Barry Edward Le Va (December 28, 1941 – January 24, 2021) was an American sculptor and installation artist. Trained in his native California, he lived and worked in New York City. Le Va was among the leading figures of post-studio and process art to have emerged in the late 1960s. His abstract sculptures, installations, drawings, and editioned works are featured in major art collections around the world.[1]
Le Va's pioneering scatter pieces on the floor, started in 1966, made him one of the first of the so-called Process artists. In 1969, he started to create works with cleavers serially embedded in walls or floors.[3] More recently, he produced monumental abstract works and site-specific installations.[4]
Le Va's first solo exhibitions were held in 1969 at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts and at the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis. Since then, Le Va exhibited his work across the United States, as well as Canada, Europe, and Israel.[2]
In 2005, Le Va's work was the subject of a major retrospective exhibition at the Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia (ICA).[5] The exhibition, Accumulated Vision, Barry Le Va, was accompanied by the publication of a comprehensive monograph of the artist's work. The ICA described Le Va's work as: "Since the late 1960s, the American artist Barry Le Va has used broken glass, meat cleavers, wool felt, ball bearings, powdered chalk, cast concrete, paper towels, linseed oil, a typewriter and a gun, among other things, to make his art. Part of a generation intent on knocking art off its pedestal, Le Va claimed the floor as his field of operations by scattering massive amounts of materials, or forms, to create works which he called "distributions." Apparently random, even chaotic, these installations are in fact premeditated and executed according to plan. Not surprisingly, drawing plays a significant role in the work of this artist whose formative training is in architecture. Le Va's distributions make him one of the leading practitioners of Post-minimalism and Process Art. But his own, preferred frame of reference comes not from recent art history, but from mystery novels. He has likened his installations to crime scenes and invites viewers to look for clues to reconstruct the, often violent, act or concept that underlies them."[6]
Le Va was once described as being "Like his art, he's not such an easy guy to be around, by turns challenging, gracious, explanatory and gnomic".[7]
The estate of Le Va is represented by David Nolan Gallery, who has been exhibiting shows with Le Va since 1989. [8] Le Va was previously represented by the Sonnabend Gallery in New York and Galerie Rolf Ricke in Cologne, Germany.
Le Va's work is found in the following museum collections (among others):
MoMA | The Collection | Barry Le Va. (American, born 1941)
David Nolan Gallery | Barry Le Va
October 20, 2023
barry, barry, edward, december, 1941, january, 2021, american, sculptor, installation, artist, trained, native, california, lived, worked, york, city, among, leading, figures, post, studio, process, have, emerged, late, 1960s, abstract, sculptures, installatio. Barry Edward Le Va December 28 1941 January 24 2021 was an American sculptor and installation artist Trained in his native California he lived and worked in New York City Le Va was among the leading figures of post studio and process art to have emerged in the late 1960s His abstract sculptures installations drawings and editioned works are featured in major art collections around the world 1 Barry Le VaBorn 1941 12 28 December 28 1941Long Beach CaliforniaDiedJanuary 24 2021 2021 01 24 aged 79 NationalityAmericanEducationOtis Art Institute of LA County Los Angeles BA 1964 MFA 1967 Los Angeles College of Art amp Design 1963 California State University Long Beach 1960 63Known forSculpture Installation artMovementProcess artAwardsGuggenheim Fellowship for Sculpture 1974 Contents 1 Training and early career 2 Work 3 Further reading 4 References 5 External linksTraining and early career EditLe Va attended California State University Long Beach from 1960 to 1963 continuing his studies at Los Angeles College of Art amp Design and at the Otis Art Institute of LA County Los Angeles where he received a Master of Fine Arts MFA degree in 1967 2 In 1968 Le Va was awarded a Young Talent Grant from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art He worked as an instructor at Minneapolis College of Art amp Design from 1968 to 1970 and taught advanced sculpture at Princeton University from 1973 to 1974 From 1976 he taught graduate level classes in sculpture at Yale University In 1974 Le Va received a Guggenheim Fellowship for Sculpture and in 1976 received a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship Work EditLe Va s pioneering scatter pieces on the floor started in 1966 made him one of the first of the so called Process artists In 1969 he started to create works with cleavers serially embedded in walls or floors 3 More recently he produced monumental abstract works and site specific installations 4 Le Va s first solo exhibitions were held in 1969 at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts and at the Walker Art Center Minneapolis Since then Le Va exhibited his work across the United States as well as Canada Europe and Israel 2 In 2005 Le Va s work was the subject of a major retrospective exhibition at the Institute of Contemporary Art University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia ICA 5 The exhibition Accumulated Vision Barry Le Va was accompanied by the publication of a comprehensive monograph of the artist s work The ICA described Le Va s work as Since the late 1960s the American artist Barry Le Va has used broken glass meat cleavers wool felt ball bearings powdered chalk cast concrete paper towels linseed oil a typewriter and a gun among other things to make his art Part of a generation intent on knocking art off its pedestal Le Va claimed the floor as his field of operations by scattering massive amounts of materials or forms to create works which he called distributions Apparently random even chaotic these installations are in fact premeditated and executed according to plan Not surprisingly drawing plays a significant role in the work of this artist whose formative training is in architecture Le Va s distributions make him one of the leading practitioners of Post minimalism and Process Art But his own preferred frame of reference comes not from recent art history but from mystery novels He has likened his installations to crime scenes and invites viewers to look for clues to reconstruct the often violent act or concept that underlies them 6 Le Va was once described as being Like his art he s not such an easy guy to be around by turns challenging gracious explanatory and gnomic 7 The estate of Le Va is represented by David Nolan Gallery who has been exhibiting shows with Le Va since 1989 8 Le Va was previously represented by the Sonnabend Gallery in New York and Galerie Rolf Ricke in Cologne Germany Le Va s work is found in the following museum collections among others Albright Knox Art Gallery Buffalo New York Art Institute of Chicago Dallas Museum of Art Los Angeles County Museum of Art Minneapolis Institute of Arts Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles Museum of Modern Art New York National Gallery of Art Washington D C Parrish Art Museum Southampton New York Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art Porto Portugal Staatliche Graphische Sammlung Munchen Walker Art Center Minneapolis Wexner Center for the Arts Ohio State University Columbus Whitney Museum of American Art New YorkFurther reading EditBarry Le Va The Aesthetic Aftermath by Michael Maizels 2015 University of Minnesota PressReferences Edit Addio a Barry Le Va morto a 79 anni il pioniere della Process Art January 25 2021 Retrieved January 26 2021 a b Barry le Va Archived from the original on August 20 2008 Retrieved January 22 2012 Archived copy PDF Archived from the original PDF on April 11 2009 Retrieved January 22 2012 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint archived copy as title link 1 dead link Archived copy Archived from the original on March 15 2012 Retrieved January 22 2012 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint archived copy as title link ICA Accumulated Vision Barry le Va Archived from the original on February 28 2012 Retrieved January 22 2012 Artblog Archived from the original on November 11 2011 Retrieved January 22 2012 Barry Le Va CV Retrieved March 8 2023 External links EditMoMA The Collection Barry Le Va American born 1941 Whitney Museum of American Art Barry Le Va David Nolan Gallery Barry Le Va Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Barry Le Va amp oldid 1170311378, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
