Boulevard, Los Angeles, California...
in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
in 1962, are exemplary in this instance. Following Warhol, but not in the Pop-vein, are figures such as Donald Judd
Donald Judd
Donald Clarence Judd was an American artist associated with minimalism . In his work, Judd sought autonomy and clarity for the constructed object and the space created by it, ultimately achieving a rigorously democratic presentation without compositional hierarchy...
, Sol LeWitt
Sol LeWitt
Solomon "Sol" LeWitt was an American artist linked to various movements, including Conceptual art and Minimalism....
, and John Coplans
John Coplans
John Coplans was a British artist. A veteran of World War II and a photographer, he emigrated to the United States in 1960 and had many exhibitions in Europe and North America...
, all of whom are important precedents for Lazzarini's work.
Thematic content
Though Lazzarini's sculptures court the matter-of-fact to a great extent, this does not mean that they do not bear undercurrents of an often darker thematic content. One of the artist's earliest series of works, the "studio objects" (2000), stand as short-hand representation of the artist's studio with its implications of artistic introspection and, considering the objects' distortions, suggestions of derangement and madness. The skulls, exhibited at the Whitney in 2001, carry a host of allusions to mourning, melancholy, death and memory. The guns, knives, and brass knuckles are more explicitly related to potential acts of violence while Lazzarini's recent print series, blood on wallpaper (2009–2010) conjures the aftermath of such acts.Installations
Lazzarini’s installation "skulls" was first exhibited in the Whitney Museum of American Art in the 2001 exhibition, "Bitsreams," and brought the artist into wider public visibility. The installation was made up of four sculptural variations based on a specific human skull, each mounted to one wall at eye level in an offset square room measuring fifteen by fifteen feet. Bathed in diffused fluorescent light, the shadows within the room heightened the works “image aspect” where “the walls of the gallery become a kind of uninflected visual field against which the form of each object is defined.” The experience presented a new type of embodied viewing wherein “You feel the space around you begin to ripple, to bubble, to infold, as if it were becoming unstuck from the fixed coordinates of it’s three-dimensional extension. You soon become disoriented, as this ungluing of space becomes more intense.” The intensification of the works' figure/ground relationships was brought to a new level with the installation of "guns and knives" at the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Ridgefield, ConnecticutRidgefield, Connecticut
Ridgefield is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. Situated in the foothills of the Berkshire Mountains, the 300-year-old community had a population of 24,638 at the 2010 census. The town center, which was formerly a borough, is defined by the U.S...
, which marked the first time that Lazzarini altered the physical space of the gallery to heighten the viewer's sense of disorientation.
Awards
New York Foundation for the Arts, Artist’s Fellowship, Sculpture 2005American Academy of Arts and Letters, May 2003
New York Foundation for the Arts, Visual Arts Grant, June 1986
New York Foundation for the Arts, Visual Arts Grant, July 1985
Public collections
- Davidson CollegeDavidson CollegeDavidson College is a private liberal arts college in Davidson, North Carolina. The college has graduated 23 Rhodes Scholars and is consistently ranked in the top ten liberal arts colleges in the country by U.S. News and World Report magazine, although it has recently dropped to 11th in U.S. News...
, Davidson, North CarolinaDavidson, North CarolinaDavidson is a town in Mecklenburg County in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The population was 7,139 at the 2000 census. It is home to Davidson College... - Herbert F. Johnson Museum of ArtHerbert F. Johnson Museum of ArtThe Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art is an art museum located on the northwest corner of the Arts Quad on the main campus of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. It is most well known for its distinctive concrete facade, its collection which includes two windows from Frank Lloyd Wright's Darwin...
, Cornell UniversityCornell UniversityCornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
, Ithaca, New YorkIthaca, New YorkThe city of Ithaca, is a city in upstate New York and the county seat of Tompkins County, as well as the largest community in the Ithaca-Tompkins County metropolitan area... - Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture GardenHirshhorn Museum and Sculpture GardenThe Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden is an art museum beside the National Mall, in Washington, D.C., the United States. The museum was initially endowed during the 1960s with the permanent art collection of Joseph H. Hirshhorn. It was designed by architect Gordon Bunshaft and is part of the...
, Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution.... - Hood Museum of ArtHood Museum of ArtThe Hood Museum of Art is a museum in Hanover, New Hampshire, USA. Dating back to 1772, the museum is owned and operated by Dartmouth College and is connected to the Hopkins Center for the Arts. The current building, designed by Charles Willard Moore and Chad Flloyd, opened in the fall of 1985. It...
, Dartmouth CollegeDartmouth CollegeDartmouth College is a private, Ivy League university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. The institution comprises a liberal arts college, Dartmouth Medical School, Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business, as well as 19 graduate programs in the arts and sciences...
, Hanover, New HampshireHanover, New HampshireHanover is a town along the Connecticut River in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 11,260 at the 2010 census. CNN and Money magazine rated Hanover the sixth best place to live in America in 2011, and the second best in 2007.... - Long Beach Museum of ArtLong Beach Museum of ArtThe Long Beach Museum of Art is a museum located on Ocean Boulevard in the Bluff Park neighborhood of Long Beach, California. The museum occupies the historic 1912 Elizabeth Milbank Anderson house and carriage house and a new two-story pavilion, and includes oceanfront gardens. The museum is open...
, Long Beach, CaliforniaLong Beach, CaliforniaLong Beach is a city situated in Los Angeles County in Southern California, on the Pacific coast of the United States. The city is the 36th-largest city in the nation and the seventh-largest in California. As of 2010, its population was 462,257... - Midwest Museum of American ArtMidwest Museum of American ArtThe Midwest Museum of American Art is a non-profit public art museum located in downtown Elkhart, Indiana, United States.The museum's space houses a collection focusing on 19th and 20th century American art...
, Elkhart, IndianaElkhart, IndianaElkhart is a city in Elkhart County, Indiana, United States. The city is located east of South Bend, northwest of Fort Wayne, east of Chicago, and north of Indianapolis... - Milwaukee Art MuseumMilwaukee Art MuseumThe Milwaukee Art Museum is located on Lake Michigan in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.Beginning around 1872, multiple organizations were founded in order to bring an art gallery to Milwaukee, as the city was still a growing port town with little or no facilities to hold major art exhibitions...
, Milwaukee, Wisconsin - Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, North CarolinaCharlotte, North CarolinaCharlotte is the largest city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the seat of Mecklenburg County. In 2010, Charlotte's population according to the US Census Bureau was 731,424, making it the 17th largest city in the United States based on population. The Charlotte metropolitan area had a 2009...
- The New SchoolThe New SchoolThe New School is a university in New York City, located mostly in Greenwich Village. From its founding in 1919 by progressive New York academics, and for most of its history, the university was known as the New School for Social Research. Between 1997 and 2005 it was known as New School University...
, New York, New YorkNew York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and... - Newark MuseumNewark MuseumThe Newark Museum is the largest museum in New Jersey, USA. It holds fine collections of American art, decorative arts, contemporary art, and arts of Asia, Africa, the Americas, and the ancient world...
, Newark, New JerseyNewark, New JerseyNewark is the largest city in the American state of New Jersey, and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Newark had a population of 277,140, maintaining its status as the largest municipality in New Jersey. It is the 68th largest city in the U.S... - Saginaw Art Museum, Saginaw, MichiganSaginaw, MichiganSaginaw is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the seat of Saginaw County. The city of Saginaw was once a thriving lumber town and manufacturing center. Saginaw and Saginaw County lie in the Flint/Tri-Cities region of Michigan...
- Speed Art MuseumSpeed Art MuseumThe Speed Art Museum, originally known as the J.B. Speed Memorial Museum, now colloquially referred to as the Speed by locals, is the oldest, largest, and foremost museum of art in Kentucky...
, Louisville, KentuckyLouisville, KentuckyLouisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096... - Spencer Museum of ArtSpencer Museum of ArtThe Spencer Museum of Art, or SMA, is an art museum on the campus of University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas. While admission is free, donations are accepted. Also located inside the Spencer Museum of Art are the Kress Foundation Department of Art History, and the Murphy Library of Art &...
, University of KansasUniversity of KansasThe University of Kansas is a public research university and the largest university in the state of Kansas. KU campuses are located in Lawrence, Wichita, Overland Park, and Kansas City, Kansas with the main campus being located in Lawrence on Mount Oread, the highest point in Lawrence. The...
, Lawrence, KansasLawrence, KansasLawrence is the sixth largest city in the U.S. State of Kansas and the county seat of Douglas County. Located in northeastern Kansas, Lawrence is the anchor city of the Lawrence, Kansas, Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Douglas County... - Toledo Museum of ArtToledo Museum of ArtThe Toledo Museum of Art is an internationally known art museum located in the Old West End neighborhood of Toledo, Ohio, United States. The museum was founded by Toledo glassmaker Edward Drummond Libbey in 1901, and moved to its present location, a Greek revival building designed by Edward B....
, Toledo, OhioToledo, OhioToledo is the fourth most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Lucas County. Toledo is in northwest Ohio, on the western end of Lake Erie, and borders the State of Michigan... - Utah Museum of Fine ArtsUtah Museum of Fine ArtsThe Utah Museum of Fine Arts is Utah's primary resource for culture and visual arts. It is located in Salt Lake City, Utah on the University of Utah campus near Rice–Eccles Stadium. Works of art are displayed on a rotating basis. It is a university and state art museum...
, University of UtahUniversity of UtahThe University of Utah, also known as the U or the U of U, is a public, coeducational research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. The university was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret by the General Assembly of the provisional State of Deseret, making it Utah's oldest...
, Salt Lake City, Utah - Virginia Museum of Fine ArtsVirginia Museum of Fine ArtsThe Virginia Museum of Fine arts, or VMFA, is an art museum in Richmond, Virginia, in the United States, which opened in 1936.The museum is owned and operated by the Commonwealth of Virginia, while private donations, endowments, and funds are used for the support of specific programs and all...
, Richmond, VirginiaRichmond, VirginiaRichmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area... - Walker Art CenterWalker Art CenterThe Walker Art Center is a contemporary art center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The Walker is considered one of the nation's "big five" museums for modern art along with the Museum of Modern Art, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim Museum and the Hirshhorn...
, Minneapolis, Minnesota - Wake Forest UniversityWake Forest UniversityWake Forest University is a private, coeducational university in the U.S. state of North Carolina, founded in 1834. The university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina, the state capital. The Reynolda Campus, the university's main campus, is...
, Winston-Salem, North CarolinaWinston-Salem, North CarolinaWinston-Salem is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina, with a 2010 population of 229,617. Winston-Salem is the county seat and largest city of Forsyth County and the fourth-largest city in the state. Winston-Salem is the second largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region and is home to... - Whitney Museum of American ArtWhitney Museum of American ArtThe Whitney Museum of American Art, often referred to simply as "the Whitney", is an art museum with a focus on 20th- and 21st-century American art. Located at 945 Madison Avenue at 75th Street in New York City, the Whitney's permanent collection contains more than 18,000 works in a wide variety of...
, New York, New YorkNew York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...