Richard Artschwager
Richard Artschwager's sculpture Sitting sits unmoved on the once-flooded deck of Art Building West. This monolithic, metallic grey man is characteristic of Artschwager's diverse body of work. He can be categorized as a painter, sculptor and furniture designer. From the 1960s onward, he began producing sculpture that mimicked actual objects, yet, at the same time, betrayed their identity with artistic illusions. This later developed into creating everyday objects out of abstract forms, perhaps in reaction to pop art. His sculpture for Art Building West epitomizes these ideas, as the sculpture hangs on the edge between representing a sitting man, and being an abstract metallic shape.
Artschwager has been creating art since the 1950s, yet his work does not fit the mold of any one movement. He has been categorized as a pop-artist, as his forms derive from utilitarian objects. Yet, his solid geometric forms could be considered Minimal Art and the cool detachment from reality look more to Conceptual Art. Regardless of category, his work aims to confuse and comment on the limits of visual perception.