Matthew Marks is pleased to announce that his next exhibition will be Richard Serra: Drawings and Etchings from Iceland. The exhibition will include approximately 20 new drawings, 7 sketchbooks and 12 etchings. All of the works relate to Afangar, Serra’s largest sculpture to date, which was installed in March 1990 on Videy, a small deserted island near Reykjavik, Iceland. The sculpture consists of 18 Icelandic basalt stones, each between 10 and 12 feet high, placed in pairs around the perimeter of the island.

The sketchbooks in the exhibition are among a large group which the artist made on site. They are filled with both preliminary studies as well as numerous drawings of the completed sculpture in the landscape. The sketchbooks offer further insights into the sculptor’s private thoughts which were hinted at in Serra’s contribution to “Artists’ Sketchbooks,” the exhibition organized by this gallery last season. As with that exhibition, pages of the sketchbooks will be turned each week.

The drawings in the exhibition, each measuring approximately 20 × 24 inches, are the first small works on paper he has exhibited in many years. They have a freedom and a rich, lively surface which differs from the large, more sculptural drawings he is better known for. They retain, however, the power and visual impact of the larger drawings and clearly indicate that Serra is a master, not only of the monumental, but of the intimate as well.

Inspired by his time in Iceland, Serra began his first etchings early in 1990. He started with plates measuring 4 × 6 inches and over the next two years completed 28 etchings, the largest of which measures 71 × 35 inches and requires nearly one pound of ink for each impression. The exhibition will include a selection of these etchings.

A fully illustrated hard-cover catalogue, including an interview with the artist by Mark Rosenthal which focuses on Serra’s experience in Iceland and the relationship between his works on paper and sculpture, will accompany the exhibition.

The gallery is located at 1018 Madison Avenue (at 78th Street).

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