Friday, December 12, 2008

Missing


“Has anyone seen the Serra?”
“No, it was out the back last time I looked.”
“Well, it’s not there now.”
“Must be, it weighs 38 tonnes, I mean you can’t carry it away in a backpack.”
“Look for yourself.”
“Oh My God.”

Fortunately, Richard Serra agreed to let the Reina Sofia Museum in Madrid have a replica copy of Equal-Parallel: Guernica – Bengasi constructed at a German foundry. The sculpture was last on display in the museum in 1990 and then placed in storage. When the storage company went broke, the four 1.5 metre blocks of steel were AWOL. Serra generously allowed the replacement to be purchased at cost (E83,500), a big saving on the original 1986 price of E220,000. It is now back on display.
Image: Richard Serra's Equal-Parallel: Guernica – Bengasi. 1986