1986.51
"Two" - Glass & Felt & Aluminum
Artist
Barry Le Va
(1941 - )
Title
"Two" - Glass & Felt & Aluminum
Creation Date
1967-1968
Century
20th century
Dimensions
8 1/2 in. x 11 in. (21.59 cm x 27.94 cm)
Object Type
drawing
Creation Place
North America, United States
Medium and Support
pen and black ink, graphite, orange felt-tip pen, and blue pencil on graph paper
Credit Line
Museum Purchase, Lloyd O. and Marjorie Strong Coulter Fund
Copyright
This artwork may be under copyright. For further information, please consult the Museum’s
Copyright Terms and Conditions.
Accession Number
1986.51
Since the late 1960s, Barry Le Va has created enigmatic “scatter” sculptures. Also known as “distributions,” they comprise materials such as ball bearings, cut canvas, felt, and scraps of wood that the artist has piled, strewn, thrown, or layered on the floor. Le Va posits sculpture as a residue of activity rather than a discrete physical object. While seemingly random and chance-based, such works are often executed according to a premeditated, drawn “score,” such as this one. “Two” is about thought made visible. It is diagrammatic, representing a flat space as seen from above with no indication of the sculpture’s origin or endpoint in space. It asks the viewer to consider the relationship and manipulation of the indicated materials to create a “formless” work of art. If the space between the work’s components is as powerful a sculptural element as the materials themselves, then is the space between the drawing’s marks as constitutive of drawing as the marks?
Object Description
installation layout on graph paper
