Carl Andre, a prominent American artist widely regarded as the pioneer of the '60s Minimalist art movement when it comes to sculpting, has passed away at the age of 88 last Wednesday, Jan. 24.
His death was confirmed in a written remembrance by Paula Cooper Gallery, which has been Andre's representative for over six decades.
A photo of Carl Andre with his "Radial Arm Saw-Cut" sculptures taken circa 1959.
Triumphs and Hardships in Carl Andre's Career
In the remembrance which the gallery posted on its website, it wrote: "Carl Andre redefined the parameters of sculpture and poetry through his use of unaltered industrial materials and innovative approach to language."
"He created over two thousand sculptures and an equal number of poems throughout his almost seventy-year career, guided by a commitment to pure matter in lucid geometric arrangements," it added.
Indeed, Andre was part of the forerunning Minimalists of the '60s whose only goal was to strip the medium of sculpting into its foundational being and often depicting art using the bare forms of its materials intended to promote the absence of emotions.
This is perhaps best represented in his 1969 work "144 Magnesium Square" which comprised thin 12-by-12-inch plates organized in a square pattern on the floor.
For around two decades since then, Andre received both critical acclaim and cheers from the masses for his contributions to art.
However, by the '80s, that adoration turned into jeers and public scrutiny in light of a murder trial he faced for the death of his then-partner and third wife, Cuban artist and performer Ana Mendieta.
Even as the artist was acquitted of murder following a bench trial in 1988, public perception of him and his works was sullied, with many others putting forward their theories that implicate Andre of his then-partner's death.
Such accusations are what prevented many of Andre's works from being showcased in museums. That said, the Dia Art Foundation broke away from that "norm" to organize the 2014 Andre retrospective that even reached LA's Museum of Contemporary Art.
One other institution, among others, that has showcased and is currently exhibiting the sculptor's pieces is South Korea's Daegu Art Museum.
Most of Andre's sculpted art was typically arranged in some "sterile" and formational pattern that follows a strict set of rules that seldom allow for variations or "adlibbing." This idea can be seen in full effect with his "Equivalent" series of sculptures, starting from '66.
The series comprises pieces made up of rectangular arrangements of firebricks, whose elements are entirely similar in terms of shape, weight, and even size.
Since Andre's passing, he is survived by his fourth wife Melissa Kretschmer, who is also an artist, alongside his own sister Carol.
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