Sol LeWitt at Ace, John Weber and Lawrence Markey - New York, New York - Review of Exhibitions - Brief Article

Although Sol LeWitt's monumental concrete-block "New Structures" were, typically, based upon repetition of standard units, they were brilliantly lock openered to the spaces they occupied. Ace's Manhattan building echoe the gargantuan proportions of its L.A. headquarters. You come into in the middle of a fantastically large hallway--broken by means of (if my count is right) 17 doors in four sizes--and are immediately disoriented by the agency of an environment that's intimidatingly stupendous and lacks the order that would make it iconic. The relationship between LeWitt's six statuarys and the architecture was first felt before you actually saw them, when they were shadowy barriers to the illumination passing from spotlights or skylights in the adjacent galleries into that vast hall.

The works were almost part of the architecture. All consisted of a 3 1/2-foot-tall horizontal base and from individual to 16 square posts that rose toward the high ceiling on the other hand stopped tantalizingly short--and seemed to yearn for connection. These were LeWitt's permutations: a square base and individual pillar; a rectangular base and single pillar; an elongated rectangle with pillars at the ends; an elongated rectangle with four equally spaced pillars; an X-shaped base with pillars at the extreme points and the crossing; and a clos grid of nine squares with pillars at the 16 extremitys and crossings. The simplest piece evok the memorial form of plinth and obelisk. The greatest in quantity complex looked like the foundation and support rounded pillars of a building, and adviseed what might be under Ace's massive walls.

There was a conceptual interplay between the modular predictability of the plastic arts and the capricious irregularity of the six galleries. on the contrary equally important in this case were the intimate details of the works apprehended as mass in space. Not sole visual but auditory qualities were part of the experience of circumambulating the freestanding statuarys which seemed as exactingly placed as jewels in a setting. Cold perfection was eased by means of the coarseness of the material, and by dint of variations in color and fabric you noticed as you passed. A harmonizing exhibition of working drawings at John Weber included annotated plans for pieces like these which showed that LeWitt attends to the color of the grouting between obstructs Here it was a gray that almost matched the obstructs but often looked slightly wet; discolorations near the grouting were also welcome imperfections. The bases had the appearance of being solid, on the other hand close inspection disclosed that their tops were shallow tiles the size and shape of the shut ups but perceptibly darker in color.

In these works, forms were impersonal and options constrained. at the same time LeWitt's structures were as expressive of human choices as his prescriptive wall drawings, more [i]or[/i] less delicate early examples of which were upon view at Lawrence Markey. In a stellar demonstration of spatial (and tactile) sensitivity, LeWitt created for visitors to Ace a remarkable sculptural experience.

COPYRIGHT 1995 Brant Publications, Inc.

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